Monday:  ME Upper Body, 4:05pm
Weight = N/A

Dynamic Warm-up

Flat Barbell Bench Press:  45×15, 135×5, 225×5, 285×3, 325×1, 225×17
-Fast, easy rep on the heavy set.  The ankle was still a little shaky so I didn’t push it.  I was surprised at how well I did on the 225 test, it’s been a while since I’ve done something like that.

Hammer Strength One-arm Chest Supported Rows:  2ppsx12, 3ppsx10, 4ppsx8, 4ppsx8

Incline DB Bench Press:  100×10, 100×10

Good, quick session.  Followed it up with 15:00 of treadmill walking.
Tuesday:  General Fitness:  3:30pm
Weight = N/A

Circuits:
-Band Jumping Jacks:  Light Bandx20
-Plate Swings:  45×20
-BB Curls:  100×6

-Four circuits.
-30:00 minutes treadmill, 3.5mph, 4.5% grade
Wednesday:  Lower Body, 8:05am
Weight = N/A

Dynamic Warm-up

Romanian Deadlifts:  135×10, 225×5, 295×5, 345×5, 345×5
-I just felt wiped today, but I did what I needed to.

Goblet Squats:  100×10, 100×10
-Not bad, I just wasn’t into it today.

Treadmill, 3.5mph, 5.0% grade, 30:00 minutes
Thursday:  Rest Day
-I think I did like ten minutes of cardio to loosen my legs up, but that’s about it.
Friday:  DE Upper Body, 8:15am
Weight = N/A

Dynamic Warm-up

Flat BB Bench Press:  45×20, 135×5, 185+ doubled mini bands x3×5
-Good speed.  Tired today.  The morning workouts just aren’t my thing, apparently.

Lat Pull-down:  80×10, 100×10, 100×10
-Easy enough.

Zottman Curls:  30×10, 30×10
-Good sets.  Nice and slow on the eccentric.
Monday:  ME Upper Body, 4:15pm
Weight = N/A

Dynamic Warm-up

Incline BB Bench Press:  45×20, 135×5, 225×5, 245×3, 265×3, 225×8
-It’s been a long time since I’ve done an Incline Barbell Bench Press.  I can’t do them for long as they tend to bother my shoulders, but I’ll try a rotation of them.

Chest Supported Rows:  45×12, 90×10, 140×6, 140×6
-We got a new Chest Supported Row Machine in the gym!  Awesome!

Flat DB Bench Press:  90×12, 110×10
-New dumbbells!

Wednesday:  Lower Body, 4:30pm
Weight = N/A

Dynamic Warm-up

Romanian Deadlifts:  135×12, 225×5, 275×5, 335×5, 335×5
-Good sets.

Several attempts at various squats and lunges:  No dice.
-Almost with the ankle, but not quite.

Dumbbell Swiss Ball Wall Squats:  50×10, 50×10
-Not the most masculine of moves, but at least I was able to do something.  Then I had an idea:

Goblet Squats:  50×15, 50×15, 100×10
-These actually felt pretty good.  Not the biggest squat movement, but my depth was good.  I could probably do Zercher’s, too, by the looks.

I was encouraged to be able to do some sort of squatting.

Treadmill, 3.5mph, 3.5% grade
-15:00 minutes
-0.87 miles
-174 calories
Thursday:  General Fitness, 3:00pm

I just goofed around a little today and walked on the treadmill some.  I had a headache from the time I woke up for some reason, and everything was achy.  I didn’t think it was worth stressing about.
Friday:  Dynamic Effort Upper Body, 8:15am
Weight = N/A

Dynamic Warm-up

Flat Barbell Bench Press:  45×20, 135×5, 185+doubled mini bands x3×6 sets (3 grips), 225+dmbx5, 225+dmbx4
-Not bad.  I still can’t really get my position right, but overall I had felt pretty strong.

Lat Pulldowns:  80×12, 100×8, 100×8 superset with:
Band Jumping Jacks:  Light Band x15, LBx15, LBx15
-I’d never tried Jumping Jacks with a band before.  It was actually a good little exercise. I can see catastrophe if you let the band slip out from under your heel, but otherwise it was fun.

Just a quick little workout.  I did what I wanted to and got out.

Monday:  ME Upper Body, 4:05pm
Weight = N/A

Dynamic Warm-up

Flat BB Bench Press:  45×20, 135×5, 225×5, 275×3, 305×2
-I didn’t have a spot or lift-off again, and I lost position on the third rep of my heavy set.  The first two were pretty fast, but without being able to support myself on my ankle I didn’t feel comfortable with the third.

Hammer Strength One-arm Chest-Supported Row:  2ppsx12, 3ppsx10, 4ppsx8, 4ppsx8
-Good sets.

Incline DB Bench Press:  100×9, 100×9
-These were pretty easy.  Lately my wrist has been feeling funny on heavy dumbbell work.  It’s the wrist that I tore ligiments in years ago, but it doesn’t really feel like that’s the problem.  I don’t really know how to describe it, other than I just seem to be having a hard time holding on to the dumbbells.  It may just be the weakened grip issue.

Treadmill, 3.5mph, 3.0% incline
-15:00 minutes

Not a bad little workout, although I’d have liked three reps on the bench.

Tuesday:  Conditioning, 5:10pm
Weight = N/A

Dynamic Warm-up

Flat BB Bench:  135×20, 135×20 superset with:
Conventional Deadlifts:  135×20, 135×20
-I made a client do something similar last night, so I thought I should inflict some self-punishment.  These weren’t particularly ankle-dangerous, either.  It definitely got the ol’heart rate up.

Circuit:
Plate Swings:  45×20
Jumping Jacks:  bwx30
Barbell Curls:  100×6
-Two circuits.  The jumping jacks hurt a bit, but it wasn’t too bad.  Again, more visions of puking on my out of shape self.

Swiss Ball Crunches (slow)  bwx20, bwx20, bwx20
-Meh.

Treadmill, 3.5mph, 3.5% grade
-30:00 minutes
-1.74 miles
-330 calories

Man, I’m out of shape.  It’s starting to come back, though.

Friday:  DE/Rep Upper Body, 8:05am
Weight = N/A

Light Dynamic Warm-up

Flat Barbell Bench Press:  45×20, 135×5, 225×12, 135×25
-Just playing with some high reps.  My upper back felt loose on the bench today, for some reason.

Lat Pulldowns:  80×10, 100×8, 100×6
-Full second stretch between reps.  This was surprisingly hard.

Standing Alternating Hammer Curls:  50×8, 50×8 superset with:
Flat Tate Presses:  50×12, 50×12
-Easy enough.  Just some pump work.
At 3:45pm:

Treadmill, 3.5mph, 2.0% Incline
-25:00 minutes

The ankle finally allowed me to walk on the treadmill today, so that’s progress.  It definitely wasn’t totally comfortable, but as long as I kept the incline low I was all right.

Wednesday:  Lower Body, 4:25pm
Weight = N/A

Light Dynamic Warm-up

Romanian Deadlifts:  135×12, 225×5, 275×5, 315×5, 315×6
-Easy enough, other than I had to add straps for the sets with 315.  I’ve not really done a deadlift in four months or so, and apparently my grip has faded to embarassing levels.

Several failed attempts at lunging, split squatting, and leg pressing
-So I tried to do some other sort of lower body movement, and the ankle still won’t go.

Leg Extension:  150×15, 150×15, 150×15
-I haven’t done a leg extension in years, but this was the only thing I could think of for quad stimulation.  Between the straps and the leg extensions I had this strange compulsion to shave my body, oil up, and stare in the mirror for the rest of the day.  I fought it off, though, I didn’t want to make the rest of the gym goers sick.

I spent the next ten minutes stretching the hell out of my hamstrings and hip flexors.  This will heal, damn it!
Thursday:  Gimpy, One-legged Conditioning, 8:30am
Weight = N/A

Light Dynamic Warm-up

Circuit:
-Conventional Deadlifts:  95×20
-Swiss Ball Close-grip Bench Press:  95×20
-Barbell Rows:  95×20

Circuit:
-Hang Cleans:  95×10
-Swiss Ball Close-grip Bench Press:  95×20
-Barbell Rows:  95×20

-I played around with some weighted circuits.  Nothing two fancy, but they did get the heart rate up.  That’s more a function of my lack of conditioning than the difficulty, but that’ll come.

Lateral Raises:  20×12, 20×12
-Just a few extra light sets to get some blood flowing through the medial delt (left) that’s bothering me.

Stationary Bike, Level 7
-3.00 miles
-10:03 minutes

Normally my conditioning days would involve a bit more, but I’m really trying to get this ankle healed.  As such it’s sort of hamstringing me.

I’m going to start logging my personal workouts here for a while, just to show you guys what I do.  Right now I’m looking to recover from my current injuries, regain my lost strength, and improve my conditioning.  Over time my goals and workouts will change.

Here’s today’s workout!

Tuesday:  ME Upper Body, 8:45am
Weight = Good Question

Dynamic Warm-up

Flat Barbell Bench Press:  45×20, 135×5, 225×5, 275×3, 295×3
-No lift-off, or spot.  Not bad, this is a pretty good launching point for getting my strength back.  The bar didn’t feel really comfortable in my hands today and I couldn’t get a decent set-up as I couldn’t really lock my feet (see below).  Overall not bad, though.

Incline Dumbbell Bench Press:  100×8, 100×8
-Easy, just limited as far as my conditioning goes.  I was trying to be fairly quick today, and since I’m so out of shape I wasn’t really recovering well between sets.

Hammer Strength Chest-Supported Row, One Arm:  2 plates per side x12, 3ppsx10, 4ppsx6, 4ppsx8
-Again, fatigue was the issue more than strength.

Stationary Bike, Level 6
-3.00 miles
-10:21 minutes

Ok, so I haven’t been logging my workouts online for a long time.  In that time my training has gone through ups and downs according to life.  Right now I’m nursing some injuries, the most acute of which is an ankle sprain. This is keeping me from doing almost everything, it seems.  It’s getting better, but I still can’t really squat, have a solid bench set-up, or do anything explosive or complicated.

The current goal is to just get back to full strength and improve my conditioning.  I’d like to sit in the mid 240’s-250’s and be in good condition.  Currently that’s a long way off, but it’ll come, particularly as my ankle heals.