Exercise Log 2.20.14 (Dev Day + Cardio)

It was a relaxing day today, weather is getting nicer and I got off work early so I took a nice midday siesta. After getting awake again and ready to go, I hit the gym for development day. My two weak spots this week were the front squats (my high volume, light weight front squats took a ton more out of me than I was expecting, so I wanted to reinforce it). I skipped arm day to go bouldering the night before, but didn’t feel like my arm workout was thorough enough.

Front Squats: Returning to a heavy rotation, or at least trying to, I had a tough time making the squats happen but it eventually happened. Set 1) 5 reps @ 135lbs. Set 2) 5 reps @ 145lbs. Set 3) 5 reps @ 155lbs (split set, 3 reps then 2). Set 4) 2 reps @ 165lbs, the second rep was high hip-wise but I felt it counted. Set 5) 5 reps @ 135lbs. So long story short, matched my max rep twice, so feeling good there.

Upright Barbell Rows: A new exercise for me, I’ve been feeling like my traps and shoulders need work and this is a staple exercise in many routines I see so I thought I’d try it. Had a great time and learned a lot about it, pretty straight forward but takes a lot of mental effort to keep form good and contract the muscles real good. Set 1) 10 reps @ bare bar. Set 2) 10 reps @ 65lbs. Set 3) 8 reps @ 85lbs (poor form). Set 4) 10 reps @ 65lbs. Set 5) 10 reps @ 65lbs with slower than usual tempo.

Next, arms…

Bicep Curls / French Press: 4 sets of 10 reps each @ 60lbs. Focused on slower than usual tempo and good form and concentration. These worked me real good was a nice start.

Overhand Grip Bicep Curls / Overhead Tricep Extensions: 4 sets of 10 reps each @ 50lbs.

Wide-Grip Pullups / Dips: 3 sets of 8 reps each. Did forced negatives on the pullups around the 5th or 6th rep to finish the sets. Still a very weak pull-up person, but I’m leaps and bounds ahead of where I was a year ago.

Chin-ups: To further boil in the arm work, did 3 sets of 8 reps of chin-ups.

Cable Bicep 1-Armed Overhead Curls / Rope Tricep Extensions: Hit up the cable machine to finish up arms. Sets 1 & 2) 10 reps each hand curls @ 40lbs / 12 reps extensions @ 80lbs. Sets 3 & 4) 8 reps each curls @ 50lbs / 10 reps extensions @ 90lbs.

Finished up with a fun 3.7 mile run. I’m still a little slow from the winter slowdown, but I’m feeling like I’m moving up and was able to run a little more intense.