Old-School Iron

Once again, the whole week updated in one go.

This was a nice week, except for the fact that I had to compress legs and back into a single workout at the end in order to get both done… I hate it when that happens.

Anyway, the first workout of the week took place on friday the 17th and entailed doing Chest, Traps and the neck. And no, I’m still not including the neck workout on the clip, since it really does look dumb. Scott can attest to that, I think… As can Kris. After all, we used to do these as a partner-resisted exercise at the gym! In full view of many baffled individuals.

As far as forearms go… No need for targeted grip work during the 4 week 60sec thing. Just holding on to the bar (a big no-no on straps) is plenty. If you can’t hold the bar - well, then you’re just weak, and in need of practice, yes?

Here’s the workout:
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Friday Feb 17th 2006:

Incline Bench 3 sets: 6 (~60) / 6 (~60) / 6 (~58) with 50,1 kgs / 110,22 lbs *
Flat Bench 3 sets: 6 (~70?) / 6 (60) / 6 (58) with 50,1 kgs / 110, 22 lbs

Barbell Shrugs 3 sets: 6 (58) / 6 (60) / 6 (55) with 50,1 kgs / 110,22 lbs
Plus regular neck routine: flexion, extension, lateral flexion, rotation at normal speed, 10 reps per direction.

The clip is shortened this time. I think no-one really wants to watch a full minute of incline benching, especially when it’s moving so damned slow. The next thing, to come in one more week of this 60 sec system, is a whole other story. It will be 20-30 reps of fast moving action, and will probably look much more intresting.

Total time: 54 minutes (of workout, not of clip)
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The second workout of the week, as it were, became a comboday by accident. I had fully intended to go train on saturday evening, but alas a visit to one of Emma’s pals dragged on (was pleasant, no complaint there) until I just wasn’t in the mood. SO, I figured I’d combo the two remaining days.

Upon getting to the basement gym, however, I noticed that there had been some changes to the place since last I was there. Lo and behold; a cambered bar, a parallel grip bar, a chinning bar, plate holder, some chrome dumbells, and more plates had appeared in addition to it being completely re-organized. YAY!!

Now, to my great joy, I simply had to turn the bench a bit in order to do squats. Oh, using the uprights of the bench as a squat rack seems to work for front squats, at least.
Check out the clip!

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Sunday, Feb 19th 2006:

Front Squats 2 sets: 6 (57) / 6 (60) with 60,1 kgs / 132,22 lbs on the first set and 50,1 kgs / 110,22 lbs on the second. Felt a lot heavier than I remembered…
Stiff-legged deadlifts 2 sets: 6 (60) / 6 (60) with 50,1 kgs / 110, 22 lbs

One-handed rubber band pulldowns 3 sets: 6 (60) / 6 (60) / 6 (60) with 4 bands on the first set, and 3 bands on the two others. Felt I wasn’t getting a long enough range of motion with 4.

Total time: 48 minutes
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I was going to do 3 or 4 sets of both squats and stiff-leg deads but after the two sets of squats I was beat. I felt really blown away, and figured I’d better just take it a bit lighter or else I would have to stop early and go vomit somewhere. The drawback to working out in a basement is that there’s no toilet anywhere…

Here’s the other clip I promised (3rd workout of last week). Finally got it edited…

It features my brother-in-law, Kim and my nephew Rainer, who is six years old. He desperately wanted to come along to see how strong his daddy and uncle are…

All wonderfulness of the 60sec system aside, it really makes for extremely boring watching. So, not surprisingly, Rainer wasn’t all that impressed. But: he was able to lift the 8kg dumbell clear off the floor!! Not bad for a six-year-old.

Anyway, here’s the clip…

Here goes! Been a bit busy, haven’t had time to update… Sorry about that.

However, for everyone’s immense viewing pleasure, I have yet another wonderful clip (2nd workout) to show you! And another (3rd workout) is under editing as we write.

I did, however, notice that the adjustable dumbells I have are NOT standard 28mm (non-olympic) handles, and thusly the shiny new plates I bought do NOT fit on them. Highly annoying. On the flip side; the weights (4 x 5 kgs plates) from the dumbells DO fit on the bar which, of course IS standard 28mm. Not that I’ll be needing them any time soon, on this system…

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Friday, February 10th, 2006:

One-Handed Db Rows 3 sets: 6 (60) / 6 (60) / 6 (60) with 22,5 kgs / 49,5 lbs
Bent-Over BB Rows 3 sets: 6 (60) / 6 (60) / 6 (55) with 47,5 kgs / 104,5 lbs

Military Press 2 sets: 6 (60) / 5 (48) with 27,5 kgs / 60,5 lbs
Side Laterals 2 sets: 5 (50) / 5 (45) with 12,5 kgs / 27,5 lbs on first set, 10 kgs / 22 lbs on second set

Total Time: 47 min

YES!! CLIP ME!!
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Sunday, 12.2.2006

The third workout of the week was a bit out of the ordinary. My brother-in-law and their son were along for a bout of “hoist the bar”. I think they even appear in the clips, but will not know for sure until the final cut of the clip.

Standing BB Curls 3 sets: 6 (60) / 6 (60) / 6 (60) with 27,5 kgs / 60,5 lbs
One-Handed Db Preacher Curls 2 sets: 6 (60) / 6 (60) with 8 kgs / 17,6 lbs

Barbell French Press 3 sets: 7 (~68) / 6 (60)* / 6 (60)* with 27,5 kgs / 60,5 lbs
Seated One-Handed Overhead Db Extension 2 sets: 5+1 (60) / 5 (~52) with 8 kgs / 17,6 lbs

*= Ye holy burn!!

Total time was 72 minutes
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I hope to get the other clip out asap as well… Meanwhile, see if you can spot the what in this one…

YAY!

The first ever workout in our “basement gym”… And the first 60 sec set thing with a bar in a few years. I had blissfully forgot how much it hurts to train like this. It’s agony, plain and simple. Much worse than the rubber bands.
Oh, not to mention the humbling aspect of being able to lift only 40% of your regular repping weights… :/
All that aside, it’s nice to get high on endorphins within a minute of the set.

Anyway, here’s the workout plus clip (Warning: the clip is about 8MB… Still, if you want to see what this system really looks like, bear with the loading time):

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Incline Bench Press 3 sets: 7 (75) / 6 (60) / 6 (~60) with 39,5 kgs / 86,9 lbs
Flat Bench Press 3 sets: 6 (~60) / 6 (62) / 6 (64) with 39,5 kgs / 86,9 lbs

Barbell Shrugs 3 sets: 7 (76) / 6 (60) / 6 (60) with 39,5 kgs / 86,9 lbs
Plus regular neck routine (not on the clip because of ridiculous looks), in regular speed.
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The clip should tell you a whole lot on how and what happens. There’s the first set of each exercise.

Some guidelines for those that may want to try this training style: the first two reps should feel really light. By the 4th you wish you had less weight on the bar, and by the 6th rep you can actually feel each muscle fiber contracting as they work for dear life. It’s VERY tempting to speed up the reps, but don’t. This is where either a stopwatch, a training buddy or determination is needed.

I’ll update on the entire week in one go this time.

Found some intresting stuff at our friendly neighborhood health store; whey powder with salmiak taste! Yummmmmmmy! Oh yes, and also blueberry. Got both as well as a jar of glutamine. Therefore, I also started with postworkout creatine and glutamine added to the shake. Used to work decently.

I also went to a local discount store (literally so named in finnish: Tarjoustalo), and bought me some plates. The basement gym here just got a whole lot better equipped. I got two pairs of 10kg /22 lb plates for 24,90 a pair and a pair of 5 kg / 11 lb plates for 12,90 a pair. I thought that sounded cheap enough. I loaded the plates into shopping cart, which caused the entire thing to sway up and down a bit… Nervously I started to push the cart for fear of breaking it until I decided it wasn’t my fault per se if it broke, and that the bouncing lever action was a built-in feature of this particualr model of cart. Their carts should be able to handle anything they sell. The lady at cashier looked at what I was buing and went: oh no… Apparently, she should buy some herself and do some lifting.

Yesterday, when I carried them finally into the basement (they’d been in the trunk of my car for a week or so), I found that walking with a 10kg plate per hand from the parking lot to the basement is actually quite tough… And they also redefined the term “cold iron” since temperature was -20 degrees celsius.

Anyhow, the week’s first workout took place in the comfort of my very own staircase again. The only problem is I can’t get clips taken from these workouts, because the stairs are steep enough to not allow a very wide angle, and I figured that a clip that only shows half the exercise isn’t worth much…
RB is short for rubber band. Clever, yes? The time is marked in brackets for each set in seconds.

A historic occasion this is. First time I blog a “60sec workout”.

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Here’s the workout: 2.2.2006, thursday. Chest, traps and neck

RB Bench Press 2 sets: 7 (70s) / 7 (71s) Rb’s: 4 (max)
RB Incline Bench Press 2 sets: 7 (71) / 7 (71) Rb’s: 4 (max)
RB Flyes 2 sets: 7 (70) / 7 (70) Rb’s: 4 (max)

RB Shrugs 2 sets: 7 (70) / 7 (70) Rb’s: 4 (max)
Regular neck routine, 10 reps each direction, regular speed.

Total time: 23 minutes
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This was a decent workout. Light, yes, but pretty good. Getting to know slow again.

-Second (and alas, last) workout of the week: 4.2.2006, Saturday: Back and delts

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Here’s the workout, again in the stairs:

RB One-handed Pull-Downs 3 sets: 6 (60) / 6 (60) / 6 (60) Rb’s: 4
Rb One-handed Seated Rows 3 sets: 6 (60) / 6 (60) / 6 (60) Rb’s: 4

RB Rear Laterals 3 sets: 6 (61) / 6 (60)* / 6 (60)* Rb’s: 1
RB Side Laterals 4 sets: 6 (60)* / 6 (60)* / 6 (60)* / 6 (60)* Rb’s: 1

Total Time: 46 minutes
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Those one-handed pull-downs were excellent!! The * denotes a set where the burn has been markedly higher than in the other sets. Getting that blowtorch feeling I was talking about in this year’s first post…

In the next episode, the first from the basement gym, there will be a clip. Editing needs to be done, but as a teaser (or repellent) : there’s a shot of the entire um, “gym”.

Yes, no point in beating around the bush really.

There was no training this week. My work simply drained most of me, and the rest… well, the time of the workout (at home) kept getting moved until it was too late to get the workouts in.

Oh well, on the other hand it means I’ll be hitting the 60 second sets completely rested! Maybe there’ll be clips from the workout facilities in the basement of one of the houses in our “apartment company” or whatever one could call it. I don’t know how it works in other countries, but in Finland the apartments/houses are organized into companies (Ltd) to which residents pay monthly for such services as waste disposal and water.

Anyway, back on track: the room has a bench, and a multimachine. The bar only has weights to 50 kgs / 110 lbs, but I might change that pretty soon… However, before getting another gym card, it should be good for some exercises on the 60 sec thing. We’ll see how that goes.

January 22nd, 2006

Metal Gym. My last visit before buying more visits on the card again. Dammit, I keep running out…
Anyway, did a combo-day, which in this case meant a nice Legs+Arms workout. Decided to focus on a few good exercises so that I’d get the most of it out of them. A very nice workout…

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Here’s what I did:

Full Squats 4 sets: 9/9/8/6 (100 kgs / 220 lbs)
Glute-Ham Raises 4 sets: 9/7/7/6 (2,5 kg / 5,5 lbs plate held to forehead)

Preacher Curls, Ez-bar 4 sets: 13/11/10/9 (20 kgs / 44 lbs plus bar)
French Press, Ez-bar 4 sets: 16/15/12/13 (20 kgs / 44 lbs plus bar)
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I tried doing the squat stricter than last time, going low each time, when I seemed to coast higher and higher on each rep. Got a very nice feel for these this time, and although not using the Manta Ray this time, it was pretty comfortable. Kris remarked that I tend to keep the bar rather low on the back, powerlifting style. This is not somehing that I did intentionally, but seeking comfort in all exercises it feels natural to me.

Granted, could have had a lot more weight on the Ez-bar for both the Preacher and the French. However, I felt like getting a good pump, and so I did! Burned like hell, and it was great.

As a side note, it may be a while before I get more time on my Metal card. For one thing, my job schedule interferes with my getting to the gym in time (before the reception closes) to make my purchase, and also, I only have week of this style to go.

The week after that is whole new ball-game… The dreaded 60 sec sets of superslow (shudder)…

I almost forgot having a recipe up this month!

Therefore, (in thundering voice) Behold: the first recipe of the New Year! (end of thundering voice)

Anyway, this is a nice marinade I cooked up that worked wonders on pork, and did okay on beef as well…

Here goes:

Get a coffee cup or other smallish cup.
Fill the bottom with some good, strong Finnish mustard. If you don’t wish to order the prime stuff, make sure the mustard you do have is strong enough to burn in your nostrils when you smell it in the jar/tube.
Then, add olive oil so that no part of the mustard is above the surface.
Add about a tablespoon of vinegar. Mix.
Add some ground black pepper (about a teaspoon) and either freshly squeezed garlic or garlic powder (about a teaspoon). Mix.
Add a dash soy sauce (mushroom soy preferred). Mix.
Add some barbeque seasoning mix (about two teaspoonfuls). I had McCormick’s. Mix.

And presto! Premium seasoning mix to put on your pork steak. Make sure you add the mix when the meat is already on the hot pan, otherwise the salt in the soy will make your meat dry. Just put it on with a spoon, smooth it out over the meat, then season the other side as you turn it. Yum.

In the sense that there’s mustard in it, makes this too a traditional Finnish thing. In Finland, you simply cannot have pork without mustard. It’s almost a social taboo of sorts. If there’s pork and/or ham on the menu, there’s always mustard. As is the case with pea soup. Ask any Finn.

To recap:

Mustard
Olive oil
Vinegar
Black pepper, ground
Garlic / garlic powder
Soy sauce
Barbeque seasoning mix/powder

Okay. First, let me tell you that I’ve NEVER maxed out before on the bench press. Actually, I’ve never maxed on anything before. That said, I was relieved to have Kris around, for at least two reasons. One: He’s more experienced when it comes to things like this, and was able to give me sound advice on how to proceed. Two: spotting needed.

After this workout though, something happened that I really wasn’t expecting. I was unable to sleep. That has never happened to me after a workout, but I guess this one was so different it kept me from getting any sleep (fried my CNS?). So, the next day I had to get on with having had only a two-hour nap (can’t call that a night’s sleep). I was dead-tired. Lucky for me it was my day off from work, but still… I had planned on doing all kinds of things, but none of it worked out.
Oh well. At least I now know how much I can lift, which by known standards is not that much.

(kgs /lbs x reps)
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Here’s the workout:

Bench Press:
40 kgs / 88 lbs x 10
50 kgs / 110 lbs x 9
60 kgs /132 lbs x 3
70 kgs /154 lbs x 3
80 kgs / 176 lbs x 1
90 kgs / 198 lbs x 1
100 kgs / 220 lbs x 1
110 kgs / 242 lbs x 1
120 kgs / 264 lbs x F
115 kgs / 253 lbs x 1
120 kgs / 264 lbs x F
117,5 kgs / 258,5 lbs x F

In retrospect, I should have done this: gone from 110 kgs to 115, then to 117,5 and then 120. Maybe it would have worked, but at this point I had to concede that I could lift only 115 kgs.
I think, had I done what my 20/20 hindsight told me, I might have a max of 117,5 or 120.

Oh greed… My motto “When in doubt, choose the higher number” didn’t pan out this time.

Here’s the clip, courtesy of Kris:
clip (2.9MB)

15.1.2006

Trained at home, armday… Training with rubberbands in the staircase. Quite a different ambience than at a gym, let me tell ya. However, with my trusty walkman in the shorts-pocket, listening to Disturbed’s newest album, I got a pretty decent workout nonetheless!

The bands I have are from Theraband, and they up to max 20kg /44lbs resistance each. Lucky I have four, otherwise I’d have to buy a set of bands from Jumpstretch… Which I think I might have to anyway sooner or later.
“RB” is my abbreviation for Rubber Band. See what amazing thoughtprocesses went into that one..? The mind boggles…

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Here’s what I did:

Overhead Triceps Extensions 3 sets: 17/13/12 (2 bands)
RB Pressdowns 3 sets: 11/9/9 (3 bands)
RB Standing French Press 3 sets: 13/11/11 (2 bands)

Seated RB Curls 3 sets: 11/10/9 (2 bands)
Standing RB Curls 3 sets: 10/10/10 (2 bands)
Arm-Out RB Curls 3 sets: 12/12/10 (1 band)

Total time: 44 minutes
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- Standing French Press: Basically the same as doing an extension from above and forward from a high pulley while facing away from the machine.
- Seated RB Curls: This is my setup; hook the bands around an upright of the stairs, and sit down on the floor. Bend knees and support elbows on them, then curl. If one wants it heavier, one simply edges away from the stairs. Nice… Felt like doing a curl on a machine.
- Arm-out RB Curls: This is another funny invention by yours truly. At least I’ve never encountered this one before, and trust me: I’ve done some serious research in this area for my book… Anyway, here’s what this is: again, hook a band around an upright and stand some distance away (keeps the band from slipping downward during the exercise). Now, point your elbow backwards, i.e. your palms should now be facing forward with your arm straight out to your side, thumb up. From this position, simply curl your arm. Nice one, even if I do say so myself…