Quote:
Originally Posted by wakejump4me
will your rep ranges be ,at first, the same as you had it in the other journal (off season) ?
you ain't kidding about weight gain and back issues . when i got up to my highest, ever, weight, last month . i thought i was walking with another person sitting on my shoulders all day . now i am back down about 10 lbs. and feel ridiculously great .
are you gonna use new exercises or stick with the old ones ?
wake
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I don't use a ton of different exercises. I use what I like and feel comfortable with and that is it. I don't squat because "everyone has to squat" and I don't do deads because "you can't build a big back without them". I do what fits for me and fits into my injury card at that time. I am too old to fuck with something that I feel doesn't work but everyone says I "have to do". I am not about rules, anyway. : )
As for rep ranges, USUALLY, this is what I do and will be doing most of the time: 3 working sets per exercise with the same weight for all 3 sets. If upperbody, I will shoot for somewhere in the 10-12 rep range so that for the second and third set I can still get about 8 or so and then about 6-7 for the last one. What this does for me and I why I like it so well is that it allows me to get heavy and low rep work in but only after I am very warm and I feel this is safer for ME. I just hate the feel of a heavy, low rep set right out of the gate. I guess the best way to explain the 3 sets is like taking a RP set and stretching it out so that you are pretty fresh between all 3 sets for more reps, total. For legs, I will shoot for 15-20 on the first set and then it drops to about 10 or so and then for some exercises it goes straight to about 6-8 for all that I have in me.
I am also going to finish most bodyparts with a "finishing" move. This is not as much for growth as much as it is for a better pump and for my brain. I am working with more volume right now and because I am not used to it, I am growing very well. I don't particularly NEED the finishing move but I want it and, as I said before, I am making the rules here. So, I may finish triceps with a couple sets of cable pressdowns for a good squeeze and I may even finish quads with some higher rep, good squeeze extensions.
I am going to give my calves very little attention for the next several months. They are good and this isn't the 80s, anymore: Calves aren't putting anyone over the top in a show. My calves are good enough that if they don't grow anymore, at all, they won't be a problem for me for years to come.
I am also going to give arms very little priority and only hit them with moderate weights with little focus on increasing their size. I find it funny that I have not pushed them for the last year and yet they continue to grow - maybe better than other bodyparts. Go figure.
I will do something similar with legs but not kick back as much as arms and calves. I still need to add some size to my legs but I have to be careful and patient because my knees and back aren't in great shape. Though I schedule to train them once a week, every 5 weeks or so I have to skip a workout and let my knees kind of catch up.
Right now, I am struggling with my lowerback even with lower weights for legs. The pressure from the added bodyweight and distention is putting me right on the edge of having another injury with my lowerback. In fact, I am going to kickback for the next couple weeks with the amount of weight that I am using to take the stress off of my back. That should be long enough to then go 100% because I am also leaning down right now, as well. As my bodyfat comes down, the chance of injury is much less.
My bodyweight after this last weekend was 240 on the nose. That is up about 5 pounds because Sissy and I took the weekend off, completely. Her new job had her pretty stressed last week and after struggling with my back on Thursday while training legs we both figured let's take the weekend and just have some fun. We both blew up like puffer fish. lol So, my weight should come down pretty good this week. I am hoping to be about 233-235 by the end of the week. I don't see that this will be that difficult.
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