Week 7–Grounded by Leg Day

Starting Weight:  204.  Down 28 pounds from the start.

Some guys can walk in a gym with no agenda or plan.  Maybe they know which muscle group they want to train…but which exercise, how many reps or sets, or even the types of sets (rest pause, drop sets, etc) they figure out as they go.  I am not one of those guys.  I have strict plans.  Otherwise I am likely to fall of track or even worse….lose track.  At this point  after 5 years of serious training, I think I can safely say I understand what I am doing in the gym now.  Five years!  It’s complicated.  And getting to the gym is the biggest problem people struggle with….but knowing what to do when you’re in the gym is the next biggest problem.  I was timid at first when I started.  I felt comfortable on a piece of cardio equipment, could stumble through some dumbbells or machines, but dare not enter a squat rack.  I worked with the trainer to come up with a 4 or 5 day split and then he determines everything else.  All of the guesswork and research to find a good routine is off of me.  But like I said, I am finally at a point where I think I can write out my own plans (but still not dare walk in to the gym without some plan in hand).

For the past 9 weeks we were on the same routine schedule.  Some moderation in our cardio, but the lifting routine was the same.  Ten weeks is about my max for staying on the same routine schedule.  I just get to the point where I get bored.  So for the past few weeks WC and I were asking for some sort of a change.  And we got what we asked for. 

Here is our 6 day split (I’ll likely post some of the exercises later):

Monday:  Legs 
Tuesday:  Chest/Triceps
Wednesday:  Back/Biceps
Thursday:  Shoulders
Friday:  Repeat leg day
Saturday:  Abs

Remember my rules about leg day?  This routine violated those rules.  Two leg days in one week.  Not to mention I pulled a muscle in my lower back last week and have been nursing the injury for several days.  The thought of smith machine squats or stiff leg deadlifts made my back hurt worse.  The basis of the new workouts is focusing on higher reps and blasting each muscle group.  Leg day has 8 exercises!  Oh they were blasted alright!  We needed a little extra motivation one day at work and we were looking at pics from the guys at last year’s show.  There was one thing that set guys apart…it always came down to their legs.  Fine…legs twice a week it is.

I barely had enough energy to complete the last workouts when I was running on no carbs.  So if Week 8 was the proverbial truck….then in Week 7 I got hit by a train.  Words can not express how little energy I was functioning on each day.  The Tuesday morning following legs was the worst.  Every muscle in my body was one giant cramp.  The pain in my back was even more intense.  I grimaced at the thought of putting on my shoes and going to do cardio.  The pain lasted most of the week….until Thursday.  Wednesday night I went to bed and got a solid amount of sleep.  It was just what I needed.  I woke up feeling refreshed and all of the pain and body aches were gone.  It was a great feeling and probably why I have the energy tonight to update my posts….or else the blogging guilt has gotten to me and I finally want to say that I am caught up.  Either way, I am enjoying this energy for as long as I can…note to self:  go to bed early. 

Tomorrow is the next assessment.  As we get closer to the show these are going to be once a week (usually on Fridays).  It gives us a chance to practice posing and the trainer a chance to take a look at where we are and make any changes necessary.  We are still holding out for the cheat meal he promised, but I’d bet I don’t see one of those until after the show.  Ugh!  Who needs food that tastes good anyway?