ironwings journal *

[princesa]

I did 60 minutes fasted cardio this morning. Treadmill, gradual climb to 15%, speed 3.4.

This afternoon I lifted - I can't believe I made it through all of this. I have been running low on sleep all week. I'm ready to move up in weight for my shoulders - I need to enlist a spotter there is something about having that bb over your head and not having someone there "just in case". My usual spotters don't work in the evenings so I went it alone and ^^ my sets.

Shoulder/Back/Calves
Overhead BB press: 65lbs, 2x10, 1x8, 1x4
Complex (front raise, upright row, press): 20lb bar, 3x8, 1x5
Bent over lat raise: 10lb dbs, 3x10,1x7
Smith plyo presses: 20lbs + bar, 2x10,1x8
Negative pullups - narrow grip: 4
Bent over Smith row : 40lb+bar, 2x12, 1x9
Hyper Extensions: no weight, hands behind head focusing on SLOW movement, 2x8

Ran out of time, will have to work in calves tomorrow.

Am I reading that right? 65lbs??
God damn girl, that's awesome

Btw, I tried doing 40min 15% 3.5 on the treadmill the other day...I wanna be a superwomen like you . It was really hard, it kicked ass.
I'm gonna steal some of your work outs if you don't mind, I need a new routine

 

[Jocques Straap]

Smith plyo presses - what are these? Sounds to me like you are doing a push press on the smith machine?

 

[ironwings]

lol.

those are hard, the flys i mean. i can only manage to do them with 8 lb dumbbells...barely

ebonycurves - keep those flyes low (weight). I had gotten up to 15lb db and I went back down to 10 because my form is so much better. I haven't progressed with these in a long time - right now I'm working on getting my rep range up. Once I do that I'll go back up to12lbs and so on. I have to be honest - I absolutely hate these. I haven't done them in foreever but when I added them back in my last program - my shoulders really came to life. Now when I do them I can see all the striations and that makes it worth it ;-) Keep it up girl! Don't worry about how much weight you are lifting - it will come!

 

[ironwings]

Am I reading that right? 65lbs??
God damn girl, that's awesome

Btw, I tried doing 40min 15% 3.5 on the treadmill the other day...I wanna be a superwomen like you . It was really hard, it kicked ass.
I'm gonna steal some of your work outs if you don't mind, I need a new routine

You are too cute. I'm glad you gave the 15% incline a try. I find that so many people think they are doing cardio when really they are just scratching the surface. Where a strap or use a machine with a heart rate monitor so you can monitor your heart rate. For me, I have to be at that to keep my heart rate up = it may be different for someone else and that is OK. If you are keeping your heart rate up doing less than you are getting just as good a workout as I am. I have to be honest - I find when I workout first thing in the morning - I have a hard time keeping up with that. Like this morning my glutes hurt so bad from my workout that I could barely get 10% in at 3.2 speed!!! Oh my.

I'm ready to go up with shoulder presses but not without a spotter. Sometimes I get that weight up there and have to hold it for a second and contract my abs to keep it above my head. I had to work up to that weight sitting and behind the neck before I could stand and do them. For now, I'll work on higher rep range. Than, perhaps I can handle a little more on my own. The key is not to be afraid of the weight.

Please do steal some of my workouts (or all). I am adjusting my program a little as I go this time. I think I'm screwing with my central nervous system! But, my last two programs (see the beginning of my journal and then the one I'm doing now) has provided the most results I've seen in a long time. It has pushed me to my next level (without VAR). Steal away!!!! That is why I'm sharing. The key I have to say though is the intensity that you do them at! Let me know how you are doing!

 

[ironwings]

Smith plyo presses - what are these? Sounds to me like you are doing a push press on the smith machine?

I do plyos for chest and shoulders. Plyometrics is a type of exercise training designed to produce fast, powerful movements, and improve the functions of the nervous system. (wikipedia) Long term I hope that they will improve my punching speed and agility. I try to incorporate some plyo moves in all my workouts. My last workout I did a lot of jump squats. It is just a different way to train - you are burning more fat by incorporating these and working on your muscle endurance.

They are not like push presses. For shoulders you would sit on a bench and get in position as if you were going to do front shouler presses. (I only sit because the smith machine won't let me throw the weight up if I were standing) Instead of simply pressing the bar up, you throw it up with as much force as you can muster and catch it as it comes down. For chest, get in flat or incline chest press position under a smith bar. Same concept - throw the bar up as hard as you can and catch it when it comes back down. Make sure to keep your focus on your chest - squeezing the chest and you throw and resisting the catch. (You also have to be aware of the hook position - you don't want to twist your grip so that the bar hooks at the top!!)

I'm dying to try doing the same with my legs. Maybe next go round. I'll surely need a spotter for those.

 

[ironwings]

Saturday - 45 minutes cardio - treadmill incline between 8 & 15% at 3.4 speed.Sunday - I decided to do leg workout 2. It is a little lighter - I wasn't feeling up to speed. I've been having shaking spells lately. My intensity was high and I ended up getting sick twice. Once after my third set of smith glute bridges and again after my second set of smith glute presses. I think I just overheated. I sweat like crazy but this is the first time I can remember I could feel the sweat running along my scalp. Ugh.Warmup with complexes - 2 sets of 6 RDL, clean power press, good morning, squat, press, SLDL, row. 2 sets SLDL, row to clean power press, front squat, RDL

Quads/Hams/Abs - 2
Sumo squats: 60lbs 3x15 superset frog kicks: 2x12, 1x10
One leg step ups - bb: 45lb, 1x15, 2x12
Smith bridge: 35lb, 3x15
One leg Smith glute presses: 35lb, 3x12

Although it felt like the most intense workout as of yet, both my weight and volume was down I tried to work on higher reps.

 

[Thandie]

Saturday - 45 minutes cardio - treadmill incline between 8 & 15% at 3.4 speed.Sunday - I decided to do leg workout 2. It is a little lighter - I wasn't feeling up to speed. I've been having shaking spells lately. My intensity was high and I ended up getting sick twice. Once after my third set of smith glute bridges and again after my second set of smith glute presses. I think I just overheated. I sweat like crazy but this is the first time I can remember I could feel the sweat running along my scalp. Ugh.Warmup with complexes - 2 sets of 6 RDL, clean power press, good morning, squat, press, SLDL, row. 2 sets SLDL, row to clean power press, front squat, RDL

Quads/Hams/Abs - 2
Sumo squats: 60lbs 3x15 superset frog kicks: 2x12, 1x10
One leg step ups - bb: 45lb, 1x15, 2x12
Smith bridge: 35lb, 3x15
One leg Smith glute presses: 35lb, 3x12

Although it felt like the most intense workout as of yet, both my weight and volume was down I tried to work on higher reps.

This morning I walked on the treadmill at 3.5 at a 13% incline. It was awesome! I was used to the dreaded ellyptical machine since I don't care for the bike. I just want to acknowledge you for that. Thank you!

 

[Jocques Straap]

Plyo's and exercises for power development are my favorite!

But why the smith? I hate the smith machine. Don't you think you would be better off doing the same exercise, with free weights, standing?

-What are the benefits of using the smith machine over free weights? - I can't think of any. Other than, maybe a slight decrease in injury risk, but I doubt that.



-Keep on working hard!

 

[ironwings]

Oh my, free weights? Ok, I think I am explaining these all wrong. Lets call them Smith Machine Bar THROWS (chest or shoulders). Let's talk about chest presses first. Get in bench press mode under the Smith bar. Now, your movement to bring the bar down is the same as a chest press. But instead of powering or lifting the bar up, you actually throw it up in the air a good 1' or 2'. You catch the bar as it comes back down in a bent elbow position (about half way down) and finish the movement like you would a chest press. You want a Smith bar so that you can focus on your power and speed rather than worrying about controlling the throw of a bb. You do not want to engage stabalizers here - only chest and triceps. You can do the same move with narrow grip, underhanded grip to focus on triceps. Onebreath mentioned that this morning at the gym and I tried it - good stuff. For shoulders it is the same concept.

I found a video to show you the throws - I think this will clear everything up. It is a much better name "Smith machine bar throws". I do mine a little different than this guy. When throwing the bar up I cross my arms and squeeze my pecs right after the bar leaves my hands. I find it much more effective.

 

[ironwings]

oops...video didn't upload. Let's try this again with the url.

YouTube - Smith Machine Bar Throws