Becoming an Athlete

I trained a client after work today before heading to the gym. I am teaching him how to fight. It's great to get in all the warm-ups and stretching with him before I head to the gym. I am closing in on front splits, but my side splits are still a ways off. After training him, I went to the gym for an arm workout. I fully admit I train arms. I had avoided any direct arm work for many years because I thought training as a single coordinated unit using compound lifts was all I needed to stay balanced. In the last 2-3 years, there have been periods when I could do 15+ strict pullups or chinups and and easy 25+ dips, but my arms never matched my torso. So today, I did an Ian King arm workout. Th. e volume is MUCH lower than I'm used to, but the drop-sets amd tri-sets made up for it. Bicep tri-set (all 3 movements for one arm before switching arms) a. Cross-body hammer curl: 20 x 10 b. Concentration curl: 20 x 10 c. Dumbbell preacher curl: 20 x 10 Tricep tri-set (all 3 movements for ...

Monday AM: Front squats: 135 x 5, 10; 185 x 6, 10, 10, 10 Conventional Deadlift: 205 x 10, 12, 15 Back squat: 145 x 25 Monday PM: 1-arm db row: 60 x 12, 12, 12 per arm wide-grip seated row: 75 x 15, 15, 13 Supine grip pulldown: 140 x 12, 12, 12 Wide grip pulldown: 100 x 15, 11, 9 (forearms gave out before my back) Overhead press: 95 x 12, 12, 8 dumbbell lateral raise: 15s x 15, 6; 10s x 15, 15, 12, 9 Hammer Strength incline press: 55(per arm) x 12, 12; 70(per arm) x 12, 8 I skipped any additional chest work.

I was bored, and I missed Friday's workout, so I did some squats on Saturday morning. Nothing fancy. front squat: 185 x 10, 10, 10 Sumo deadlift: 185 x 15, 15, 15 Back squat: 145 x 20 After that I just goofed off with the kids.

Much needed day off. Not sure how else to describe this, but even my knees feel heavy.

Tuesday night was an arm workout. As usual, my left elbow caused me to hold back quite a bit. I compensated with slower tempo, lighter weight, and higher volume. I stopped when my elbow started hurting. Skull crushers are definitely OFF my menu for a while. Even the bar made my elbow hurt. All told, I did a decent job, because biceps and triceps of both arms are sore.

My elbow held up much better today (Monday evening). 1-arm db rows: 55 x 12, 12, 12 wide grip cable row: 75 x 12, 12, 12 Overhead press: 95 x 12, 12, 7 Hammer Strength lateral raises: 17.5 x 15, 15, 12 Supine grip pulldown: 140 x 12, 12, 12 (elbow started hurting) Wide grip pulldown 100 x 10; 90 x 15, 13 (elbow REALLY sore now) Hammer Strength incline press: 60s x 12, 12, 12 I skipped cable cross-overs.

Straight forward, but not easy. Front squat: (warm-up with 135 x 10) 165 x 10, 10; 175 x 10 Sumo DL: 175 x 15, 15, 15 Back squat: 135 x 25 Althought this was hard, I can tell I'll need a bit more volume.