UBWO today - did supersets chest/back and biceps/triceps - saved time and really felt a difference in overall fatigue :-)! Worked muscles more than I ever have, I think. Did 15 lb x 6 for my flyes - was pleased with that. Really hit 10s with shoulders and triceps today. Oh ya - for my cardio warmup I tried the stairmaster - holy guacamole, it is hard - did 13 minutes at level 7 - think I'll finish with it on cardio days because in those 13 minutes I burned almost 150 calories and it really smokes the legs, calves and butt! My new frienemy! (love/hate relationship)

LBWO - awesome! Really did well today.
10 minutes warmup on bike.
3 sets x 15 reps Smith machine squats
3 sets x 15 reps Smith machine plié squats
walking lunges - 15 steps no weight, 15 steps 5 lb., 15 steps 8 lb., 15 steps 10 lb., 12 steps 12 lb., 8 steps 15 lb., 12 steps 12 lb.
Leg extension - 1 set x 12 reps, #3
Seated leg press - 25 x 75 lb., 15 x 135 lb., 12 x 175 lb., 10 x 195 lb., 8 x 215 lb., 6 x 235 lb., 12 x 215 lb.
Seated Hamstring curls - 8 x 90 lb. (failed at 8), 4 at 70 lb. to finish set of 12

stretch stretch stretch!

wohooo you are doing great!!! Super workouts

It's been a while since I updated but not because I haven't been working out - in fact I've been working even harder. I finished BFL C1 and got good results but next time I will push it even further, if I go back to it at all. I have been lifting really heavy for the past few weeks and have also cut back on cardio, and I'm really noticing a difference. My cardio is short and sweet HIIT style or more relaxed outdoor jog/walks with AJ. My new workout is as follows (I just switched to 2 lower body workouts a week from just 1)

Monday:
Chest and Triceps - 3 sets of flat flyes (12 lb x 15, 15 lb x 12, 20 lb x 4) supersetted with 3 sets of kickbacks (5 lb x 15, 8 lb x 10, 10 lb x 5)
3 sets of chest DB press (12 lb x 15, 15 lb x 12, 20 lb x 10) supersetted with 3 sets of overhead extensions (5 lb x 15, 8 lb x 12, 10 lb x 8 - failed on left side at 2 so dropped to 8 lb to finish)
3 sets of pushups to fail each set - 15, 12, 8 supersetted with seated triceps dips

Cardio - 10 minutes on step machine, random level 9

Abs at home - 2 supersets each of stability ball leg lifts x 20, ball crunches x 20 and weight knees-up side to side and down sit-ups x 12

Tuesday:
Back and biceps - seated bent-over side raises - 3 sets of 15 (5lb., 8 lb., 8 lb.) supersetted with 21's at 8, 10 and 10 lbs
Bent-over 1-arm rows - 3 sets of 15 (15 lb, 20 lb, 20 lb) supersetted with concentration curls - 3 sets of 15 at 10 lb., 15 at 12 lb., 10 at 15 lb
Overhead extensions - 3 sets of 15 (15 lb., 20 lb., 20 lb.) supersetted with 3 sets of hammer curls (15 at 8 lb, 15 at 12 lb, 10 at 12 lb)

Cardio - 15 minutes on step machine at random level 9 - ouch

Wednesday:
Lower Body Workout #1
Walking lunges with 10 lbs. (20 steps), single-legged leg curl machine at 80 lbs, 100 lbs, 120 lbs (15, 12, 10), incline leg press - 3 sets x 15 at 140, 180, 180 followed immediately by calf presses at same weights x 20 each set, then step SLDL - 3 sets of 15 x 30 lbs each hand - so total of 3 supersets of the above 5-exercise routine
Adductor machine - Abductor machine supersets - 3 sets each of 15 at 80 lb, 100 lb, 100 lb pulsing on the out or in x 3 for each rep

No cardio at all today except maybe a walk with AJ

Abs at home - 2 supersets each of stability ball leg lifts x 20, ball crunches x 20 and weight knees-up side to side and down sit-ups x 12

Thursday:
Cardio only day - 45 minutes level 12 random

Friday:
Shoulders and abs - shoulder press x 3 sets of 15 - 15 lb, 15 - 20 lb, 12 - 20 lb followed by decline situps x 12
side/front raise combo x 3 sets of 15 at 5 lb (12 at 8 lbs for 3rd set) followed by ball leg raises x 3 sets of 20
side to side and situps with medicine ball - 3 sets of 12

Cardio - 20 MAS on elliptical levels 7 - 16

Saturday:
Lower Body Workout #2
Smith machine squats 20 lb warmup set of 15 supersetted with butt-out deadlifts - 3 sets of 12 at 30 lbs
Seated leg press machine 3 sets of 15 x 175, 12 x 215, 8 x 235
Face-down hamstring curls x 3 sets of 12 at 60 lbs
Supersets of single-leg extensions at 20 lbs x 15 (8 reps for last set) x 3 sets each leg alternating with seated hamstring curls 50 lbs x 12 x 3 sets each leg

No cardio.

All days are moderate carb - no rice, pasta, bread or grains except steel-cut oats weekend mornings - cottage cheese with berries, cheese, meats, eggs, lots of veggies with sweet potatoes about once every 2 weeks. Natty PB with celery, romaine salads with real bacon and parmesan cheese with almond slivers and mayo for dressing - sometimes with tomato.

So far, feeling great - I'll see how I feel after a couple more weeks of this program - I really like it, so I might just switch to 5 sets of fewer reps in 4 weeks.

Hi there AJ - some scattered comments on your programme.

I understand BFL does a lot of pyramiding, which I have not done and have no experience with, so I shall reserve comment there.

My thoughts on your programme:

It generally looks well planned out, but there are some items that I want to address:

Your sets are long. I rarely do sets of more than 10-12 reps, and usually, more like 6-8, with a few exceptions (usually involving legs).

I don't do a lot of flat pec work - incline works the upper pecs more, and this is a more attractive area to build up, so that's pretty much where my focus is.

I don't like kickbacks - I prefer overhead dumbbell press (extension), tricep rope-grip pushdowns, and between-bench dips. Or skull-crushers - they're good too.

I avoid smith-squats for two very important reasons: for one, we don't have one at my gym. For another, they force too much of a shear on your knees, and eliminate a lot of the valuable core-stabilizing work obtained from free-squats. Also, make sure your squats are AFT if your body allows for this - involves the glutes and easier on the knee joint, believe it or not.

I like to do abs FIRST, except for leg day, because you can use it as a warmup and because I like to hit 'em HARD for 2 minutes while I still have energy. That's just me, but I have great abs, so you might want to consider it.

You list overhead extensions on bicep day. This is a tricep exercise. You also do seated bent-over laterals on back day. This is a rear-delt exercise, although traps are involved. Just so we're clear.

I NEVER do adductor/abductor machine. It tends to do nothing but irritate the hip flexors, and build up leg width. I want my legs deep and narrow, not shallow and wide, so this is the LAST thing I would consider using.

Deep, heavy, barbell (free) squats with a wide stance will hit the inner thigh better than anything, and you'll get your outers with the walking lunges. Ditch that wretched adductor/abductor machine. (But Built, tell us what you REALLY think...)

And finally, I like to do the leg-extensions right after leg press, and leg curls right after DL, but you may really like the push-pull supersets, so this is fine too.

Good luck!

- Built

I just took part in an amazing walk of 60 km (40 miles) in one weekend through the streets of Toronto, Canada, to raise money for Princess Margaret Hospital, which is a cutting-edge cancer care facility, specifically to go to breast cancer care and research. It was such a wonderful experience - I wrote all about it in my journal if you're interested - but I had to go off of my lo-carb regime since I needed fuel. I didn't gain or lose any weight, but I was sick with a throat and chest infection, so I was wiped out for a full week where I did absolutely NO exercise at all. I finally went back to the gym this morning and just did 45 minutes on the bike - I'll see how I feel tomorrow but I might wait one more week before I start back with weights - I still feel weak and don't want to hurt myself or set myself back.

I'll post again...

Here it is, October already. I am finally well physically - after 2 antibiotic treatments. And I'm back to working out full force and harder. I've split my workouts into 2 times a day instead of just the one and hope to continue this at least until the snow comes. I go to the gym in the morning and do my splits - chest and biceps one day, the next back and triceps, then legs, then shoulders and abs on the 4th day. One day is going to be cardio only I think. Plus I am doing night cardio when I take my dog for a walk. I jog/walk a 4 km route I've mapped out, and will work up to running the whole way and farther once I build up strength. I am determined to lose around 15 pounds by Christmas, and the cardio seems to help with the overall fat loss, while the weights are addicting and I lift heavy and want to reshape my body. So I'll try this for a few weeks and see how I do. I really feel good so far, so I'll keep posting!

The weights will help you even more with the fat loss. Sounds like a plan!

Thanks Built - yes, I know the weights help with fat loss and I'm pushing hard with it - it was kinda hard to get back into it after about 4 weeks of not lifting. I'm getting results - I'm finally back under 200 pounds - I was 198 this morning, so the scales are once again going in the right direction. I'm sure my reduced portion size has something to do with it, though! I'm afraid I might have lost some lean mass, though I am still surprisingly quite strong - I was able to curl 15 pounds, which is heavy for me, and my SLDL are up to 80 lbs - the only thing stopping me from lifting heavier is my hands - I need gloves, because the 40lb dumbbells are about all my hands can handle.

Anyway I'm having fun and will keep at it.

Good job on the weight loss and the strength gains. My grip strength limits me, too. I use straps for heavy deads. My .02 on the LBM issue: as long as you continue to build strength, I wouldn't worry too much about losing lean mass at your current weight. You can always add on a bit of lean mass in a small, controlled, clean bulk later on if you decide you'd like to.

And curling the 15s is pretty damned cool!

Thanks, Built, again - for your encouragement and always helpful advice. Please keep it coming - if you see something I'm doing wrong let me know, because I want to do it right, from the beginning. Last night I finally tried my yoga dvd. It was rather awkward - getting into the position while still watching the TV to see what they were doing - but it was good and I'm going to do it twice a week. I think that having the flexibility will help plus my sister swears that the yoga has helped her hip pain - we both would wake up at night with pain in our hips - she has been active and fit her entire life while I spent much time off and on as a couch potato interrupted by a year or so of gung-ho fitness then back to the couch potato - our mother has pain in all her joints and ostioarthritis so I think we come by it naturally. I hope it will help with me.

I worked my legs today, pretty hard - and Built, I'm taking your advice and warming up with a 2-5 minute ab workout every day - I know you don't do it on leg day, but I wanted to try it - then did a good extension/curl superset, then walking lunges with 15 lbs in each hand, 3 times across the gym and back (about 20 lunges each time), then bent leg dead lifts with 35 lbs each hand, then finally 3 sets of leg presses, 8 straight and 8 plie - except the last plie set - I caved at 3. Thought I was going to barf but then felt awesome. I'll see how I feel tonight before I decide whether to jog or maybe I'll just walk if my legs are sore. But I'll do my 4km route, either way.

Tomorrow I plan on a short but sweet abs set, then I'll do shoulders and triceps - my triceps are very weak compared to my other muscle groups, so I'm going to work them 2 times - Tuesdays with my back, then Fridays with my shoulders. See if this makes a difference. Then, Saturday afternoon, I'll do the yoga (before the red wine lol).

So there's my report!

OUCH.
My butt and legs really really hurt today. I guess the legs workout was more intense than I thought. Feels good though. But hurt to sit on toilet, get out of bed, get in car, get out of car, get up off the floor when I was doing my abs at the gym this morning...OUCH.

Today, after a 2-5 minute abs workout, I did shoulders and triceps. Felt good but I'm tired today. I did my jog/walk last night and didn't get to bed as early as I would have liked. So I'm ready for some r&r this weekend. Might skip the yoga until Sunday.

Happy Thanksgiving!

It's funny - I haven't posted in my gym log for so long, yet my most recent post said I felt exactly the way I felt on Tuesday and Wednesday this week - I hadn't worked out my lower body for 2 weeks, then did a really tough workout on Monday - OMG, Tuesday I was in agony...amazing how quickly we can lose such hard gains...but I did use some different muscles in some new exercises. I've been really busy through the holidays, getting my course out of the way. I passed the theory exam with an 88%, and once I do the practical exam I'll be certified. That's where I take in someone to be my "client", and then have to put them through a workout using all the techniques we've learned. I still have to write everything up, and make sure to include all the principles behind what I'm training. I'm looking forward to it...our instructor was terrific.

I'm working out 6 days a week in an Upper/Lower split - alternating a weight day with a cardio day - so Monday was lower, Tues was treadmill, Wed was upper, Thursday was HIIT on the elliptical, and today was lower again. Tomorrow I'll either do the bike at the gym and have a steam and pamper myself, or I'll use my "new" treadmill if I get it - my Dad has had both knees replaced and can't use his anymore, so he's going to bring it over to me so I can use it. It's not a very good one, according to my sister, but it's better than the nothing I have right now.

I'm determined to lose between 40-50 pounds by the end of June. I'm cutting out booze and am back on strict Atkins, so I think that a 2 lb loss per week is realistic at that pace, combined with the 6 days of working out. Plus, I want to try the yoga class at my gym - I need to add some kind of flexibility training to my program. They have it Tuesday nights, so it's a good combo with my cardio in the morning.

I'll try to post more often so that I have a current gym log.