I ended up taking a longish break (for me) over the last 10 days. I think I must have really needed it -- I was feeling burnt out and un-energized. I have not taken time off in nearly a year (except for my regular off days). I think I was overdue.

My new routine is something I developed after doing a bunch of reading and it has a lot of high-rep movememnts, especially on legs, which I hate. I love low reps, but my last cycle, which lasted 8 weeks, featured lower reps and while I developed a lot of strength, I seem to have lost some conditioning. So I am going to re-introduce some higher rep work.

Yesterday looked like this:

A1. Squats
3x20 @35

A2. Smith lunges
3x15 (each leg) @35 :puke:

No rest between A1 and A2 - this was tough!

B. Leg Press
3x15 @150

C. SLDL w/DB's
1x10 @25's
3x15 @25's
These were supposed to be one-legged SLDs but I could not get/keep my balance and after I'd amused those near me sufficiently with my antics, I decided to go with two-legs-at-a-time.

D. Hyperextension w/3 second hold at top
3x8 @25


I was dismayed at how much strength I've lost in a relatively short period of time. My last 20-rep squats were at 65 or 70 lbs, and yesterday I could barely eke out the 35. I am not even going to talk about the SLDLs or leg press. Very disappointing all around.

Welcome to the journal board Cc:wave:
Yes indeed, it`s amazing how fast a person loses ground, but it won`t take you long to get it back.

You'll be back to where you were in no time.

Welcome to the logs.

t

Thanks for the encouragement. Today was back + triceps. The gym was mobbed. I hope this is not a sign of things to come.


Assisted PullUps
1x10 @120
3x10 @110

Cable Rows
1x8 @75
3x8 @90

One-Arm DB Rows
4x8 @25

Decline Skullcrushers
3x8 @30

Rope Pressdowns
1x8 @50
2x8 @60
1x8 @55

I probably won't go the gym tomorrow as it is opening late and closing early. I usually go 4 days per week -- Mon, Tue, Thu, Fri is typical.

I got a jump rope for Christmas that I would like to use but I am not sure where I can use it. It is in the 80's, which rules out outdoors. It's supposed to cool off on Wednesdy, so maybe I wil get some licks in then.

Happy New Year!

HEY THERE! Glad to see you started a journal!

Sorry I didn't see it yesterday. Brain fart.

I'm glad to hear you took the 10 days off, depite the strength loss. You know all about muscle memory - it'll come back.

Have a Happy New Year, CC! :wave:

Althugh we didn't plan it, we ended up attending our town's "First Night" celebration last night. At one point, my oldest daughter (15) and I were dancing in the street (along with bunches of other people) as a DJ led us in a series of dance steps. One of the dances was the cha=cha slide, where you have to go "as low as you can go" while dancing. Squats paid off - I could go ATG. This even though I am having incredible DOMS from Sunday's workout. And I never get DOMS.

Hope you all had a wonderful New Year!

Sounds as though you had a blast! DOMS and all.

Woke up to temps in the 40's today so I decided to try the jump rope.

Hahahahahahahahahahaha

I think I'm bad because I can do intervals onthe stepmill without breaking a sweat.

Hahahahahahahahahahaha

Jumping rope is the Stepmill *100.

I think I lasted a whole 10 minutes.

Anyway, now I'm wondering whether I still need to have high rep leg work if I am going to stick with the rope. Maybe I should do one high-rep day and one low-rep day and that would be optimal. I gained a lot of muscle (for me) during my last cycle where I incorporated a lot of low-rep/high-weight moves. But I seemed to lose conditioning at the same time, if that makes any sense.

Thinking, thinking...

Hi CC! High rep, low rep stuff for legs is something I've tried to figure out myself. But the fact, for me, is that I've gained on both... so maybe it's simply a matter of preference, that you switch up every now and then to keep things interesting. My DOMs this week from the front squats are incredible as well - and I was doing sets of 8. So, who knows.

I would have like to have seen you doing that cha cha! That would have been good... but the jump rope sounds priceless... anyone get a video of you?

Hi Choco,

I grew up jumproping and actually got into boxing/kickboxing a little when I was in my late teens and early 20s.....needless to say we did a TON of jumproping! It is a great warmup and can also be an entire cardio session that will help with speed and cordination. I still rope for 3-5min sometimes before working out to warmup. A good workout is 2min rope/30sec rest....5-10 cycles. When your speed gets up(100-140 jumps per min) this can really get your heart racing and also be challenging. Good to see someone roping...don't see this very often anymore!!

I'm glad that you got a chance to break in the new jump rope.

I didn't get to jump rope, but I did get to shovel 10" of snow from my drive

Temps are supposed to reach the 40's here this weekend :clapping:

Have fun jumping :jacks:

Lift

Todd - I would love to take an MMA class. Actualy, I would love to learn to box but there are no boxing gyms anywhere near me. I live in Retirement Valley (aka Huricane Alley).

Lift - I wouldn't mind a few more cooler days but I don't miss snow except occasionally. I definitely do not miss chiseling the ice off my windshield!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A1. Sumo Squats
3x20 @50

A2. Step-Ups
3x15 w/12.5ld BD in each hand

B. Quadruped Hip Extension
1x15 @BW
2x15 @4
It was a real challenge to keep the db in the crook of my knee while doing the lift.

C. Leg Extensions
3x10 @90

D. Lying Leg Curl
2x10 @60
1x10 @70
I usually do this with my torso raised but I could not getinto position today so I decided to go with the standard variety.

Chocochick wrote:
Are these the Gironda leg curls I told you about some time ago? They're lots of fun.

Chocochick wrote:
Hey there! Great workout! I saw that you jump rope. I actually forgot all about doing that. I'll have to break mine out & shake the dust off. I've been running so much I forgot all about it!

I can't remember if I read it any where, but are you going to compete?

Mark - I forget which are the Gironda curls. I had been doing torso-raised curls (a move I saw in a Charles Glass video) and those really isolate the hamstrings. But I keep sliding off the pad as the design of the lying curl at my gym is not really conducive to this.

Hi Dawn! I am going to see how it goes with the rope. My experience has been that anytime I do any kind of strenuous cardio, I get soft. So I maintain my bodyfat through diet and leave my cardio to long walks at night after dinner. I'm at ~13% and I have no plans to compete so I am just interested in heart health. Are you planning to compete?