PDA

View Full Version : Cartmans Torture Sessions


Welcome to the Active Low-Carber Forums

Support for Atkins diet, Protein Power, Neanderthin (Paleo Diet), CAD/CALP, Dr. Bernstein Diabetes Solution and any other healthy low-carb diet or plan, all are welcome in our lowcarb community. Forget starvation and fad diets -- join the healthy eating crowd! You may register by clicking here, it's free!



cartmanis
Wed, Apr-02-03, 20:59
Well, figured I'd start this one to journal my BFL attempt.

Monday I started, with my upper body workout.

Chest: Dumbell Bench Press. 10lb, 20, 20, 35, 20 with the proper number of reps. Then 12 reps of dumbell fly with 10lbs. Figured 8 was my highest intensity
Shoulders: Seated dumbell press. 10, 10, 10, 20, 10. Dumbell side raises 12 reps at 5lbs. Figure a 9 on the last 2.
Back: One arm dumbell row. 10, 20, 20, 35, 35. Dumbell Pullover, 12 reps 20lbs. 9's for the last 2.
Triceps: Standing Dumbell extensions. 5, 10, 10, 10, 5. 9 on the last set. Lying dumbell extension, 5lbs, 8 intensity
Biceps: Seated Dumbell Curl. 5, 10, 20, 20, 10. 9 on the last set. Hammer curl, 12 reps, intensity 8 with 5lb.

So, I bought some more plates and dumbell handles to get a better distribution of the weights and to do the routine more accuratly. Know my weights a little better now and should be more accurate on the next UBWO.

Tuesday, 20 minute BFL cardio on a stationary bike. Was going well, but somewhere along the line I got mixed up and was counting my changes each minute wrong and ended up doing 21 minutes :) Got that now though I think :) Figure I was pretty close to a 10 on the 2nd last minute.

Tonigt, Lower Body Workout.
Quads: Dumbell Squats. 10, 10, 20, 25, 20. Dumbell lunge, 6 reps, 10lb. I figure if you get to the point where you just can't do anymore and fall over, that is probably a 10, so 9 on the last squat, 10 on the lunge.
Hamstrings: Standing Dead Lift. 10, 20, 25, 35, 25. Lunge again, 4 reps. I'll claim an 8 on the last squat, and a 9 on the lunge, though I couldn't do anymore, it was more that if I tried I would have fallen over, not because I didn't have the strength to push. If that makes any sense. (more of a losing balance thing)
Calfs: Standing Calf raise. 10, 20, 25, 35, 25. Angled calf raise. Again, losing balance at the top, stopped at 4. About an 8 for both
Abs: Floor crunches. got all the proper reps, a 9 on the Twist crunches for the last set.

Tommorow, more cardio.

cartmanis
Thu, Apr-03-03, 19:14
BFL cardio done. I'd say about a 9 on the intensity on the 19th minute. Resistance was cranked up, maybe I wasn't doing enough on the previous minutes. Still, heart rate of 174 at the highest, not sure how high I want to let that get.

cartmanis
Fri, Apr-04-03, 19:47
Upper body workout, Upped a few weights, a little more balanced than before.

Chest: Bench Press, 15, 20,25,35,35 with an 8 intensity on the last, then Dumbell Fly at 15lb, a 9
Shoulders: Sitting press, 5,10,15,20,15, 9 on the last. Side raises, 5lb, 9 intensity
Back: One Arm Row, 15,20,25,35,25, 8 on the last. DB pullover, 25lb, 10 on the 12th rep
Triceps: Standing ext, 5,10,15 Lost it on the 15lb 4 reps and just wouldn't budge, need to play with that for a bit. Did get in a lying Ext for another 12 reps at 10lbs for a 9 to finish
Biceps: Sitting curl, 10,15,20,25. Got 5 reps for a 10 on the last rep.

cartmanis
Sat, Apr-05-03, 20:38
20 minutes of BFL cardio, maybe a 9 on the 2nd last minute, not quite up to the 10 I should be hitting.

cartmanis
Tue, Apr-08-03, 19:00
LBWO yesterday, went well, but skipped the calves.

Cardio tonight, 9.5 intensity at the end, not quite 10 I don't think.

Lessara
Wed, Apr-09-03, 20:53
I can't believe what you do to work out! Makes mine look like nothing! I just started understanding BFL, not able to do that yet.
So how is intensity measured? Do you have a scale?
I was curious. How long have you been working out, by the way.
I think you are doing an awsome job! :thup:
Take care :wave:

cartmanis
Thu, Apr-10-03, 07:10
Thanks for coming by Lessara, I answered in your log. I think I'm doing ok so far to, but still working out which exercises are best for me since I'm doing them all at home.

cartmanis
Thu, Apr-10-03, 18:13
20 BFL minutes, still not a 10 on the cardio by my guess, and I increased the pace and tension is up pretty high. I'll keep trying.

chysmith
Sat, Apr-12-03, 17:40
Originally posted by cartmanis
I can't recommend enough the simple crunch (and variations when you get more into it) for ab work. Everything I have ever read points it as the best/easiest exercise to do for your abs.

Hi Kevin! :wave:
I was reading some of Lessara's gym log and read what you had to say about BFL. Very insightful!
I have a question for you about ab work. Do you think it is better to do regular crunches/situps instead of the ab machine? I've tried to do the basic Scarlet O'Hara from Matthew's Method (http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/meriam/meriam.htm) , but I'm having a difficult time isolating the correct muscles. It's been so long since I've used them, that I don't know how to purposefully use them (does that make sense?).

Thanks!

cartmanis
Tue, Apr-15-03, 10:58
Well, missed my first workout, will make up for it tonight. Sigh, gave into sleepyness last night, and a good book. More dilligence from now on.

Lessara
Wed, Apr-23-03, 10:40
Just dropping by for a quick hello. Because I was ill, its been tough going to the gym in the morning because I rather sleep in. My whole sleep pattern was mixed up. :daze: But we know what fixes that don't we, exercise :cool:

cartmanis
Wed, Jun-23-04, 07:12
Okay, well, I guess it has been well over a year now with no exercise. LOL.

But, back to the gym today, and have my workout planned. Hopefully since I'll be paying for it, I'll have better inclination to keep the gym up, and won't be so limited, since I can use machines for some of the exercises where I'd like to go to failure and not have to worry about safety.

So, planning a 3 day split routine. I figure I can get to the gym M/W/F after work and be back to get supper cooked at a decent time.

Shooting for a standard 3 set for each exercise, 6-8 reps, lifting heavy. I'll probably do a warm up set as well but that won't count. Wanting to do 3 exercises per muscle group as well, though a few body parts a bit more or less.

Day 1: Chest and Triceps.
Bench Press, Incline Bench Press, Dumbell fly, Tricep extensions on the bench, Cable Tricep pulldowns, Bench Tricep kickbacks.

Day 2: Back and Bicep/Forearm
Cable pulldowns, Cable rows, Dumbell rows, barbell curls, concentration curls and forarm curls.

Day 3: Legs and Shoulders.
Squats, Leg extensions, Deadlifts, leg curls, Leg press, Calf raises, Military press, side dumbell raises.

We'll see how this afternoon goes, as I want to start with the chest. I'm also not sure if I'm doing too much on the legs, and should settle for either the squat or the leg press, and not do both. Figure I'll try both starting off, see which I prefer to keep, and alter from there if it is too much.

cartmanis
Thu, Jun-24-04, 04:22
Exercise was good yesterday.

I did 5 minutes on manual on the elliptical, getting use the to machine. Then reset it, and timed it for 15 minutes on the Hill Climb setting. Did that, and my heart rate through it ranged from the 150's to the 170's depending on the resistance. Then another couple minutes of cool down. Not bad actually, given I haven't done it in over a year. Better shape than I thought.

Weights were good. Did a few warm up sets figuring out my weights, which I'm sure exhausted the muscles a bit so we'll see next week how those weights workout, but I was benching around 105 for 3 sets, which isn't as bad as I thought it might be. I have never had a strong bench press. Did incline presses and dumbell fly's as well. Then Triceps with 90lbs (or at least I think 1-9 means 10-90 on the plates) on the cable pull downs with a flat bar I did. Then another 2 exercises with dumbells to finish them off. They were feeling pretty tired by the end.
Feeling it this morning though, that nice muscle soreness is there.

Tomorrow will be Back and shoulders. Man, I hate shoulder exercises LOL :)

mischa
Fri, Jun-25-04, 08:56
looking good:) I am starting Sunday again.

:yay:

cartmanis
Fri, Jun-25-04, 09:00
:) Thanks Mischa.

I like to lift heavy, low rep, so that is what I'm doing, but I guess my real goal would be to strengthen what I have, maybe increase its density if that is possible, versus gaining size. Not sure what I really should be doing for that, but I'm guessing probably higher reps. This will get me by for a bit, and then I can tailor things a bit better once I'm warmed up to all this a bit.

cartmanis
Mon, Jul-05-04, 05:07
So the gym is going well, and on schedule. No misses yet, think I have a good time picked for doing it. Always easy to convince myself to finish work to get to the gym vesus say doing it in the morning when I would rather sleep LOL :)

2nd leg workout today, so we'll see how that goes.

cartmanis
Mon, Jul-19-04, 06:53
Okay, so currently I'm doing

Leg/Shoulders/abs on Mondays

3 sets of 6-8 reps is my goal at each weight, if I can do 8 solid reps for 3 sets, time to bump up the weight.

ATG Squats - switched to these from leg presses last week, started at 145lb, think that is going up today.
Seated Calf Raises - 130lb should go up
Leg Curls - 70lbs
Leg Extensions - 60lbs might go up
Military Dumbell Press - 30lbs should go up
Side Dumbell raises - 20lbs
declined situps - As many as I can do right now, less than 10.
Hanging Leg raises - 3 sets of 10

Chest/Triceps - Wednesdays
Bench Press - 115lb
Dumbell Fly's - 25lb
Incline Dumbell Bench Press - 80lb (40 a side)
Lying Tricep Extensions - 20lbs should go up
Tricep Kickbacks - 25lb
Tricep Cable Pulldowns - 100lbs should go up

Back/Biceps/forearm - Friday's
Seated Cable Rows - 100lbs should go up
Dumbell Rows - 70lbs should go up
Seated Lat Pull down - 80lb -
Standing Dumbell Bicep curls - 30lb
Forearm Dumbell curl - 60 should go up
seated Concentration Dumbell Curl - 25
Hyper Extensions - 3 sets of 8 reps holding 35lbs

I am not increasing weights on those were I got to 8 reps, but wasn't happy with the form on the last couple of reps.

cartmanis
Wed, Jul-28-04, 08:27
Okay, since I have all my stuff right here.

Chest/Tricep day
DB flat bench: 50lb dbs
DB Fly: 25lb dbs
DB Incline bench: 40lb dbs
Lying tricep ext: 25lb dbs
Caple rope tricep pushdown: 90lb
Tricep DB kickbacks: 25

Back/Bi/Forearm
Seated Cable Row: 110lb
Lat pulldown: 90lb
DB Rows: 75lb dbs
DB bicep curls: 30lb dbs
forearm wrist curls: 30lb dbs
Concentration DB curl: 25lb db
Hyperextension : 35lb plate

Leg/shoulders
Full squats: 160lb
Leg Curl: 70lb
Leg Ext: 80lb
Seated Calf Raise: 155lb
Military DB press: 40lb
DB raises: 25lb
Crunches - 3 x 30
Hanging leg raises: 3 x 8

All lifts are in the 3 sets of 6-8 reps. If I can do 8 reps with good form, I move the weight up.

Wrist curls I just added, so the weight is still a little low I think while I judge the proper weight/form.

cartmanis
Wed, Aug-11-04, 04:17
So, at 7 weeks at the gym

Weight
217 lbs (98.60 kg) 222 lbs (100.90 kg) 5 lbs (2.30 Kg)
Neck
15.51 in (39.40 cm) 15.24 in (38.70 cm) -0.28 in (-0.70 cm)
Shoulder
47.52 in (120.70 cm) 48.50 in (123.20 cm) 0.98 in (2.50 cm)
Chest
45.00 in (114.30 cm) 45.00 in (114.30 cm)
Waist
40.98 in (104.10 cm) 40.51 in (102.90 cm) -0.47 in (-1.20 cm)
Abdomen
44.02 in (111.80 cm) 42.99 in (109.20 cm) -1.02 in (-2.60 cm)
Hips
39.02 in (99.10 cm) 36.50 in (92.70 cm) -2.52 in (-6.40 cm)
Thigh
24.02 in (61.00 cm) 25.51 in (64.80 cm) 1.50 in (3.80 cm)
Knee
15.51 in (39.40 cm) 15.00 in (38.10 cm) -0.51 in (-1.30 cm)
Calf
15.98 in (40.60 cm) 15.98 in (40.60 cm)
Ankle
9.02 in (22.90 cm) 9.25 in (23.50 cm) 0.24 in (0.60 cm)
Arm
14.02 in (35.60 cm) 14.49 in (36.80 cm) 0.47 in (1.20 cm)
Forearm
12.01 in (30.50 cm) 12.01 in (30.50 cm)
Wrist
7.01 in (17.80 cm) 7.01 in (17.80 cm)

9lbs up on LBM, 3 lbs down on fat.
(if measurements were accurate.)

j. mcadams
Wed, Aug-11-04, 05:59
Oh my God, Kevin, those numbers look awesome. It is when you can see results like your that makes it easier and easier each day to hit the gym.

Way to go :thup: :thup: :thup: :thup: :thup: :thup:

Hugs,
Joan

cartmanis
Wed, Aug-11-04, 06:08
Thanks Joan :) It makes me feel a little better about being 222 this morning, versus 218 in my stats :)

mischa
Thu, Aug-19-04, 09:22
If you want to lift heavier, I can recommend what I do, as I think it works pretty well, but you might want to finish what you are doing with BFL first? Switching up at times is never a bad thing I think, throws the body off


after this round I was thinking of a switch. So I will start reading your gym log for ideas:)

Thanks..I love the input

cartmanis
Thu, Aug-19-04, 09:32
LOL, I'll have to update it a bit more often then :)

mischa
Fri, Aug-20-04, 09:25
HI Kev

so when you do back on day you do different lifts for the back..not just one? Like lat pulldown and seated row and db row? Is there a number of different lifts for each muscle group you do?

cartmanis
Fri, Aug-20-04, 09:48
I'm not perfect for that, but I tend to try for 3 exercises per body part.

For instance, for chest, I hit a flat dumbbell press, a dumbbell fly ,and then an incline dumbbell press.

For back, I do those three you listed.

For legs I hit now squats, STDL, seated calf raises - I have to update this with the latest changes I made. I will probably add a standing calf raise in there, but dropped the extensions and curls I was doing.

Biceps I do 2 exercises, same for shoulders. Mostly because I feel they get hit pretty good with some of the other stuff I do.

I'm thinking of trying full deadlifts on back day, but haven't yet. They will probably replace my rows.

I'm slowly working towards being able to do enough chin/pullups and dips to add them into the appropriate spot, as I've read they can be very effective.

mischa
Fri, Aug-20-04, 12:53
thanks Kev..this will give me an idea for the next plan in 4 weeks:)

cartmanis
Sat, Aug-21-04, 03:12
:) anything I can do to help, let me know.

cartmanis
Mon, Aug-23-04, 05:59
Okay, an update on workout.

Still doing 3 sets per exercise, 6-8 reps. If i can get 3 sets of 8 reps in ,the weight goes up the next week.
I'll list my routine, with the weights reps I got in on the last day I did
Leg/Shoulders on Monday

Full Squats: 175lb 8 reps, 175lbs 6 reps, 175lbs for 4 reps
Straight Leg Deadlifts: 80lb 8 reps, 3 sets. Going up to 90
Seated calf raises: 175lb 8 reps, 175lb 8 reps, 175lb 7 reps
This will switch to standing calf raises

Military Dumbbell press: 40lb dumbbells (80lb total) for 3 sets of reps.
Side Dumbbell raises: 30lb 8reps, 30lb 8 reps, 30lbs 6 reps

Switching these to

Arnold Press
Upright rows
Dumbbell lat raises
Not sure on weights yet.

I also do 3 sets of 30 reps of crunches, and 3 sets of hanging knee raises, usually about 10 reps

Chest/Tricep day
Dumbbell flat bench: 120lb (60lb dumbbells) 8 reps, 7 reps, 6 reps
Dumbbell Fly: 80 lb (40 lb dumbbells) 6 reps, 5 reps, 5 reps (felt weak on this last time - but was a new weight)
Dumbbell Incline press: 100lb (50 lb dumbbells) 6 reps, 5 reps, 4 reps (again, felt week on this - again, a new higher weight)
Lying Tricep extension: 30lb 4 reps, 5 reps, 4 reps - weakness continued, again an new higher weight
Cable rope triceps pushdowns: 100lb 8 reps, 8 reps, 6 reps. Felt strong again, as this was better than the previous week.
Tricep dumbbell kickbacks: 25lb 3 sets of 8 reps. As good as previous week.

Back/Bicep/forearm

Cable Rows: 120lb 3 sets of 8 reps - will go up next time
Cable Lat pulldown - behind neck, wide bar: I had just switched this from a front pull to the chest. 80lb for 8, 80lb for 8, 90lb for 8. Will go with 90 next time.
Dumbbell rows: 160lb (80 lb dumbbells) 3 sets of 8 reps, but not the greatest form on the last rep of the last set for the left side, so I'll stick with 80 this week.
Dumbbell curl - standing: 35lb 5 reps, 5 reps 4 reps. This is actually down from the previous week - not sure why
Concentration curls: 30lb 7/8 reps (left arm/right arm), 5/8 reps, 5/8 reps - this is better than the previous week. Shows left side weaker than right.

Static grips: 190lb (95lb dumbbells) Held until grip failed 3 times.

Hyper extensions: 3 sets of 8, slow.

Found my muscles fatigued this last time quicker than I thought, though usually because I had increased the weight 5/10 lbs from the previous week. I'll see how this week goes.

mischa
Mon, Aug-23-04, 08:58
wow you are lifting heavy:D super workout..is printing this moment:)

cartmanis
Mon, Aug-23-04, 09:39
Some of the recommendations I have read have gone as far as to shoot for only 6 reps, which would be even heavier, but I dunno, that would seem like so few. But then, I may try it to see at some point. Might make for a shorter workout, which would be a good thing.

We'll see how the new day today is, I'm hoping it will hit the shoulders a bit better. The exercises I picked should hit a bit more of the muscles in the shoulder, compared to the 2 previous which pretty much hit only one of the 3. Plus I've gone from 2 to 3.

cartmanis
Tue, Aug-24-04, 03:56
Leg day was ok. Squat was going bad, but I figured out why. I have been enjoying being able to do pull ups and chin ups now, and have been doing them while at the squat rack cause the bars are there. I did 4 of each before my first set, thinking of them as just warming up, but they take a bit more out of me that I would have thought. I only did like 4 or 5 reps on my first set, which was lower than last week, and so I skipped doing more of the pull ups in between the sets, and did 8 reps on the 2nd set, so I'll blame them for my first sets let down :) Did 4 reps on the last set, but only because I lost my balance on the 5th rep, not because I couldn't do it. So I stopped then.

Straight Leg Dead lifts I did at 90lbs, full 3 sets of 8 reps, they will go up again, I'm still low I think, but want to make sure my lower back and other muscles in the movement aren't messed up by upping the weight too fast.

Switched my calf raises to standing ones, on this free weight machine they have at the gym. Don't think I'll do it again on that one, as it is pretty awkward, and you have to essentially lift all the weight you want to use up in a short squat type motion, move back to he edge of the platform, and then do you raises. Problem with this is, I put 450lbs on the machine, which was killer getting up, but didn't really stress my calves any. I think I will switch to the leg press to do it next time. I can still get that standing calf raise movement, but can do it with just my legs, saving my back and shoulders.

The new shoulder exercises went well, weights were all low, but wanted to make sure I had the form down, and will work the weights up.

Skipped cardio, as the new exercises took a while longer figuring out weights and such, so it was late when I finished.

cartmanis
Thu, Sep-09-04, 06:16
Wednesday Sept 8th, 2004: Chest and Triceps
Dumbbell Flat Bench: 2x65lb dumbbells
Solid lifting, Set 1 7 reps, Set 2 6 reps, Set 3 5 reps, improved from last week

Dumbbell Flat Fly: 2x40lb dumbbells (though about to go up to 45lbsers)
Upped the weight to 45lbsers, as the 40's were in use.
4 reps in all 3 sets

Dumbbell Incline Bench Press: 2x50lb dumbbells
Solid lifting, Set 1 8 reps, Set 2 8 reps, Set 3 7 reps, improved from previous week

Lying Tricep Extensions (Skull crushers?): 2x30lb dumbbells
Set 1 8 reps, Set 2 7 reps, Set 3 5 reps, improved from last week

Cable pushdowns with rope handle: 110lb (or plate 11)
Just moved to this weight,
Set 1 8 reps, Set 2 6 reps, Set 3 7 reps

cartmanis
Tue, Sep-14-04, 05:55
Friday, Sept 10th

Switched things up a bit.

Pull ups. 3 sets of 4 reps (all I can do at this time)
Deadlifts: 225lb, 6 reps, 8 reps, 8 reps.
Cable Row: 140lb 4 reps - felt like I stressed something too much in my shoulder so I finished with 2 sets of 8 at 120lbs
Bicep Curl: 35lb dumbbells for 8, 8 and 6 reps
Concentration Curl: 30lbs for 3 sets of 8 reps.

Monday, Sept 13th,

Back was a mess from the weekend building a fence, so I didn't feel up to squats.

Legpress: 450lb 3 sets of 8. Mixed with 3 sets of eight calf raises after each leg press set.
Straight Leg Deadlift: 120lb, 3 sets of 8 reps.
Arnold Press: 40lb dumbbells, 3 sets of 8 reps
Upright Rows: 30lb dumbbells, 3 sets of 8 reps
Dumbbell lat raises: 20lb 7 reps, 8 reps, 8 reps

cartmanis
Fri, Oct-01-04, 03:53
Not much to update.
Ended up missing a few days, which I racked up to "taking a week off" to recouperate LOL :)
Added dips in on the chest tricep days. Can't do very many, but I sure felt my triceps (and still do) from wednesday.

cartmanis
Wed, Feb-01-06, 09:48
Decided to switch to a upperbody/lowerbody split. Want to hit the parts a little closer together, and get more of a workout in each time.

Upper body.
Yesterday
Deadlift, Flat Bench, Incline barbell row, Incline Bench, Chins, Military press, lying tricep extensions, ...
Wanted to finish up with Bicep curls and bench dips, but ran out of time as I took extra marking settings for the pins and such on the power rack, as well as trying out the incline rows with the barbell.

Weights were nothing spectacular,
Deadlifts were light - 205 just cause I haven't done them for a while, so want to work the weights up slowly
Flat Bench - 145lbs on barbell
Rows - 105lbs
Incline bench - 135lbs
Military Press - 65lb (not wanting to push my shoulder too fast)
Lying tricep extension - 2x35lb dumbbells - trying this with move of an incline and keeping the whole move under tension.