Ah, a much better arms day as compared to last week's fail one cos of injury.
Underhand grip pullups
Reps: previous 4, now 7
? No idea how come suddenly jumped to 7. Could be because I was on the assisted machine at Gombak. But I took out the pin, which should mean I got zero assist. Anyway, did a 7. Grip was a bit weird though, as it's not a straight bar but like 2 handles, so abit of a wide grip for underhand grip.
Narrow Grip Bench Press .prev : 50kg, now 50kg (up!)
6 6 6 prog,
Wow, this was super easy today. Not sure if it's because of differing barbell weights at different gyms.. (last week's session was at safra tpy. today at gombak) Got a spotter over for the last set but didn't need any help. Powered through all 6 reps. Time to up weight!
EZ bar bicep curls . 15 17.5 15kg
888
I'm switching up my arms programme because I don't think heavy weights are very effective for isolation exercises - I swing too much, and try to compensate by compromising form. By keeping the weight lower, I can concentrate on perfect, strict form, and really getting the full workout on the target muscles. Will up to 17+kg straight sets next time.
Lying skullcrushers. now: 17.5, 15 15 (excluding bar)
8 8 8
I made a mistake on this weight big time - I thought my previous weight of 20kg was excluding the bar, so I did 17.5 on first set. It was so heavy but I did it!
Think I will try 15 prog next time
DB hammer curls. 12, 14 14kg
8 8 8
Man these were quite tough on my forearms, coming at the end of the workout. SO sore haha had to push through the last few reps. But I think lower weight is the way to go, get to engage the target muscle much better, and minimise cheating.
Showing posts with label Arms. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Arms. Show all posts
Tuesday, 21 October 2014
Tuesday, 14 October 2014
Fitness Log - Arms - Week 6
Underhand grip pullups
Reps: 4
My pullups are so bad! I need to train pullups more. Think they are a great exercise but I'm just bad at them.
Narrow Grip Bench Press . now: 50kg
6 6 6 prog, last 2 reps with spot
I kinda like this exercise, because despite being a compound lift, it really targets and engages the triceps well. They were burnt in the last set, and I could barely lift it past 4 reps lol. Shall try this weight again.
EZ bar bicep curls . now: 20, 17.5 17.5kg (excluding bar)
6 6 6
It felt too heavy on the first set, and i was swinging a bit. I want to try to keep my torso stationary and lift only with my arms. Thus I dropped it a tad, and went for maximum squeeze and lift. Will try 2 sets of 20 next time.
Lying skullcrushers. now: 17.5, 15 15 (excluding bar)
6 6 6
I made a mistake on this weight big time - I thought my previous weight of 20kg was excluding the bar, so I did 17.5 on first set. It was so heavy but I did it!
Think I will try 15 prog next time
--
Overall wasn't a good workout cos I had a minor muscle pull in my back from yesterday.. hope it heals before thursday's deadlifts/lats workout. No idea how to stretch it. I'm still toying with the idea of removing arms day or at least making it arms/legs day. Not sure how the workout will look though.
Reps: 4
My pullups are so bad! I need to train pullups more. Think they are a great exercise but I'm just bad at them.
Narrow Grip Bench Press . now: 50kg
6 6 6 prog, last 2 reps with spot
I kinda like this exercise, because despite being a compound lift, it really targets and engages the triceps well. They were burnt in the last set, and I could barely lift it past 4 reps lol. Shall try this weight again.
EZ bar bicep curls . now: 20, 17.5 17.5kg (excluding bar)
6 6 6
It felt too heavy on the first set, and i was swinging a bit. I want to try to keep my torso stationary and lift only with my arms. Thus I dropped it a tad, and went for maximum squeeze and lift. Will try 2 sets of 20 next time.
Lying skullcrushers. now: 17.5, 15 15 (excluding bar)
6 6 6
I made a mistake on this weight big time - I thought my previous weight of 20kg was excluding the bar, so I did 17.5 on first set. It was so heavy but I did it!
Think I will try 15 prog next time
--
Overall wasn't a good workout cos I had a minor muscle pull in my back from yesterday.. hope it heals before thursday's deadlifts/lats workout. No idea how to stretch it. I'm still toying with the idea of removing arms day or at least making it arms/legs day. Not sure how the workout will look though.
Wednesday, 24 September 2014
Fitness Log #10 - Arms - Week 3
EZ Bar Bicep Curls - previous - 17.5kg. now: 20kg (up)
Reps: 6, 6, 6 (prog)
Tried wearing gloves (with wrist support) for this, but not sure if it helped or worsened. I think I may have to go easy on the weight and just work on more reps to strengthen my wrists instead of going for heavy weight for arms.
Skullcrushers - 20kg (up)
Reps: 6 6 6 (prog)
This is a new exercise - I don't normally do it as I don't always get a barbell for free. Next time I may have to use the EZbar for this. It works the triceps much better (the best I think) though than any other exercise
Alternate DB bicep curls - 16kg (prev) (stay on 15/16)
Reps: 6 6 6
Not sure why but my wrists hurt when I did this. I think I cannot go heavy on arm exercises, as my arm strength is outpacing my wrist strength. Shall work my way up to 10 reps for 16kg before progressing.
Narrow Grip Bench Press - previous: 42.5kg. Now: 45kg (up)
Reps: 666 (prog)
I think I can do 50+ no problem. Shall keep progressing. The aches on my triceps the next day are amazing lol.
--
Really don't like arms day though in theory it's the one I want the most lol. Don't find them very productive in terms of progression and at the end of workout. May do without it after 1-2 months, we'll see.
Reps: 6, 6, 6 (prog)
Tried wearing gloves (with wrist support) for this, but not sure if it helped or worsened. I think I may have to go easy on the weight and just work on more reps to strengthen my wrists instead of going for heavy weight for arms.
Skullcrushers - 20kg (up)
Reps: 6 6 6 (prog)
This is a new exercise - I don't normally do it as I don't always get a barbell for free. Next time I may have to use the EZbar for this. It works the triceps much better (the best I think) though than any other exercise
Alternate DB bicep curls - 16kg (prev) (stay on 15/16)
Reps: 6 6 6
Not sure why but my wrists hurt when I did this. I think I cannot go heavy on arm exercises, as my arm strength is outpacing my wrist strength. Shall work my way up to 10 reps for 16kg before progressing.
Narrow Grip Bench Press - previous: 42.5kg. Now: 45kg (up)
Reps: 666 (prog)
I think I can do 50+ no problem. Shall keep progressing. The aches on my triceps the next day are amazing lol.
--
Really don't like arms day though in theory it's the one I want the most lol. Don't find them very productive in terms of progression and at the end of workout. May do without it after 1-2 months, we'll see.
Tuesday, 16 September 2014
Fitness Log #6 - Arms - Week 2
EZ Bar Bicep Curls - previous - 17.5kg. now: 20kg (up)
Reps: 6, 6, 6
Not sure why bar curls always feel so taxing and scary on my wrists.. need to slip in some wrist conditioning in my other workouts. Did straight sets with no progression because this exercise never feels right.
DB tricep curls - previous: 15kg (up) 18kg (new exercise?)
Reps: 6 6 6
I don't really like this exercise as the range of motion is really small and I feel like I'm straining my neck as I lower the weight behind my back. I may go to skullcrushers, though I'll be capped on that exercise once I hit 25 because it's really hard to get a free barbell at the Bukit Gombak gym. (before 25 I can use the 'premade' barbells)
Alternate DB bicep curls - 15kg (stay) 16kg (stay, work on form)
Reps: 6 6 6
These were actually ok, but progressing on arm exercises are not very meaningful to me as they are isolation and don't work other parts. I think I'll stay at this weight and work on lifting the weights purely with my arms, and not move my core/torso at all.
Narrow Grip Bench Press - 40kg (up) 42.5 (up)Reps: 6 6 6 Did progress loading with this, so top set was 47.5. Still quite manageable. Think I can do baseline 50 atm. But shall progress systematically to 45 next workout.
Reps: 6, 6, 6
Not sure why bar curls always feel so taxing and scary on my wrists.. need to slip in some wrist conditioning in my other workouts. Did straight sets with no progression because this exercise never feels right.
DB tricep curls - previous: 15kg (up) 18kg (new exercise?)
Reps: 6 6 6
I don't really like this exercise as the range of motion is really small and I feel like I'm straining my neck as I lower the weight behind my back. I may go to skullcrushers, though I'll be capped on that exercise once I hit 25 because it's really hard to get a free barbell at the Bukit Gombak gym. (before 25 I can use the 'premade' barbells)
Alternate DB bicep curls - 15kg (stay) 16kg (stay, work on form)
Reps: 6 6 6
These were actually ok, but progressing on arm exercises are not very meaningful to me as they are isolation and don't work other parts. I think I'll stay at this weight and work on lifting the weights purely with my arms, and not move my core/torso at all.
Narrow Grip Bench Press - 40kg (up) 42.5 (up)Reps: 6 6 6 Did progress loading with this, so top set was 47.5. Still quite manageable. Think I can do baseline 50 atm. But shall progress systematically to 45 next workout.
Tuesday, 9 September 2014
Fitness Log #2 - Arms - Week 1
Straight Barbell Bicep Curls - 27.5kg (stay)
changed to EZ Bar Bicep Curls - 17.5kg (up)
Reps: 6, 6, 6
Experienced pain in my wrist in the first set of my straight barbell curls... so decided to go to EZ bar. Not sure how to manage this - the gym I normally go to doesn't have EZ bar. Damn. Will try straight bar again next time, but do some good stretching of my wrist/forearm first.
DB tricep curls - 15kg (up)
Reps: 6 6 6
Kind of messed this up by mistakenly doing it one-handed... then realized it was too difficult. It's two-handed! Ok. Will up this weight next time.
Alternate DB bicep curls - 15kg (stay)
Reps: 6 6 6
Will up the reps to all 7s next time, as I feel I still need more work on my form before progressing on the weight. No point cheating myself.
Narrow Grip Bench Press - 40kg (up)
Reps: 6 6 6
A new exercise, so I started light as I'm not sure how heavy I could go. Had little difficulty with this, so will increase to 42.5 next time.
--
Overall I feel arms day don't really feel very fulfilling, probably because of the nagging soreness/pain in my left wrist/forearm. I think I will add a stretching/conditioning exercise at the start of my arms day workout session, to ease my wrist into the workout.
Friday, 5 September 2014
Fitness Log #1 - Arms-Week0
So... after a long hiatus I decided to start gymming properly again. Well, I was already gymming since I started work at the pathetic gym near my workplace, but it was missing a Squat rack and a Bench rack, so I couldn't do those two all-important compound lifts. Plus I still stuck to my 3 day mixed routine, which wasn't giving me any noticeable gains, apart from a slight increase in definition in my arms.
During this time, there was a period of maybe a month where I increased my diet too, eating an extra snack each day of usually chicken fillets and drinking a banana milkshake every afternoon. I'm not sure how much that really helped apart from packing on some stubborn tummy fat, but I did gain 3 kg in the 3 months.
Now, I will be starting on a 4 day split routine - chest, arms, rest, back, shoulders (I do squats with chest day, and crunches with back day) - and hope this routine gives me more gains. I'll evaluate the overall routine again in 3 months. I'm a bit lazy to up my diet again, due to the extra costs/time, but I know this will limit my gains too. Sigh. It's tough to get bigger.
--
I wanted to log all my workouts with my thoughts so that I can have a clearer idea of my progression.
Arms - Week 0
This is Week 0 because it isn't the first full week. And I like working on arms.
Straight Barbell Bicep Curls - 25kg (up)
Reps: 6, 6, 6
This weight is too light but it was the heaviest one available in the pathetic gym. Next week onwards I'll go to a proper one and start upping the weights. I'm a little concerned about the strain to my wrist though - back in Boston when I was lifting too, I developed an acute pain to my wrist because of the straight bar. I think I will continue with the straight bar for a while, till the pain returns, then I'll use the EZ bar.
DB tricep curls - 15kg (up)
Reps: 6 6 6
Not used to working my triceps so started lighter to be safe, and also get used to the exercise. This is the one-handed variation where I curl above my head to behind my neck. Feels great for now, but not sure what happens when I hit a weight too heavy for me. Will I drop the weight?
Alternate DB bicep curls - 15kg (stay)
Reps: 6 6 6
Though I completed the reps, I find I cheat a lot on the form by swinging my body to pull the weight up. I think I'll stay on this weight first to improve my form, and once I can lift the full reps without swinging and purely using my arms, I will up the weight.
Hammer curls - 15kg (down)
Reps: 6 6 6
Similar to the above, I cheat on the form. I think the weight is too heavy by this time into my workout, so I have to go lower. I want to get perfect reps out each time, no point cheating myself and going up a weight when I compromise form. Ultimately, my goal is for bigger muscles, not for bragging rights of lifting a heavier weight.
I do want to replace this exercise with another tricep exercise such as Closed Grip Bench Press, maybe I'll do that for the next workout.
During this time, there was a period of maybe a month where I increased my diet too, eating an extra snack each day of usually chicken fillets and drinking a banana milkshake every afternoon. I'm not sure how much that really helped apart from packing on some stubborn tummy fat, but I did gain 3 kg in the 3 months.
Now, I will be starting on a 4 day split routine - chest, arms, rest, back, shoulders (I do squats with chest day, and crunches with back day) - and hope this routine gives me more gains. I'll evaluate the overall routine again in 3 months. I'm a bit lazy to up my diet again, due to the extra costs/time, but I know this will limit my gains too. Sigh. It's tough to get bigger.
--
I wanted to log all my workouts with my thoughts so that I can have a clearer idea of my progression.
Arms - Week 0
This is Week 0 because it isn't the first full week. And I like working on arms.
Straight Barbell Bicep Curls - 25kg (up)
Reps: 6, 6, 6
This weight is too light but it was the heaviest one available in the pathetic gym. Next week onwards I'll go to a proper one and start upping the weights. I'm a little concerned about the strain to my wrist though - back in Boston when I was lifting too, I developed an acute pain to my wrist because of the straight bar. I think I will continue with the straight bar for a while, till the pain returns, then I'll use the EZ bar.
DB tricep curls - 15kg (up)
Reps: 6 6 6
Not used to working my triceps so started lighter to be safe, and also get used to the exercise. This is the one-handed variation where I curl above my head to behind my neck. Feels great for now, but not sure what happens when I hit a weight too heavy for me. Will I drop the weight?
Alternate DB bicep curls - 15kg (stay)
Reps: 6 6 6
Though I completed the reps, I find I cheat a lot on the form by swinging my body to pull the weight up. I think I'll stay on this weight first to improve my form, and once I can lift the full reps without swinging and purely using my arms, I will up the weight.
Hammer curls - 15kg (down)
Reps: 6 6 6
Similar to the above, I cheat on the form. I think the weight is too heavy by this time into my workout, so I have to go lower. I want to get perfect reps out each time, no point cheating myself and going up a weight when I compromise form. Ultimately, my goal is for bigger muscles, not for bragging rights of lifting a heavier weight.
I do want to replace this exercise with another tricep exercise such as Closed Grip Bench Press, maybe I'll do that for the next workout.
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