Sinner picks stuff up.... and then puts it back down.

Back by popular demand, my training log.

My current workout goals are to maintain size and strength, relieve, and have some fun doing it.

I lift 3 days per week and try to keep active the other 4.

My training methods are a bit out there. I've found it's better not to worry about how much weight I move. Typically we try to adapt to the weight, by picking something heavy and trying to handle it. I'm doing the exact opposite. I'll pick something I can handle and make a challenge out of it, by accenting the movements to bring out weak spots in my form. Hopefully this will make more sense as the log progresses, and I share some of my workouts.

Today was a non-lifting day. I have no set workout plan. I just kind of do things spontaneously. Workout goal #3 is to have fun; therefore, I do what I want.

I started out with a hybrid calisthetic move that I really enjoy doing. We will call them Hot Carl's because nobody would ever name an exercise that, so I know it's available. It's done underneath a chin-up bar. Drop down into a pushup position. Push up with a little extra force in your arms and abs so that both your hands and feet leave the ground before landing again. Burpee youself up into a squatting position. Jump up and grab the chin-up bar. Do a pull-up. Let go, and land in a squatting position once again. If that doesn't get the blood flowing, you are probably dead.

Afterwards, I jumped rope for 15-20 minutes. I've been jumping rope for years. What I like about it is the fact that it requires more mind-body communication and focus than something like riding a stationary bike. It keeps the mind more occupied, and when I get bored, I can try weird moves like multi-unders, criss-crosses, and crazy shit that I don't have a name for.

Then I did some core work. There's a sport-specific move I do with the cables. It's almost the exact motion as a 3/4 time and room shot in lacrosse. We'll leave it at that for right now.

I also did side planks with a yoga ball. If you want to develop amazing stability in your hips and torso, this is the way to go. Put your feet on the yoga ball, with both hands on the ground. Slowly let one go, and raise it up as high as you can in the air. It sounds easy, but then the yoga ball tries to roll out from under your feet and its a battle to not fall on your face.

Lastly, i end with 15 minutes on the ellipitcal machine. The gym I'm currently at has a cardio theatre room. I felt the desire to catch the last 15 minutes of the movie Hancock. It would've been a lot better if there was a little more Charlize Theron in those 15 minutes.

I'm probably going to be sore again tomorrow morning.

Very interesting thread this shall be, that hybrid sounds fun!

I did these, burpee pull-ups, alone they are a killer but in a circuit even worse!

Dunno how the hek this guy managed 100:

Today I picked stuff up. Then I put it back down. I did this a few times. In a room full of other sweaty guys and one chick (who might as well have been a guy). Weight training sounds so lame when you put it like that.

Anyhow, I train full-body workouts. None of this split stuff. Too much of a hassel, and I feel like I don't get a good enough frequency with a typical split. On a weekly basis, you end up with about the same amount of work per muscle group anyhow. I tend to stick with just 2 sets for each exercise. There were a couple of studies done way back when I was in highschool by some university in (I believe) New Hampshire (Montclair?) assessing differences between doing 1 set and 3 sets. Serum draws and 1RM strength tests didn't show any significant differences between the 1-set and 3-set groups, according to the studies. Since the data quality is only so good, I just split the difference and settle with 2.

I started off with 2 sets of cross-body hammer curls. I tend to start off with biceps movements. It gets the blood flowing, and keeping your bicep tendon warm can help prevent a lot of injury.

After that were squats supersetting with pullups. The pullups are just thrown in to keep me occupied while waiting for my legs to recover between squats. I don't like to wait. I usually squat 225lbs. Only on rare occasions do I go up to 275lbs, and never higher. Too much on the knees. When the weight starts to get too easy, try holding yourself at the parallel point for a half second each rep.

Next was weighted dips. I started at 90lbs and went to 135lbs for my second set. These are by far my most favorite chest exercise ever.

After that was pulldowns with a hammer strength machine. I've been on a hammer strength kick these past couple of weeks. I really like that I can train isolaterally with them, as opposed to the conventional methods which they're designed to emulate. This allows you to focus more energy into one half the muscle at a time.

Next was a superset standing calf raises with arnold press. Again with the arnold press, I stick with dumbbells between 55lbs and 70lbs, depending on what's not being used by other gym goers. I'm not one who likes to wait. Just grab the dumbbells and make 'em work. To intensify the set you can (1) hold your contraction at the top (2) slow the recoil motion (3) hold at the bottom of the motion (arms with a 90° bend) (4) Bring your elbows a second time before pressing the weight back up.

After this I hit up a hammer strength deadlift machine. Personally, I'd opt for a hex bar, but my current gym does not have one. I just want something that doesn't get in the way of my shins, as the conventional barbell for this particular workout.

Next was a superset of tricep rope pushdowns followed by low cable rows.

And lastly some ab work superset with side lateral raises with the dumbbells. For the side laterals, I stick with usually a lighter weight somewhere between 20 and 35lbs. Point your thumbs down! If you point your thumbs forwards or up, you are using your anterior deltoid, the shoulder muscle that gets used in every other exercise ever. Point down to show your medial deltoids some lovin' and actually widen your shoulder. There's no point in really ever going heavy with these. Just hold your arms parallel to the floor as long as you can for each rep. It will get difficult pretty damn quickly.

I finished up, as I usually do with 10 minutes on the elliptical machine.

Definitely recommend the Hot Carl's.

I think you'll like what I have in-store for the weekend. I try to do an outdoor workout that's all calisthetics/plyometrics at least once per week. I get bored really easily, and so I have come up with some really unique and complex one's you might enjoy.

Hell yea, glad to your have your log back up and rolling, keep pickin up heavy things

Today was a little lighter workout. I've been kinda tired today. Also, the power went out towards the end of my workout, which killed all my motivation.

I started out jumping rope for about 15-20 minutes. I try to jump rope at least once per week, if not more. What's nice is that it isn't strenuous on a specific muscle group.

Then I did some core work. I did the core exercise like I did on Tuesday, with the cables, superset with standing calf raises.

Then I did some calisthetics. We'll call these "Bench Burpees". It's essentially a burpee, except when you land in the pushup position, you land in a declined pushup position (feet land on a bench, strategically positioned behind you). I like to do a military pushup or two before popping back up to my feet. They're surprisingly much easier to do (don't require much coordination) than they sound.

I did some crunches on the yoga ball, when the lights went out. The backup generator came on. I finished two sets of crunches, and jumped rope for another 10 minutes, but then decided to boot out early.

Weights today.

Started with bicep curls and went into squats.

I did 2 sets of a hammer strength incline chest press. Like I said the other day, I've been on a hammer strength binge as of late, and today was certainly no exception. I really like being able to isolaterally (one arm at a time). The isolation and the pump I'm getting from them is phenominal.

Next was hammer strength lat pulldown, followed by a hammer strength military press.

I did supersets of triceps pushdowns with standing calf raises.

Next were supersets of hammer strength rows with dips (non-weighted).

Lastly were cable crunches superset with side lateral raises, followed by 10 minutes on the elliptical to finish the workout. Now it's time to enjoy the weekend.

Hammerstrength is a company which makes gym machines such as lat pulldowns and chest press.

Here is what the hammerstrength pulldown at my gym looks like:

Hammer Strength started out as a division of Nautilus. They've since developed weight training machines where you can put olympic sized weights on them, instead of using the cable-drawn stack of weights, as illustrated in *bigD*'s picture.

For August 7th. I went rollerblading for my workout. There's a long, hilly trail nearby where I live, which was built over an old railroad tracks. For the record, I am faster on rollerblades than the majority of the folks reading this post are on a roadbike. On flatland, my cruising speed is in the upper teens.

Very nice SINMAN, never could get the hang of rollerblading!!!! I would love to sounds like you really get a great workout from them!!!

August 8th. Sunday seems to be my day for the track workout I do. The setup is pretty simple. I run a lap around the track (~400 meters), I do a "drill" of some sort, run another lap, etc. etc. Overall, I'll usually do 8 drills, which equates to about 3.6km (9 laps).

So here was today's layout. I'll explain the drills, and if a suitable one exists, give it a name.

-1- Crocodile Walk / Spiderman Crawl - Same exercise, two of the more common names for it. Start with your left hand and left foot close to each other. Your right hand and right foot should be spread far apart. It should look like you are in a lop-sided pushup position, as that's basically what this is. Bend your right arm, so that your face barely touches the ground. Push up. Move your left hand and right foot forward. Now you should be in the same position you started, except vice versa. These are a lot easier to see than explain.

-2- Some Plyometrics on the Bleachers - I will explain the exercise, and save my plyometrics rant for a later point. I've got some bleachers that go one step up, two steps forwards for each stair. Jump up and land on every second step. Please note that this is the "primer", the real "workout" comes next. Once at the top, turn around to face down. Jump up and cushion your landing, so that you land somewhere between the parallel squat and olympic squat position.

-3- Switchbacks - I couldn't think of a better name for these. It's basically a burpee, except you turn 90° when you go down, and back when you pop back up (hence, switchback). Dive forward, twisting slightly in the air. You will land in a pushup position, facing orthogonal to the direction your are going (e.g. you turned 90° to either the left or right). Push up and to the side, so that you land facing forward again.

-4- Burpee to Standing Long-Jump - Hopefully this is self explanatory. You go down and do a burpee. Upon popping back up to your feet, swing your arms forward, and push off with your feet as hard as you can. I've found you get the best distance if you start with your legs bent all the way down, jump at an angle of 45°, and land again with your legs all the way bent.

-5- One-Arm Burpees - This one really is self-explanatory. I alternate arms when I do them.

-6- One-legged Jump Squats - Balancing yourself on one leg, jump up as high as you can, and land in a squatting position. I did 2 sets of 5, each leg.

-7- Backwards Crocodile Walk - Again, pretty self explanatory, the exact same thing as earlier, except you are going backwards. It's a little harder to do, and when you're nearing the end of the workout, it's even worse.

-8- Sideways Walking Lunges - This are difficult, but amazing. Especially for building up stabilizing muscles in the hips and others I didn't even know I had. Plant your left foot and step across it with your right. Start to squat down with your right leg, until your left knee touches the ground. Push yourself back up using your right leg, and bring your left foot back to the left. Squat down, as a regular squat, and back up. Now bring your right foot behind (think of a girl curtseying, in formal attire). Start to squat down with your left leg, until your right knee touches the ground. Push yourself back up, using your left leg, bringing your left leg back to the left. Squat down, as a regular squat and back up. Rinse and repeat. Vice versa for the other direction. I did 20 yards (~20 meters) each side, followed by 10 yards each side.

thesinner's rant about plyometrics. Plyometrics is the most abused form of exercise ever. The reason behind this is due to the generalization of the exercise by one too many coaches and trainers, who view it as merely jumping onto a box. It is not jumping onto a box. The key is not to jump high, but to land soft. We are trying to induce a dynamic stretch.

When you fall, your body builds up momentum. When you land (softly), your muscles absorb that momentum. Absorbing momentum within a specific amount of time is referred to in physics as Impulse. When you are doing squats, you have to draw up enough power to move the weight up, but there is no impulse, meaning that there is no specific time that it needs to happen by. In the case of landing, there is. Now instead of generating enough power to counteract a heavy barbell, you have to generate enough power to counteract the impulse. The difference is time dependence, how quickly you can generate the necessary power to overcome the load (impulse).

Hey Twister. Welcome to my log.

Rollerblading is one of my favorite ways to exercise. I put on my first pair of ice skates a few months before my 3rd birthday. So, I've probably got a few years more years of experience than you've had. I like going fast and having the wind in my face, although I probably could've gone without the bugs!!! When I got to my car that day, there were about 20 dead gnats on my face. They stick to the beads of sweat and die instantly.

Nice bet those bugs were yummy!!!! lol!!! You know I will be checking your log from now on my friend!!! Do you ever use the ol' JUMP ROPE anymore??? I still do!!! Yes you have quite a few more years on skates than me I only skated on the four wheel kind!!!

Today was a weights day. I decided to go with higher reps and/or slow eccentric phase movements today with my exercises. For whatever reason, I wasn't in the mood to move heavy weights, but still wanted to feel the burn.

I started out with dumbbell curls, while seated in an incline bench. The whole sitting down and leaning back stops you from even thinking about putting your shoulder or back into the movement.

Next were two sets of front squats.

Then came hammer strength incline press and hammer strength lat pulldowns.

I did arnold press superset with standing calf raises.

Then a hammer strength seated row.

Tricep rope pushdowns, superset with side lateral dumbbell raises.

I finished with 2 sets of cable crunches and 12 minutes on the elliptical.

Yeah, it was fanstastic. I stopped by a female jogger and said, "Hey would you want to grab a bite to eat after this? Dinner is on me!"

I still hit the ol' jump rope a couple times per week. In my opinion, it's one of the best forms of cardio out there. Glad to hear you are still at it as well.

Today was a shorter workout. I was kinda tired after work today.

I hit up some good ol' jumprope action to start off the first 20 minutes.

I did some core work with the cables, standing calf raises, and stability ball side planks.

I finished with 15 minutes of more jump rope.

The highlight of my workout was landing a criss-cross while doing triples. First time I've done that. It's essentially jump up, the rope goes under 1-2-3rd time it crosses - land - jump up again - uncross your arms - 2 - 3 and then I run out of steam.