Commanding My Body

[Commander]

Originally Posted by Commander

here is the plan of attack:

1) Squat tonight, then destroy legs with some sprints
2) Hopefully kill my back Friday evening, then enjoy vacation at the beach

Got the exercising done, now to enjoy my vacation!

See you guys May 17th!

-----

Pull Day

T-Bar
120 (plus 10) 180x3 - perfect form
185x3 - slight hip motion

Chinups
BW (plus 10) BW+40x5, +45x5
BWx9

T-Bar (for max reps)
150x6 - too soon after chins
125x13

DB Hammer Curl - 60 seconds rest
22x12, 9, 8

Jamming to Metallica - Shortest Straw

[Commander]

Well, I got from Key Largo Florida late Saturday night, didn't train on Sunday or Monday.

Sunday was a community service project with church, visiting with family and unpacking.

Monday was playing with kids and making sure my wife had time to workout.

Hope to get back on schedule tonight with a back/bicep workout.

I plan on posting more about the vacation, it was AWESOME, just don't have time at the moment.

[Commander]

Chin ups
BW (plus 10) BW+70x3, PR - these were really solid reps
BW+15x12, PR - same here, solid reps, could have gotten a few more, but wanted to keep perfect form

superset w/

Squats
120x5, 6 sets - for cardio/GPP/conditioning/whatever you want to call it/ and most importantly, for keeping up practicing the squat

T-Bar Rows
100 (plus 10) 160x5
130x10
105x13

superset w/

Jump Rope - only after first 5 sets
5x1 minute intervals

Reverse Curl - 60 second rest
50x10, 8, 6

Forearm Roller
4 sets of extensions
3 sets of flexion

I don't know what to make of this, last time I had extended time off I came back and was weak, this time I came back strong. Who knows?

[WorkoutMchne]

Welcome back, we missed you around here. Glad to hear that the vacation was fun and I look forward to hearing more about it. Also, I think the reason you came back strong was because you have been listening to The Shortest Straw during your workouts.

[Commander]

Originally Posted by WorkoutMchne

Welcome back, we missed you around here.

Thanks, that was very nice of you to say.

Originally Posted by WorkoutMchne

Also, I think the reason you came back strong was because you have been listening to The Shortest Straw during your workouts.

Darn straight! I think I will continue lifting to Metallica.

Originally Posted by WorkoutMchne

Glad to hear that the vacation was fun and I look forward to hearing more about it.

Vacation was awesome, flew down to Ft. Lauderdale on Saturday May 8th. Got in early and went to this incredible place named Coral Castle on the way down to Key Largo. It has pieces of fossilized coral bigger than Stonehenge that were all put in place by one man with simple tools as the story goes.

Then it was on to our rented condo in Key Largo. It was at a private yacht club so it was very quiet and peaceful. Day 1 was unpacking and grocery shopping for the week. Day 2 we explored the Yacht club, we went swimming in it's little lagoon, tried out its beach area and swam in the pool as well. Day 3 was Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park. Home to the only living coral reef in the continental US. It was beautiful, we saw the reef by glass bottom boat. Then we kayaked through the mangrove forest, absolutely incredible and spent some time at the beach there. Day 4 was another Yacht club day, spent at the beach and pool.

Day 5 was the Everglades Alligator Farm for alligator and snake shows and a sweet airboat ride. The shows were great and the airboat ride was fantastic, our driver whipped the boat into several 360's. After the farm, we went into the actual Everglades National Park and hiked a trail to see alligators in the natural habitat, along with some gorgeous birds. It was truly incredible. After leaving the Everglades, we stopped at a fruit stand for fresh fruit milk shakes and the fruit stand was also was a petting zoo, that was a pleasant surprise, and my kids and wife enjoyed feeding some goats.

Day 6 was Theater of the Sea. A place with dolphin, parrot and sea lion shows. Each show was very well done. My kids also got some alone time with a dolphin, getting to pet the dolphin, make it jump through hoops, get a dolphin kiss, truly memorable.

Day 7 was back to Pennekamp state park for snorkeling at a stage ship wreck and more kayaking in the mangrove forests. Day 8 was up to Ft. Lauderdale where we hit the beach for 4.5 hours prior to our flight. We all got roasted that day. My kids enjoyed it, as the beach at the Yacht club had a lot of plant growth and very little waves, so my kids were thrilled by the big waves at Ft. Lauderdale's South Beach.

We dined at a fish house one night and had some great fresh fish, and the last day we went to a fantastic Mexican restaurant.

I did some push ups and crunches on 3 of the days, but otherwise got plenty of exercise from snorkeling, swimming, rowing the kayak and walking.

I'm weighing in at a light 191 right down, I was around 194.3 prior to leaving for the trip. Probably slight lean mass loss and some water weight.

Here is a video I compiled from the trip, unfortunately, it has not Everglades footage because we didn't have the flip camera that day.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KBMESKSVxmw

Here is what you see in the video:
Swimming at yacht club lagoon
Sea Turtle
Counting Parrot (3+7)
Dolphin high jump
Wilbur the sea lion smiling
Dolphin jumping beside our boat
Walking through some mangroves
A huge lobster (estimated by locals to be 5lbs) eating bran flakes
Me torturing my children on a tire swing
My wife and youngest son kayaking through mangrove forest
My kids playing on coral rocks at yacht club beach
Throwing my youngest in the pool
Throwing my oldest in the pool
Me being amazed at a opossum
My kids hitting the waves at Ft. Lauderdale South Beach

[HardCory]

Great video, looks like you had a great time. Kid tossing may become the new workout craze.

[misterjaydubyoo]

Nice to have you back, and glad you had such a good vacation. The time off is probably why you were stronger. Those are good for the body some times!

[bigbear6708]

you went to FL in the almost summer time!!! haha, just playin, glad you had fun! ill be hitting up Disney World for Christmas this year (26, 27, 28th)

[Commander]

Originally Posted by HardCory

Great video, looks like you had a great time. Kid tossing may become the new workout craze.

No doubt, it's how I stay fit when I'm away from my gym.

Originally Posted by misterjaydubyoo

Nice to have you back, and glad you had such a good vacation.

Yeah, it was truly awesome, I've never had a vacation like it. Usually, I am ready to come home, get back to life and see my dog, but I was not ready for it to be over, everyday was perfect.

Originally Posted by misterjaydubyoo

The time off is probably why you were stronger. Those are good for the body some times!

I'm just confused, after Boston in January, I came back very weak. The time off didn't benefit me at all.

Here is the difference which I think might be the answer, this time off was much more active. Active Recovery so to speak, while Boston was just hanging with family thus deconditioning myself more.

Originally Posted by bigbear6708

you went to FL in the almost summer time!!! haha, just playin, glad you had fun! ill be hitting up Disney World for Christmas this year (26, 27, 28th)

Luckily, it was mid 70's as a low and mid 80's as a high, and mild humidity, I don't think I would enjoy FL in the peak of summer, very hot and humid from what I hear. Have fun at Disney!

-----------

Push Day

Seated OH
110 (plus 10) 160x3 (last set I didn't maintain perfect form)
120x10

ss w/

Squats - conditioning and practice
120x5, 7 sets

Rack Bench Press - pin 7, about 5 inches off chest
140 (plus 20) 240x5
190x10

ss w/

Jump Rope
1 minute intervals x 5

Face Pull - 60 second rest
40x12, 10, 8
30x12

Elbow Out Ext - 60 second rest
30x12, 10, 8

------------

Workouts are going to be more bodybuilding focused. I feel that lifting heavy is the best way to add/maintain mass, so the lower rep sets of 3 and 5 reps will continue to be the mainstay of my workouts. But I also feel that volume and max reps can be an excellent hypertrophy stimulus. Thus, I plan on adding more max rep sets to get some additional volume into my routines. I've always been a low to moderate volume guy, so it won't seem like much to many who are reading my journal. I also will add in some exercises from time to time. For example, I added in face pulls today. They provided a great hypertrophy stimulus to my medial delts, they had an excellent pump last night are feeling quite sore today. OH pressing will still be my main shoulder exercise, but I need to add some medial delt mass to get that wide look.

I still want to be strong, but I am realizing that I will likely not do future powerlifting meets because 1) they are expensive and 2) my squat blows. And as I came to that realization, I also realized that I want to improve the look of my physique more than I want to be strong. Thus, some tweaks here and there to my routine.

[WorkoutMchne]

Originally Posted by Commander

Workouts are going to be more bodybuilding focused. I feel that lifting heavy is the best way to add/maintain mass, so the lower rep sets of 3 and 5 reps will continue to be the mainstay of my workouts. But I also feel that volume and max reps can be an excellent hypertrophy stimulus. Thus, I plan on adding more max rep sets to get some additional volume into my routines. I've always been a low to moderate volume guy, so it won't seem like much to many who are reading my journal. I also will add in some exercises from time to time. For example, I added in face pulls today. They provided a great hypertrophy stimulus to my medial delts, they had an excellent pump last night are feeling quite sore today. OH pressing will still be my main shoulder exercise, but I need to add some medial delt mass to get that wide look.

I still want to be strong, but I am realizing that I will likely not do future powerlifting meets because 1) they are expensive and 2) my squat blows. And as I came to that realization, I also realized that I want to improve the look of my physique more than I want to be strong. Thus, some tweaks here and there to my routine.

This is all very disappointing and saddening. I'm going to pretend that I didn't see this from now on.