Shoulders and triceps

Push press
85lb x 8, 8, 8

One arm dumbbell front raise, underhand
25lb x 10, 10, 10 per arm

Barbell shrugs
185lb x 10; 195lb x 10, 10

Dumbbell lateral raises
17.5s x 15, 14, 12

======

Close grip bench press
100lb x 6, 6, 7

Seated French press
25lb x 9, 8, 8

EZ bar skull crushers
65lb x 9, 8, 8

Parallette dips, feet elevated
14, 16, 12

Hang cleans and forearms

My clean technique has been pretty poor recently, so the first part of today's session was simply going back to basics and breaking down the movement from scratch. I did hang cleans so I could focus on the top half of the exercise. A couple of times I found that - as one would expect - I failed at moderate weights simply because I lost concentration. In fact, my first two attempts at 130lb were a bust, so I took a couple of breaths, then summoned up an aggressive jump and shrug to get the bar up to my chest. Unfortunately, I couldn't get 135lb up, no matter how hard I tried, but overall I felt like I was starting to find my way back to improving my cleans.

The rest of the session was just a few forearm routines.

Barbell holds - 135lb x 3 (untimed)

Barbell wrist rolls - 65lb x 10, 8, 7

Wrist roller x 3

Chest, biceps and abs

No idea.

Bench press
95lb x 5, 5
125lb x 4, 4, 4, 4

Incline bench press
95lb x 7, 6, 6, 6

True push-ups
13, 10, 10, 9

Cable flies
30s x 10, 8, 7, 7

=======

Pinwheel curls
50s x 5, 5, 5

EZ bar standing curls
70lb x 12, 9, 7

Cable curls
50lb x 12, 9
50lb/30lb/10lb x 6/5/5

======

Supersets x 3:
30 sit-ups
Feet elevated plank (Swiss ball, untimed)

Quads and hams

Show off.

Back squats
115lb x 5
145lb x 5
165lb x 5
195lb x 3

Leg press
280lb x 10, 10, 10

Barbell traveling lunges
75lb x 2 lengths of the yoga room
3 sets

Leg extensions
87.5lb x 10, 10
87.5lb/62.5lb/37.5lb x 10/10/10

======

Straight leg deadlifts
135lb x 10
215lb x 5, 5

Leg curls
62.5lb x 10, 10, 10

Leg curls (burn)
37.5lb x 40

Biceps and triceps

Alternating dumbbell curls
35s x 10, 10, 10

Bench dips, feet elevated
25, 20, 16

Incline dumbbell curls
25s x 12, 12, 10

One-arm preacher curls
25lb x 6, 7, 7
 
Seated French press
30lb x 10, 9, 10

Dumbbell 21s
20s x 1, 1, 1

Dumbbell skull crushers
25s x 10, 8, 8

Dumbbell one-arm tricep extensions
35lb x 12, 12, 11

Shoulders and back

Barbell shrug and hang clean
95lb x 8, 8, 8; 70lb x 10

Wide grip pull ups
12, 9, 7, 6

Barbell front raise
45lb x 12, 12; 55lb x 12, 12

One-arm dumbbell rows
60lb x 10; 65lb x 8, 8, 8 per arm

Seated Arnold press
30s x 10, 8, 7

Wide cable rows
90lb x 12; 110lb x 8, 9, 8

Dumbbell lateral raises (burn)
15s x 40

Deadlifts
135lb x 10
195lb x 10, 10

Legs

Back squats
95lb x 5, 5
155lb x 5, 5, 5

Leg press
270lb x 10, 10, 10

Front squats
95lb x 10, 10
100lb x 10

Leg extensions
87.5lb x 10, 10, 10

======

Straight leg deadlifts
185lb x 8, 8, 8

Ran out of time and couldn't finish my hamstring workout.

Chest and biceps

Bench press
95lb x 5, 5
125lb x 4, 4, 4, 3

Dips - 14, 10, 8, 8

Machine flies
90lb x 9, 9, 10, 9

Incline bench press
90lb x 5, 6, 5

======

EZ bar standing curls
65lb x 13; 70lb x 9, 7, 6

Barbell curls - 21s x 3

One arm machine preacher curls
12.5lb x 12, 12; 25lb x 7

======

Barbell wrist curls
60lb x 12, 12, 10

Quads and hamstrings

Box back squats
95lb x 5
115lb x 5
125lb x 3
135lb x 3
155lb x 3
175lb x 3
195lb x 3
205lb x 3
215lb x 3
225lb x 3
235lb x 2

Leg press
270lb x 5, 5, 5

Leg extensions
87.5lb x 10, 10
87.5lb/62.5lb/37.5lb x 10/10/10

======

Straight leg deadlifts
165lb x 10, 10, 10

Leg curls
62.5lb x 10, 10, 10

Dumbbell straight leg deadlifts
45s x 40 (burn)

Back and calves

I probably didn't need to do a back workout this week, because of all the snow I've been deadlifting the past few days. Bloody hell.

Wide grip pull-ups
14, 10, 8

Deadlifts
135lb x 10
225lb x 5
245lb x 4, 4
225lb x 5

Bent over barbell rows
100lb x 10, 9, 9

Lateral pull downs
100 x 10, 9, 8

Back extensions
10, 10, 6

Cable row, full extension
110lb x 12, 11, 10

======

I decided to try some light calf work, to see how it affected my left foot's arch.

Two leg standing calf raises - 15, 15, 15

One leg standing calf raises - 10, 10, 10

Biceps and triceps

Pump!

Dumbbell curls
30s x 10, 10, 10

Bench dips, feet elevated
25, 20, 15

Incline dumbbell curls
25s x 10, 12, 12

Dumbbell one-arm tricep extensions
35 x 10, 10, 9 per arm

Dumbbell 90 degree holds
25s x 30 seconds, 30, 30

Seated French press
25 x 15, 15, 12

Concentration curls
25s x 10, 10, 10

Dumbbell skullcrushers
25s x 10, 8, 8

Shoulders, traps and forearms

Jeebus!

Power cleans
45lb x 5, 5
65lb x 5
75lb x 3
85lb x 3
100lb x 2
115lb x 2
130lb x 1
135lb x 0, 0, 0

No power today; no idea why.

Seated dumbbell shoulder press
30s x 12; 32s x 11, 9
Drop sets - 32s x 8; 20s x 8; 10s x 10

Upright row @ 65lb - 12, 12, 12

Seated dumbbell shrugs/lateral raises
20s x 10, 11, 11

Barbell shrugs - 185lb x 10, 10, 10

======

Barbell wrist curls - 60lb x12, 11, 7

Static barbell hold @ 135lb - 33 seconds, 30, 34

Wrist roller - 3 x 1

Legs

I haven't been recording my personal training sessions here for a while, simply because I can never remember exactly what we did by the time I get home. Ben and I get through so many routines that I lose track. Anyway, to the best of my memory...

Warm up - Leg press
110lb x 15, 15; 170lb x 15

Front squats, a2g
95lb x 12, 12, 12, 12

Leg curls
(Can't remember weight) 12, 12, 12, 12

Leg extensions
Single leg, alternating after 10 reps, then repeating = 1 set
(Weight?) 4 sets

Barbell traveling lunges
75lb x 2 lengths of the yoga room
4 sets

Air squats - Full rom - 2 x 30 reps

Air squats - 45 seconds, lower part of motion

Back and abs

Weighted pull-ups
25lb x 3
30lb x 3
35lb x 3
40lb x 3
45lb x 3
50lb x 1

Wide cable rows - 90lb x 12, 12, 12, 11

Deadlifts
135lb x 10
185lb x 10, 10

Row/rear delt machine (burn) - 50lb x 40, 40

======

Bicycle crunches - 50, 50, 50 per side

Plank, feet and arms elevated on Swiss balls x 3 (untimed)

Russian twists - 20, 20, 20 per side

Chest and biceps

When I went to the gym today I saw that I won the pull-ups section of the Open Day fitness challenge. I got 18 unbroken reps to win the over-45 category. My score was actually 3 reps more than the under-45 winner. I managed 40 reps for the push-ups, which was 13 less than the winner. I don't want to talk about the crunches and wall sits...

Bench press
95lb x 5, 5
120lb x 5, 5, 5, 4

Incline dumbbell bench press
45s x 5, 5, 5, 5

Piston dumbbell bench press
40s x 10, 9, 8, 7

Cable flies
20s x 15, 13, 12, 11

======

EZ bar standing curls
65lb x 12, 12, 9, 10

Concentration curls 25s x 6, 6, 6, 6

Machine preacher curls (burn)
37.5lb x 40

Fitness test / Shoulders

ABsolute Fitness had its annual open day today, part of which involved a four-part fitness test. At the time of writing, I know my scores, but not how well I did compared to other competitors.

Max reps strict pull-ups: 18
Max reps push-ups: 40
Max reps crunches: 20
Wall sits to failure: 1 minute 20 seconds

Ben also gave me a fitness assessment. Here are some of the figures:

Body fat: 12%
Neck: 13.5"
Shoulders: 45"
Chest: 35.5"
Flexed bicep (right): 13"
Flexed bicep (left): 13"
Waist: 32.75"
Thigh (right): 20.75"
Thigh (left): 20.75"
Calf (right): 13.75"
Calf (left): 14"
Cardio fitness - max VO2: 144; recovery: 102
Grip strength (right/left): 43/45

I'm very pleased with the drop in body fat, as well as a more balanced right/left muscle balance.

I didn't have much time after all this, so I did a short shoulder session.

Push press: 100lb x 8, 6, 5

Barbell shrug/hang cleans: 100lb x 10, 10, 7

Barbell front raise: 50lb x 12, 12, 12

Fitness challenge results

Biceps, triceps and abs

40 push-ups (unbroken)

Dumbbell curls
30s x 10, 10, 10

Bench dips, feet elevated
24, 19, 15

Incline dumbbell curls
25s x 12, 12, 10

Dumbbell one-arm tricep extensions
30lb x 12, 11, 10

Dumbbell 21s
20s x 1, 25s x 1, 1

Seated French press
30lb x 10, 9, 9

Concentration curls
25s x 10, 30s x 8, 9

Dumbbell skullcrushers
25s x 9, 8, 7

======

Crunches; amrap 60 seconds with 60 seconds rest
35, 32, 27

Plank, feet elevated
3 x 30 seconds

Pulling

Power cleans
95lb x 3
115lb x 3
125lb x 3
130lb x 3
135lb x 3
140lb x 1, 0

Weighted chin-ups
35lb x 3
40lb x 3
45lb x 3
50lb x 3
55lb x 3
60lb x 2

Barbell shrugs
135lb x 15
155lb x 10, 10, 10

Chest and biceps

I need to time my nutrition more carefully. I started to feel hungry halfway through this afternoon's workout, which meant not only that I didn't have as much energy as I needed, but the hunger was also a distraction.

Push-ups, unbroken - 35

Bench press
95lb x 12, 9, 8, 8

Dips - 11, 8, 8, 6

Machine flies
70lb x 18, 80lb x 14, 12, 12

Decline bench presses
80lb x 14, 90lb x 11, 100lb x 10, 8

======

Pinwheel curls
50s x 5, 5, 5 per arm

Barbell standing curls
70lb x 10, 8, 9

One-arm machine preacher curls
25lb x 8, 8; 25lb/12.5lb drop set - 8/12

Back and calves

Wow - Paul Walker, dead at 40. Not meaning to be glib,
but I always admired his physique.

Chin-ups - amrap 60 seconds, with 60 seconds rest
24, 13, 12

Deadlifts
135lb x 10
185lb x 10, 10

Lateral pull downs
90lb x 12, 12, 10

Cable row, rope handles, extended rom
50lb x 40 (burn)

======

45 degree calf raises
110lb x 40
110lb x 20 single leg, per leg
110lb x 40

Barbell calf raises on a step
135lb x 10, 10, 10, 10