Exercise Log 2.27.14 (Dev Day, No Cardio)

Today is developmental day, to catch up on all the things I left behind this workout cycle. Today my priority was to hit arms, to do abs which I neglect a lot, and to stretch myself out. Had a fantastic time!

First, biceps…

Heavy Bicep Curls: 3 sets of 5 reps @ 80lbs. Had to work hard to keep form stable this was heavy for me.

Preacher Curls: 4 sets of 10 reps @ 50lbs. Worked on full extension and slower movement. Also tried desperately hard to break my body of recruiting my right shoulder into my curling action with my arms, it’s putting strain on it. This shoulder is kind of a pain in the ass at this point. Did an okay job, but still felt it want to recruit itself into the movement more than I’d like.

Hammer Curls: 3 sets of 8 reps each hand @ 30lbs. Worked on slow form and good contraction.

Chin-ups: 3 sets of 8 reps, these felt great, finished off biceps real efficiently tonight with this routine.

Then, triceps…

Tricep Dumbbell Hip Press: Usually I do hip presses with curl bars, I really liked this dumbbell variation… it felt fantastic! 4 sets of 10 reps @ 40lbs pair.

French Press: Worked on smooth and focused form for one of my favorite tricep exercises. 3 sets of 16 reps @ 50lbs.

Rope Tricep Pulldown: Went on the cable machine with the rope handle and hit it as hard as I could. Sets 1 & 2) 8 reps @ 80lbs. Sets 3 & 4) 8 reps @ 100lbs. Set 5) 12 reps @ 60lbs (drop set).

Alright, next it was time for abs!

Cable Crunches: This was an awesome exercise and I will absolutely be doing this all the time especially on developmental day. Got the tip from Scott Herman, although I kind of hate asking for spotters so I didn’t have someone step on my toes to bring the weight up. I felt it works a lot of stabilizers to not have someone holding your feet, so it’s still hard. Here is a great video…

A very fun ab exercise that you can really feel. No, I’m not hardcore enough to pin a plate in.

Didn’t know how to tackle it at first, so just incremented the weight as I went. Set 1) 12 reps @ 120lbs. Sets 2 & 3) 12 reps @ 140lbs. Set 4) 12 reps @ 160lbs.

Roller Doohickey: The little arm roller thing you see people play with at the gym, I never did this so I felt like it’d work my core so I tried it. It’s probably got some technical name, but I call it a doohickey. Here is a video showing what I mean so you’re not all confused.

My verdict, pretty fun and simple.

Not a replacement for other ab day exercises, but a nice one to swap in. 3 sets of 8 reps.

Woodchoppers: Scott Herman again has a great selection of fitness videos, and I decided to do my first set of real “woodchopper” oblique twists. Again, video!

It’s kinda fun to just crank it out.

Sets 1 & 2) 12 reps @ 60lbs. Sets 3 & 4) 12 reps @ 90lbs.

Since this is developmental day I really like to use today as a day to fix disfunctional parts of my body, and today that meant extensive stretching. I’m tight everywhere, and even after a day of massaging and stretching a couple days ago I knew I needed it again. Listen to your body when muscles feel tight, stretch them out! I did very extensive arm stretches, focused on that troublesome right shoulder and my calves (I am genetically gifted with awesome calf muscles) have feel feeling very tight lately so I took a nice long stretch with those. Then I did a lengthy session (like 3 rounds, although not specific quantities of reps) of breathing stomach vacuum exercises. This really helps stabilize my core for those compound lifts I do in the week, and I think are very essential.

That’s it for the log, great workout day!