thur., jan. 24, 2013, back/ bi's

I got a good workout in this morning. It was a little rough, because everything is sore and stiff. This being the first week of contest prep, my body is still adjusting to the training schedule: 6 days a week working with weights, ab training, cardio, and the real difference to me is posing practice every day- flexing every muscle in my body! Everything is sore. Over the next week or so my body will be use to is and it won't hurt so much. But, here is today's workout:
Wide grip pull-ups: 12,12,12,11
T-bar row: 45-10; 90-10; 135-9
rows: 135-8; 185-8; 235-8+1
V-grip pulldown: 180-12; 200-8; 220-6+2
curl: 50-12; 80-10; 110-?+drop
hammer concentration curl: 30-10,6,4+2
1-arm machine curl: 80-10, 6+2, 4+2
cable curl: 100-17

Last Day of Off-Season

Yes, 30 weeks of off season has been accomplished, and now I begin contest prep for the 2013 Tournament of Champions. But first, here is what my last off season workout looked like:
Chest and Triceps-
incline dumbell press:sets of 10 increasing weight 10lb each set from 30's up to 100's
cable cross-overs: 100-? + 4 drop sets
seated free motion cable chest press: 50-12; 60-?; 70-6
flat dumbell press: 70's-?
rope pushdown: 60-20; 90-12; 120-10
seated tri ex: 50-20; 75-15; 100-9
lying 1-arm ex: 40-7,5

So there it is. I'm starting a new blog entitled: Levi Burge: 2013 Contest Prep. Check it out!

Thur., 1/17/13, Legs

Killer leg pump this morning! It was what I call a typical leg day for me- low volume, high intensity. Here is what it looked like:
squat: 45-20; 95-6; 135-6; 225-6; 315-5;   365-20
leg press: 450-10; 630- 7-9(I'm not sure, but they were focussed and intense)
seated leg curl: 110-10; 125-10; 140-10
lying leg curl: 75-10
Note: The entire workout is focussed on, and really accomplished by, the one set of squats with 365 puonds. The quads, hams and glutes are all toast after this one set, the rest is just detail work.

Wed., 1/16/13, Calves/Shoulders

I got a great pump in both the calves and the delts this morning. Here is what I did:
calf press: 90-20; 180-15; 270-15; 360-12; 450-10; 520-10; 590-10; 660-8
smith machine calf raise: 180-12; 270-10; 360-10
seated dumbell press: 20's-10; 35's-12; 50's-10; 65's-10; 80's-9
laterals: 20's-12; 30's-12, 10, 9
incline rears: 30's-15; 40's-12; 50's-10
laterals: 40's-6 + 30's-6 + 20's-6(drop-set style)
shrugs: 135-15; 225-10; 315-12
And they were pumped.

Mon., 1/14/13, Back and Biceps

I got in a killer workout this morning- excellent pump, particularly in the back. I kept it pretty short, just 1-3 working sets per exercise. Check it out:

row: 45-20; 95-12; 135-10; 185-10; 225-8; 275-8
wide pull-ups: 12,12,10
1-arm row: 100-10,8
close pulldown: 225-8
dumbell preacher curl: 20's-10; 30's-10; 40's-?
spider curl: 5 sets with a 30 lb dumbell back and forth with no rest
hammer grip rope curls:90-12,12,10

Sat., 1/12/13, Chest/ Tri's

Back on track today! Feeling good, and got an excellent pump this morning. My abs are actually sore from my little ab circuit yesterday, ha ha. So, just chest and triceps today 3 exercises each and 1-3 working sets per exercise. Here it is:
incline hammer strength press: 20-20; 50-10; 90-10; 180-6; 270-6; 360-8 + fail + drop
flat dumbell press: 50's-15; 75's-12; 100's-6
cable crossover: 100-8; 90-8; 80-? + 1 set on the bosu: 60-?
seated triceps extension: 40-20; 60-15; 80-15; 110-10
lying triceps extension: 90-9
1-arm rope pushdown: 70-?,?

Fri., 1/11/13, Calves and Abs

So, yes- I did nothing but calves, abs and cardio today. I was scheduled to train chest and tri's, but my left elbow was feeling shakey yesterday, so I played it safe. I dislocated my left elbow playing a kids game in 2009, and tore my left rotator cuff moving a dresser in 2011, so that side is a little funny and I have to be careful. That is also why you NEVER  see me do a flat bench press. I am hard- headed enough to find exercises to work the muscle- I will never give up- but there are moves that I just can't do without pain.
Today I did 9 sets of calf presses, 4 sets of smith machine calf raises, an ab circuit that I threw some back extensions in and 20 minutes on the great Stair Master- great pump, good sweat!
...elbow feels good today, just not into unneccessary risks, so chest tommorrow!

Thur., 1/10/13, Legs

My legs are still a little sore from Saturdays' leg workout; so I didn't do anything crazy. I just pumped the blood in the muscles, used perfect form, kept sets close together, and it was a really good workout- I sweat a ton. So here is what it looked like:

leg curl: 30-15; 45-10; 60-10; 75-10; 90-10; 120-8+3
leg extension: 60-20; 90-20; 120-20; 150-20,17
leg press: 270-20; 450-15; 680-10
squat: 135-10; 225-10; 315-8 (deep, controlled, slow, and narrow)
alternating lunge: 95-10 (just to feel)

It was an excellent pump!

Wed., 01/09/13, Shoulders

I got a great deltoid pump this morning. I was being very cautious of the joint because it was a little sore, so I did not use a lot of weight. Here is what it looked like:
cuff exercises: light weight lots of reps/ various movements
laterals: 10's-10; 15's-10; 20's-10; 25's-10; 30's-10; 35's-10
seated behind the neck press: 95-15; 115-12; 135-12; 155-8 + 3 drops
incline rear laterals: 50's-?
cable rears: 40-15; 60-?
hammer strength press: 90-15; 140-12; 190-6

Mon., Jan. 7, 2013, Chest/ Tri's

I got a good pump today. I was actually suprised at how good a pump, because I didn't get enough sleep last night and was very tired. Not much volume was needed- muscle was stimulated and I got out of there. Here is the workout:

Inlcine dumbell press: 30's-20; 40's-15; 50's-10; 60's-10; 70's-10; 80's-10; 90's-10; 100's-9
cable cross overs: 80-10,10,?, 2 sets standing on the bosu ball: 50-10,?
incline hammer strength press: 180-10,8
rope pushdown: 80-15; 110-12; 130-?+ rest-pause
lying 1-arm extension: 20-6; 30-6; 40-?
machine 1-arm extension: 95-15,9

Sat., 01/15/13, Legs

2 weeks from today I begin contest prep for the WNBF Pro Tournament of Champions. I have been taking in fewer calories over the past 9 days due to getting a stomache virus that, the words of the great Apollo Creed, dropped me "like a bad habbit." Getting sick does many things: decreases muscle mass, decreases metabolism, halts muscle growth, zaps strength levels, psychs you out....
But, beginning today I will increase my calories significantly (aiming to get 3500-4000 a day) until contest prep to increase my metabolism. I intend on staying on a four day training split for now: chest and tri's day 1, back and bi's day 2, shoulders and calves day 3, quads and hams day 4. I will really train by instinct, which means I'll take the rest days as needed- may do 6 days a week, may do 4. I have 2 weeks to bring muscle and metabolism back up to par- then it's on. I'll do 20 minutes of cardio 5-6 days a week, throwing in a little interval work a couple days a week.

So here is what today's workout looked like. (I had the unusual privilege of training with Sonny Macaranus. I normally train alone, because of my weird schedule. Sonny has always been great inspiration for me, plus he is stronger on most lifts than me so I get pushed.):

squats: 45-20; 95-12; 135-10; 185-10; 225-10; 275-10; 325-10; 345-10; 365-10
leg press: 450-12; 630-10; 860-9
seated leg curl: 110-12; 125-12; 140-10
standing 1-leg curl: 75-12

Thur. 1/03/13, Shoulders and Calves

I got a good pump in both the delts and the calves this morning. The last 2 calf workouts, in an effort to avoid using a lot of weight, I have started with high reps and worked up in weight and down in reps as the sets go on. It seems to be effective, as the calves have had a good soreness the days following the workouts. Here is what todays workout looked like:
calf press: 90-30; 180-25; 270-20; 360-15; 450-10,10,10
seated calf raise: 90-12; 140-12,12
seated dumbell press: 20's-20; 35's-15; 50's-12; 65's-10; 80's-10
machine lateral:                           80-20; 110-12,12
   super set with machine rears: 120-15; 140-?, ?
hammer strength press: 90-12; 140-12; 190-12; 240-8 (I put an extra pad against the back to put it a little more in the delts)
shrug(wide grip; 30 sec. rest between sets): 225-10,10,10