Rest and hard work

Wednesday is generally my day to do the Shredder Walk. On my normal 4 day split I don’t weight train on Wednesdays. Last week (because of the contest) I ended up working out 6 days in a row. Sunday we actually walked around NYC for a couple hours before traveling back to Austin. Monday was back to work and back to regular workouts, starting with legs. Tuesday was chest. So, yesterday I finally rested! It wasn’t complete rest. I trained 8 clients and also did a one hour phone consultation, but I didn’t do any cardio or weight training. Last night was possibly the first night (since I started dieting in April) that I slept all night without waking up. I guess the rest was good!

Today it was back to work, fast and furious! I squeezed in a heavy deadlift session mid-morning between clients and did some box jumps between deadlift sets. Then I met Tricia at 1:30 for our regular back workout. I’m really enjoying the “split back workout”, where I deadlift heavy in the morning and then do the rest of my back with Tricia in the early afternoon. I think I’m going to stick with that strategy as often as my personal training schedule allows. I’m thinking about trying to do the same thing with squats and bench press too. I also added a few sets of quads at the end of my back workout. Doing the “bonus bicep work” on my chest day has really improved my biceps, so I’m going to try the same thing with quads. I definitely need to improve my legs, so I’m hoping this helps.

Deadlift workout:

135X12, 185X8, 225X6, 275X5, 315X3, 365X2, 405X1, 425X1, 435X1, 405X1 These singles were not maximum singles….just heavy

Between deadlift sets I did box jumps at the following heights and reps

12″X8, 17″X6, 18″X6, 19″X5, 23″X3, 24″X3, 25″X3 I haven’t done box jumps in a long time and was careful about working my way up. I land with my legs almost straight so that the box height is actually what I’m jumping vertically. I don’t do these to the point of fatigue. My goal is to do each jump explosively and safely.

Regular Back workout:

Seated Row: 5 sets 10-12 reps

Lat Pulldowns 4 sets 12, 10, 8, 8

One arm DB Row 4 sets 12, 12, 10, 10

Partial Deadlifts 4 sets 12-15 reps I didn’t go very heavy on these. My back was exhausted at this point!

Bonus Quad work:

Single Leg Extensions 4 sets 10-12 reps one set with my left leg, followed immediately by a set with my right leg, then back to the left. I did this continuously for the 4 sets each leg. My right leg is still significantly stronger than my left.