Miller's lifting log

[grubd]

Muscle mag, did a study and for a bb routine a leg press is better for creating the tear drop in the quad. Nothing hammers the quad like the hack though.

Jtsstrength.com: Hack squats are a classic bodybuilding exercise and are my preferred exercise for building up larger quad size. I prefer the hack squats because they place very little stress on the back and isolate the quads I feel better than leg pressing. They also allow you to practice driving your hips forward as you would if you are a quad dominant squatter who also engages the hips well. Like any exercise I will try to push these so the rep and weight combinations are difficult to complete, but shooting for 1-2 very hard sets of 20 is ideal here.

 

[cpmiller]

20 reps for a set? That seems polar opposite of what you normally do right? I thought you were a low rep, heavy weight guy?

 

[cpmiller]

3/5/14
Flat Bench:
135 warmup x2
225x10
245x8
265x6
285x4
245x10
225x12
Decline Bench:
225 3x10
Superset
1. Hammer Strength Incline Chest Press:
70 3x10
2. DB fly:
45 3x10
Core:
2 sets 25 reps each exercise
roman leg lifts, knee ups, feet up crunch, feet down crunch, wood choppers (40lb), weighted cable crunch (140)
_________________

 

[cpmiller]

Arms 3/6/14:

Hammer Curls:
Surfed the rack 55lb -10lb x10 reps each; 20 last set
OH cable tricep extension:
Surfed the rack 170-80 x10 reps each
Superset1:
Barbell Curl - 115 3x10,8,8
Tricep cable pressdown - 180 1x10; 200 2x10
Superset2:
DB Curl - 35 3x10
Tricep cable pulldown - 150 3x10
Superset3:
Close grip EZ bar preacher curl - 80 3x10,10,9
OH DB tri press - 70 3x10
Core Circuit: 3 sets
V situps x20
1 min plank

 

[grubd]

20 reps for a set? That seems polar opposite of what you normally do right? I thought you were a low rep, heavy weight guy?

That is for a bodybuilding set for the exercise.

You have some nice bench #s.

 

[cpmiller]

Ah ok gotcha. And thanks! Gotta keep pushing, it's tougher without a workout partner.

 

[cpmiller]

3/10/14 Legs

Superset
Leg Press
270 warmup
360 x15
540 x10
630 x10
720 x8
Walking Lunge w/ 25lb plates
4x20
Calf raises w/ barbell
135 x20
155 2x15
Seated leg extension
225 x12
250 2x10
Standing glute extension
100 3x10 each
Core - 3 sets
Elbow to knee crunch x20 each side
Single straight leg lift x10 each side
Legs raised crossovers x20 each side

 

[cpmiller]

3/11/14
Flat Bench:
135 & 185 warmup
225x10
245x8
265x6
285x4
245x8
225x10
Decline Bench:
225 3x10,10,9
Superset
1. Hammer Strength Incline Chest Press:
90 2x8,6; 70 x8
2. DB fly:
45 3x10
Core:
2 sets 25 reps each exercise
roman leg lifts, knee ups, feet up crunch, feet down crunch, wood choppers (40lb), weighted cable crunch (140)

 

[RealDK]

my only recommendation....you only work out every other body part once per week because you tear down the muscles and then you need to give them ample time to recover correct? so why would you want to do your core 4-5x per week? you core is incorporated in just about every lift you do but you also finish almost every workout of the week with a circuit of core....honestly this is going to do more harm than good. my recommendation would be to set aside one day per week and do 2 or 3 core circuits and then a cardio/plyometric workout (rowing is optimal). see if this makes sense.....anytime you work out any muscle group you tear down the muscle fibers and then it typically takes 3-5 days to fully repair itself so if you are doing a one day per body part per week split you have 5-6 days for the muscles to fully recover in order for them to get stronger for the next weeks workout to advance. conversely if you work out core on monday you break down the core alittle bit, then tuesday alittle bit more and then rest wednesday and then work thursday breaking them down again and friday as well.....when is there room for muscle growth and improvement and advancement? not trying to talk down to you and i apologize if this post comes across that way i was a personal training director at a large gym in Pittsburgh and it drove me nuts when i would see people do everything else right except for their core. its not about how much you work it its about how effective you are at working it. everything else you are doing looks very good if you would like any tweaks or other excercises i have a few that you may be interested in

 

[cpmiller]

Real, thanks for the info. Always looking for tips here and there, so no offense taken. To answer your original question, the reason I started doing core work more often is some reading I did about the core can take more of a "beating" than other muscles, so you can work it harder and more often than say chest, or biceps. Maybe that mindset is incorrect? I totally get what you are saying about the taking time off to let muscles rest and grow, that's exactly why I try to keep to the splits that I do.

I will say that in the time I have been able to stick with this routine I am seeing results (i.e. flatter midsection, more definition, feeling tighter and stronger in the middle). Now I could still certainly be doing some harm I suppose, but results are good to see.

As far as tweaks and other exercises, always open to new ideas so feel free to post them here or send me a message. Thanks for the input.

 

[RealDK]

youre right that the core can take more of a beating but its taking a bit much of a beating IMO in all of your main and supplemental lifts and then even more so during your actual core work. results are always going to come whenever you start something new, its when you start to hit plateaus and leveling off is where some of this will do more harm than good and then piss you off since youre working your tail off for what feels like nada. that being said i would only do something like you're doing for about 8-12 weeks and then do about 4 weeks of a light work load then get back into a program like the one you are in if you would like help with a light load or get burnt out with your current exercises at all and things start getting monotonous shoot me a PM and i'll give you some alternatives but then depending on how limited you are in stress you can handle with your elbow would be the only thing that would concern me with that

 

[cpmiller]

Arms 3/13/14:

Hammer Curls:
Surfed the rack 60lb -15lb x10 reps each; 20 last set
OH cable tricep extension:
Surfed the rack 180-90 x10 reps each
Superset1:
Barbell Curl - 105 3x10
Tricep cable pressdown - 200 3x10
Superset2:
Close grip EZ bar preacher curl - 80 3x10
Tricep cable pulldown - 150 3x10
Superset3:
DB Curl - 40 3x8
Tri bench dips 3x20

 

[cpmiller]

3/14/14: Back & Shoulders

Superset1
1. Bent over BB row: 135 4x10
2. Standing BB shoulder press: 135 4x10
Superset2
1. Lat pull down: 200 3x8,8,6
2. DB back fly: 25 3x10
Superset3
1. V grip Lat pull down: 180 3x10
2. Cable shoulder lateral raise: 40 3x10 each arm
Superset4
Lower back extensions: BW 3x20
DB front raises: 20 3x20

 

[cpmiller]

3/15/14- ran 5k in local race. Ran right around 27 min.

 

[cpmiller]

Took last week off due to travel and nagging shoulder pain. Will be back at it tomorrow with legs.
Anyone have some insight on upping reps and dropping weight for a few weeks and then getting back to my normal program? I've heard changing it up to lighter stuff for 3-4 weeks every 12 weeks is a good rule of thumb? What's a good high rep number to jump to? 12,15,20?
And should I factor in some interval cardio to try and cut a little weight while doing this?

 

[cpmiller]

3/24/14 Legs
Superset
Leg Press
270 warmup
360 x15
540 x10
630 x10
720 x8
Walking Lunge w/ 45lb plates
4x10 each leg
Seated hamstring curls
175 3x10
Standing glute extension
115 3x10 each leg
Hack Squats
180x10, 270x10, 360x10
Core
Stability ball crunches x50
Roman chair leg lifts x25
Roman chair knee ups x25
Weighted cable crunch 130x50

Going to hit some BP tonight, looking forward to it!!

 

[cpmiller]

3/25/14 Chest
Incline BB Press
115 1x20
185 5x5
Flat BB Press
155 1x20
245 5x5
Incline DB Press
50 1x20
70 5x5
Flat DB Press
50 1x20
70 5x5
Superset - 5 sets
Flat Bench DB Fly - 35 8 reps w/ 4 sec stretch @ bottom
Machine chest fly - 145 8 reps w/ 4 sec squeeze

*Right shoulder really started to act up so went light on the weight. May need to take a little rest period.

 

[cpmiller]

3/26/14 Back
Wide grip lat pulldown: 200 4x8
Close grip cable low row: 180 4x8
Crouched rope pulldown: 150 4x10
Standing low to high trap pull: 180 4x10
V-grip lat pulldown: 160 4x8
Bent over DB row: 45 4x10
Core Superset: 3 sets; russian twists x30 & back extensions x20

 

[cpmiller]

Arms 3/28/14
Hammer Curls:
Surf the rack 60-15lb x10 reps each
OH cable tricep extension:
Surf the rack 190-100 x10 reps each
Superset1:
Close grip EZ bar preacher curl - 90 3x10,10,8
Tricep cable pressdown - 200 3x10
Superset2:
DB Curl - 35 3x10
Tricep cable pulldown - 150 3x10
Superset3:
Barbell Curl - 105 3x10,8,8
Single arm cable tri extension - 40 3x10
Core Circuit: 3 sets
roman chair leg lifts x25
stability ball crunches x25
1 min plank

 

[cpmiller]

3/31/14 Chest
Incline BB Press
135 1x20
185 5x5
Flat BB Press
155 1x20
245 5x5
Incline DB Press
40 1x20
60 5x5
Flat DB Press
50 1x20
75 5x5
Superset - 5 sets
Flat Bench DB Fly - 35 8 reps w/ 4 sec stretch @ bottom
Machine chest fly - 145 8 reps w/ 4 sec squeeze
Core work: 2 sets
Russian twists w/ med ball x20 each side
stability ball crunches x50

 

[tap2284]

Why one set of 20 before the 5x5?? Also, why a 4 second stretch/squeeze?

 

[cpmiller]

Trying to take some of the advice from you guys and do lower rep ranges. Use the 20 reps as a warm up. The 4 second stretch/squeeze I found really concentrates the muscles at full contraction/expansion, similar I guess to why some people do bicep curls with a wrist twist. Bro science perhaps?

 

[cpmiller]

4/1/14 Legs

Leg Press
270 warmup
360 x15
540 x10
630 x10
720 x8
Walking Lunge w/ 25lb plates
3x15 each leg
Seated leg extension
220 1x10
250 2x10
Seated hamstring curls
175 2x10
190 1x10
Standing glute extension
115 3x10 each leg
Hack Squats
180x10, 270x10, 360x10

 

[tap2284]

Trying to take some of the advice from you guys and do lower rep ranges. Use the 20 reps as a warm up. The 4 second stretch/squeeze I found really concentrates the muscles at full contraction/expansion, similar I guess to why some people do bicep curls with a wrist twist. Bro science perhaps?

Just a thought, but why not warm up with like 3-5 reps with weight up to your working sets? Instead of doing 20 of 145 then jumping 100 pounds.... for your working sets.

The eccentric movement will be key to gaining strength, not so much the squeeze/stretch.

 

[cpmiller]

I've historically done what you describe and just thought I would change it up based on a workout from a buddy of mine who is a certified instructor. It I don't like it/doesn't work well for me I'll certainly be going back.

Eccentric movement is the lengthening of the muscle right? I called it a pause, but on the flat bench flys, its a 4 count on the way down, not a stretch and hold at the bottom. Poor choice of words on my part.

 

[tap2284]

I've historically done what you describe and just thought I would change it up based on a workout from a buddy of mine who is a certified instructor. It I don't like it/doesn't work well for me I'll certainly be going back.

Eccentric movement is the lengthening of the muscle right? I called it a pause, but on the flat bench flys, its a 4 count on the way down, not a stretch and hold at the bottom. Poor choice of words on my part.

Yes the lengthening of a contracted muscle is the eccentric movement.

Not that all of us here know anything, but certified instructor just means he has a certification, not that he knows anything. Not saying this is true about your buddy, he may be very knowledgeable but don't take everything "certified" people say as gospel.

 

[Fro Joe]

Trying to take some of the advice from you guys and do lower rep ranges. Use the 20 reps as a warm up. The 4 second stretch/squeeze I found really concentrates the muscles at full contraction/expansion, similar I guess to why some people do bicep curls with a wrist twist. Bro science perhaps?

It's the workout itself that isn't helping your strength. A good strength program will have variations of dead lifts and squats. Two lifts that aren't anywhere in your program. You're trying to force an average gym goer/aesthetic workout into a strength program.

The last 3 years I've done programs by professional strength coaches like Cressey and Gentilcore. I only see 3 movements in your entire log that I've done in that 3 years.

 

[tap2284]

It's the workout itself that isn't helping your strength. A good strength program will have variations of dead lifts and squats. Two lifts that aren't anywhere in your program. You're trying to force an average gym goer/aesthetic workout into a strength program.

The last 3 years I've done programs by professional strength coaches like Cressey and Gentilcore. I only see 3 movements in your entire log that I've done in that 3 years.

I totally agree with Fro here. I never really did deads until about a year ago or so and since then, my strength has really improved. Also, squats are, in my opinion, the best possible exercise for a person to gain overall strength. Makes me really push myself and I kinda look forward to leg day, as much as I hate leg day while doing it. But afterwards, I feel great!!!

There is a reason deads and squats are always in Strongman competitions.... cause is shows how strong a person is. Which is what you are saying your goals are.... STRENGTH!

 

[cpmiller]

Agree that not all certified folks really know what they're talking about, luckily I personally know this guy and feel comfortable he knows what he is talking about. I have never done deads, ever; and have stayed away from squats due to right knee pain so I worry about going heavy.
Out of curiosity, if I had said my goals were more size/physique instead of size, would my routines be better suited for that? Or are they just crap in general? Again, thanks for all the input.

 

[cpmiller]

4/3/14 Back workout
1. Wide grip lat pull down: 180 4x8
2. Close grip low row: 180 4x8
3. Standing rope pulldown: 150 4x10
4. V grip lat pull down: 160 4x8
5. Bent over DB row: 50 4x8