Two Weeks Out

Well I'm officially less than two weeks out from the meet! Things are going really well overall. I think I pretty much have my openers picked out and this week I'm going through and hitting all those numbers. I'm feeling pretty confident about things and am ready to go! I've been focusing a lot on recovery to make sure I don't miss out on that aspect as I tend to do a lot of times. My workouts lately have been pretty low volume in preparation for the meet. Honestly, workouts like that make me really antsy and kind of unsatisfied. I love the feeling of pushing myself and I love the high volume workouts. I just have to accept that I have to go a couple weeks without that. I'm anxious to compete and then recover and get back with my regular lifting. I did my deadlifts yesterday and have bench Wednesday and squats on Thursday. My squat has improved by leaps and bounds and I am so much more confident with it than I was before. I have my good days and bad with bench and deadlift but I feel like they have both improved, but not as much as I would have hoped.

Workout Log 9/20/2013

Saturday evening after work I got my bench session in. Here's how it went:

Warm Up
Bench Press: 5x5@100lbs
DB Shoulder Press: 2x20
Pull-ups: 2x12
Dips: 2x12
Rows: 2x15
Band Pull Aparts: 75 total reps

Honestly, I wasn't overly pleased with this session. The bench press felt way too heavy and my energy levels were just way lower than I would have liked. After the workout I met up with B and we had an awesome supper at Scotty's. Certainly not the training session I had hoped for this close to meet time but I just have to brush it off and keep working hard; I'm too close to lose my focus. I got some much needed rest this weekend so hopefully this week I'll be on top of my game!

Workout Log 9/18/2013

Wednesday was the best day ever for squats!!

Warm Up
Squats: work up to a heavy triple
Front Squats: 4x5
RFESS: 3x10
Leg Extension: 3x15
Bent Row: 2x15
Hanging Crunch: 50 total reps
Cardio: 20 minutes HR below 130 BPM

Well for my heavy triple I ended up working up to 175! My old PR was 170 so I was thrilled to hit a triple at 5 lbs. OVER my PR! I got a video of the lift and my depth was great for all the reps and I probably had a couple left in the tank. It's so great to see my work paying off! :)

Workout Log 9/17/2013

Here is a summary of yesterday's training:

Warm-Up
Close Grip Bench: Work up to a heavy single then 3x3@85%
Shoulder Press: Work up to a heavy triple
DB Bench: 3x12
Pull-Ups: 3x12
Tricep Press Downs: 50 total reps

This was a pretty straight forward and quick session. I was pretty happy overall with my close grip bench. My energy levels have been awful this week, same with my appetite. I'm hoping the weekend will let me re-charge and get back on track a bit.

Workout Log 9/16/2013

Yesterday I was back at it with deadlifts. My volume is starting to drop off a bit in preparation for October.

Warm Up
Ultra Wide Sumo Deadlift: work up to a heavy single then 3x3@85%
Wide Stance Paused Squats: 3x8
Wide Stance Good Mornings: 3x12
Cable Pull Throughs: 3x25
Stir the Pot: 3x20
Cardio: 30 min HR under 130 BPM

So I'd say this went pretty well overall. My muscles felt a little tighter than I would have liked and my deadlifts felt a bit heavier than I would have liked but all in all no complaints. I've been having some weird thing going on with my appetite where I really don't ever feel like eating and I can tell it's starting to catch up with me strength and energy wise.

My Beef with "Commerical Fitness"

Disclaimer: The people and places I am referring to will remain nameless. This is not meant to be a rant, simply my findings and observations that not only make me shake my head, but also make me sad that things like this are commonplace in fitness facilities.

Over the last couple years I have spent a decent amount of time in big, commercial fitness facilities whether it be as an employee or a member. I'm a very observant person and recently a couple things have been brought to my attention that I really just can't keep quiet about. I love being a personal trainer. It is by far the most fun and rewarding job I have ever had. I love helping my clients meet their goals while also getting to know them on a personal level and forming a special bond with them. Sure, when you enter the commercial setting you will certainly have your guys who devote every day of the week to biceps. You'll have your women who think the Stairmaster is the be all end all. Yeah, there will be bros in barely there cut-offs flexing in the mirror; believe it or not, my pet peeve doesn't lie with any of those members. My pet peeve is solely with the trainers and management of the facilities who call themselves "experts" but in reality do nothing more than encourage bad habits and teach improper form to those who do not know any better.

I recently started helping a friend of mine with his workouts. He's a small guy and wants to put on some weight and get strong. Pretty basic goals. Throughout the course of our conversation a couple weeks ago, he mentioned that he had talked with a personal trainer at the gym where he went just to get a little advice since he didn't really know where to begin with his workout regime. This trainer, who claims to have all this education and certifications told him it was perfectly fine to lift weights seven days a week so long as he didn't work the same muscle group two days in a row; he really didn't need any rest time. Not only that, he was also informed by this "trainer" that it was fine to not squat and deadlift; just go ahead and keep running a lot, that'll be enough for your legs. HELLO??? Did he not say he wanted to gain weight? Sure, let's run 5 miles a day, never take time to recover, and completely forget about two of the bread and butter lifts. I bet this poor kid will put on a ton of weight in no time.

Sad, but possibly true.

A few days later I was doing my workout and I happened to notice one of the women who is pretty high up on the totem pole at the facility was also working out. I didn't really pay much attention to her because I was in the zone and was focusing on my own workout. I passed by her just as she asked someone how much the barbell weighed. I'm sorry, isn't that one of the first things we learn as "fitness professionals?" Once again, I shook my head and brushed it off, all while watching one trainer having a client doing quarter squats (at best) and another trainer having a client balance on a bosu ball and do squats (if an earthquake comes, at least this client will know how to squat). Sadly, things like this seem to be the norm. What happened to the classic effective exercises like squat, deadlift, pull-ups, and push-ups? These days, from what I observe, trainers in the commercial setting stay away from those exercises. If they do happen to have a client do squats or lunges it seems it can't be done without some sort of stability ball or other gizmo that is completely unnecessary. (Oh, sorry, I forget, we just want to work the core more.)

 

Maybe I'm just a big nerd, but in my free time I love to read articles on training, not only about my own training but also how to be more efficient as a personal trainer. My favorite websites are elitefts.com and girlsgonestrong.com. I also enjoy Juggernaut, TNation, and lift.net. Yeah, I have a degree in Health and Fitness from a Big 10 school as well as a personal training certification from one of the best national organizations. But you know what both of those things are? Pieces of paper. That's it. The day I passed my personal training test I didn't automatically become a fountain of knowledge. I would be willing to say that 90% of what I know about training came from talking with others who know more than I do, reading articles on credible websites, and most of all, getting my own experience under the bar. You can get all the certifications and degrees that you want, but all that knowledge is basically meaningless without going out and getting your own experience.

Mostly, I'm just sad about what the field I love is turning into. Of course, there are certainly still lots of credible trainers out there. Unfortunately, it just seems that for every trainer who actually knows their stuff, there's three trainers who don't know their stuff. It's very disheartening to me when I observe trainers at the gym who are clearly not helping their clients. And the saddest part for me is the client has no idea. They put their faith, trust, and a whole lot of money into this trainer and are inevitably going to be disappointed when they either don't see results or get an injury.

I have been employed in the commercial fitness industry at various facilities for about two years and in my opinion, it just gets worse and worse each time they hire a new trainer. I've been volunteering at a private facility for a few months and I absolutely love it. The owner and the other trainer are very knowledgeable and the clients see great results and love coming in to workout! At this small private facility, the owner isn't money hungry; it's not all about how many sessions he can sell in a month like it is in most of the commercial facilities. There's not a single machine or silly bosu ball in the facility (seriously, what is with those silly things??). It is such a refreshing change of pace for me to be able to go into a facility and talk about 5/3/1 or the cube method and not get blank stares from my co-workers. I love going there and seeing the trainers actually care about their clients, not only care about their workouts, but legitimately care about them on a personal level. Volunteering in the private sector has certainly restored some of my faith in the fitness industry.

I'm not aiming to tear down the commercial setting because I'm sure their are some very knowledgeable people at some of these facilities. If you are looking to find a trainer, I highly recommend you do some research and find someone credible in your area. Don't just stop by the nearest big chain gym and think you're going to get a trainer who is going to make magic happen. I've seen some trainers who may meet with 12 different clients in a day and would have each client do the exact same workout. Clearly they weren't too concerned with tailoring a workout to meet specific goals. If you work with a trainer, don't be afraid to ask them why they're having you do something. If they get defensive about you asking questions or stammer around and can't give you an answer, then chances are they have no idea why they're having you do the exercise. If you want to know how certain things about the workouts are going to help you meet your goals, go ahead and ask! If you don't know something, it's okay to ask; that's how you learn!

Basically, before you hire a trainer just make sure you do your homework. Ask the trainer about not only their education and certifications but also about their own experience with their own training. If you get a bad vibe or just don't like what you hear then don't be afraid to move on down the road. The right trainer is out there, I promise!

 

Workout Log 9/13/2013

Friday night I was able to get in an awesome bench session with Brandon. Here's how it went:

Warm-up: Foam roll/mobility
Bench: Work up to 100 then 5x5@100lbs
DB Shoulder Press: 3x15
Dips: 3x10
Pull-ups: 4x8
OA DB Row: 4x12
Skull Crushers: 3x12
Band Pull Aparts: 75 total reps
Reverse Hyper: 2x20

The 5x5 on bench wasn't exactly 5x5. I was having some trouble getting all five reps in each set so B had me do sets of three for most of them. He helped me out with my set up so I could get a better arch and had me use a wider grip so my stroke wasn't five miles long. His tips really helped! I took a video of some of my sets and could definitely see a difference. After we trained he took me out for supper at an awesome Cajun place; plenty of rice and chicken! Then we stopped by the new frozen yogurt place for a fantastic dessert! What a perfect post training meal. Today is my deadlift day; I'm feeling a PR :)

Workout Log 9/11/13

Well I've fallen a few days behind on my logs. But there is what happened during my Wednesday squats:

Warm-up: Foam roll/mobility drills
Squat: Work up to 160 then 5 reps@160
Front Squat: 4x5
Walking Lunges: 3 sets
Leg Press: 3x15
Leg Extension: 3x20
Conditioning: Thrusters/squat to upright row

I was very happy with my squats. I took a video and my depth looked to be right where it needs to be. The biggest issue is just working to keep my knees out. This was a tough but awesome session! My legs were sore for several days.

Workout Log 9/10/2013

Yesterday was a bit of a hectic day and I wasn't able to get my training in until about 9:00 last night, which if you know me, night workouts are not exactly my strength. Although, I must say this was the best night workout I've had in quite some time.

Warm Up
Decline Bench: Work up to a heavy single then 3x3@85%
Shoulder Press: Work up to a heavy set of 5 (try to beat last week)
Pull-Ups: 3x8-10
DB Floor Press: 3x15
Pressdowns: 50 total reps
Rear Delt Destroyer Set: 100 total reps

Decline bench is a very frustrating lift for me sometimes. I lift at two different gyms and due to the different angles of the decline, my weights very quite a lot. Last night, I was at the gym where I can't get nearly as much. Still a good session though. I was pretty happy that I was able to beat my shoulder press from last week, definitely some good progress there. This evening I have squats (moving up in weight!) and I also have a fun little conditioning thing I'm going to try. It should be awesome!

Workout Log 9/8/2013

What a fantastic day of deadlifts! I did deficit pulls yesterday to help make me stronger off the floor.

 

Warm Up: Foam Roll

Deficit Sumo Pulls (from ~1.5'' deficit): Work up to a heavy single then 3x3@85%

Wide Stance Pause Squats: 3x6@55%

Wide Stance Good Morning: 3x12

GHR: 3x12-15 (with WEIGHT)

Cable Pull Throughs: 3x15

Up and Down Plank: 50 total reps

Cardio: 20 minutes with HR below 130 BPM

 

I don't have a ton of experience with deficit pulls so I wasn't really sure what to expect. I got up to 245 and knew I still had some left in me. I went for 255 and low and behold I have a new PR! My old PR for regular deadlifts was 248 so pulling 255 from a deficit was a huge accomplishment! I was so happy I almost cried. The squats felt pretty good also. My legs were toast by the end of this. I was excited that I was actually able to hold some weight for my GHR's today! (It was only a 10 pound kettlebell but hey, progress is progress). I got some pretty decent videos of my deadlifts and squats. I think on my deadlifts I just really need to focus on my back; it looked like it would start to round a little and my hips had a tendency to want to come up a bit quick but overall I was pretty pleased with it all. My paused squats looked pretty good on the video. I haven't compared the two yet, but it looked like my pauses were a lot better than last week. I'm finding that I actually somewhat enjoy the cardio. I've found that depending on what kind of cardio I'm doing I can prop up my kindle and catch up on some reading which just makes the time fly by!

 

Workout Log 9/6/2013

Happy weekend! Here's a summary of yesterday's bench press day:

Bench Press: work up to 95lbs then 5x5@95lbs
Seated DB Overhead Press: 3x12
Dips: 3x12
Pull-Ups: 4x12
OA DB Rows: 4x12
Skull Crushers: 3x10
Band Pull Aparts: 75 total reps
Cardio: 30 minutes HR below 130 BPM

I had a video of a couple sets of my bench and I was a little disappointed in my pauses. Maybe it was just me, but I didn't think my pauses were nearly as long as I had intended for them to be. On the plus side, 95 pounds is starting to basically be a breeze for 5x5 so I'm definitely making progress. Overall I'm really happy with how everything is coming along. I'm thinking I may do some sled pulls this evening or do some light cardio. Tomorrow is deadlift day so I'm not going to get too crazy today.

Workout Log 9/4/2013

Here's what went down yesterday during my training session:

Warm Up: the usual
Squat: work up to 155 then 155x5
Front Squats: 4x6
RFESS: 3x10
Leg Press: 3x15
Bent Row: 3x15
Leg Extension: 3x15
Plank: 3x60 seconds

My quads and glutes are actually pretty sore today and those planks are surprisingly killing my abs! I was able to get a video of my squats and it looks like I really just need to focus on spreading the floor with my knees a bit more but overall a million times better than a few months ago. I definitely look and feel a lot more confident with my squats.

Workout Log 9/3/2013

Yesterday was my incline bench day. I've been fighting some sort of irritating sickness since about Saturday night. I was unsure if I should lift or not since I hadn't really eaten much and wasn't feeling 100%. I got to feeling better after work and decided to go ahead and give it a shot (I hate getting my lifting days off schedule.) The session went really well and I was actually able to tie my PR on incline! After I got home I felt not so great again and basically skipped supper and slept for 11 hours. Here's how the session went:

Foam Roll
Incline Bench: work up to a heavy single then 3x3@85%
DB Shoulder Press: work up to a heavy set of 5
DB Incline Press: 3x15
Pull-Ups: 3x12
Face Pulls: 50 total reps
Tricep Pressdown: 50 total reps
Cardio: 30 minutes, HR under 130 BPM

I'm really glad this session went so well! I was hoping to beat my PR but all things considered I'm really happy to have tied it. My chest is a little sore today, which hardly ever happens. My weight has been steadily declining, which I'm mostly attributing to the cardio (I think?), either way, I won't complain. Today I'm doing squats (and fingers crossed I'm able to video this!!)

In honor of Wednesday:

Workout Log 9/1/2013: 1st Session Post Deload

Deload week is over! I definitely feel very recovered and was more than ready to continue with my program. The hit the ground running with my first session with some heavy deadlifts against bands. I had some videos from this workout but I'm having technical difficulties with that but hopefully eventually they will find their way here.

Warm-up (rumble rollers HURT)
Sumo Deadlifts against Bands: Work up to a heavy single then 3x3@85%
Wide Stance Pause Squats: 3x8@50%
Wide Stance Good Mornings: 3x10
GHR: 3x12
Reverse Hypers: 3x20
Planks: 3x60 seconds
Seated Band Abduction: 3x30
supersetted with:
Band Resisted Glute Bridges: 3x40 seconds

For my deadlifts I worked up to 225 pounds and then the bands were adding at least 50 pounds at the top so I was pretty happy with that. Brandon helped me out with this session and gave me some good pointers on my deadlift. I only have five weeks until competition time so it's very important to make each session count and give it my all. I've been battling a sick bug for the last few days so yesterday was a rest day to try and feel better. My next session is going to be incline, which has always been a hard lift for me.

Just a reminder I am still taking online clients so if you would like to have a workout program written by a professional just contact me! Discounts are currently available! joanicorbin@gmail.com.