mainly taking inspiration from gary's thread to make/attempt to maintain this log.

need to increase my strength significantly over the next 6 weeks.

day 1: Chest and shoulders
5 minute warm-up run on treadmill - ~7.5mph or better
bench press 5 sets of 8
incline dumb bell press 4 sets of 8
flat dumb bell press 4 sets of 8
front standing dumb bell raises 3 sets of 8
side standing dumb bell raises 3 sets of 8
Ab machine 3 sets of 15
80 sit ups
leg raises
60 push ups

day 2: back and biceps
5 minute warm-up run on treadmill - ~7.5mph or better
pull ups - 15, assisted, not sure how much weight as i get someone to hold my feet to offset the weight some
one arm dumb bell rows - 4 sets of 8
lat pull down machine - 4 sets of 12-15
compound row machine - 4 sets of 12-15 reps
straight bar curls - 3 sets of 8-10 reps
seated dumb bell curls - 3 sets of 12 reps
hammer curls - 3 sets of 10 reps
wrist curls - 3 sets of 10 reps
1.5 mile run - 7.5mph or better

day 3: legs and triceps
5 minute warm-up run on treadmill - 7.5mph or better
Squats - 4 sets of 8
leg extension machine - 3 sets of 8
seated leg curls - 3 sets of 8
lats push down machine - 4 sets of 8
close grip bench press - 3 sets of 8
skull crushers - 3 sets of 8
ab machine - 3 sets of 15
80 sit ups
leg raises 3 sets of 15
60 push ups

Day 4: rest/recover

Diet:
Breakfast - 2 scrambled eggs and a glass of milk or water
Lunch - 6" turkey sub @subway(wheat bread/light mayo) with a container of milk
Post workout - Cellmass(creatine) drink, and a 20g protein bar
Dinner - varies more than the rest, making a conscious effort to watch portion sizes etc

Just mainly looking to get stronger, have to pass a fitness exam in mid December to continue employment basically. Not really looking to lose weight, just get healthier/stronger

Starting weight- ~175(not 100% sure as the battery in my scale is dead)

Have done one time through on this workout so far and am into my second cycle. Did day 1 today, but will start by putting numbers in for day 2 tomorrow.

Question: thoughts on protein shakes? might just do like ~1 or 2 a day to help boost my protein intake, eat some meat with meals, but want to make sure my muscles have plenty to heal/build in the future. If yes, will take ideas on brands too.

Any advice/motivation is welcome.


Thanks for reading/following

vn1, gl

I have never been a fan of protein shakes, gl

Protein shakes are amazing and a stable in the strength and hypertrophy world.

Also, that's not really the range for strength gains, you will get stronger, but you can get stronger faster if you use a better program.
I can link you to one if you want.

What's your budget for protein?

budget isnt really a huge concern. just looking for results. program came from my boss's cousin, he works out quite a bit. if you have suggestions on what i could change to improve it, i'm game.

been trying to read the expert thread in hnf to get some ideas too.

and i'm just doing one creatine drink a day after my workout, bottle says 2 times a day, but have been told i can skate by with 1. and should i still do creatine on my rest day?

pure strength/power in relatively short time?

Rippetoes or 5/3/1. Start lower end on your weights and increase as you go.

looked up rippetoes, assuming the one you're speaking of is the one that i found, i need to focus more on my upper body/core for this fitness test, rather than full body( http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/wotw52.htm )

been looking for a hobby anyway, so may as well make w8's that hobby as it'll be a p big benefit lifelong anyway.

the standards for my test are:

58 pushups - unlimited time until failure
60 sit-ups - not sure on timeframe, will either be 1-2 minutes or until failure
12:00 minute 1.5 mile

What are you doing? Military?

Also, 5x5 will increase all strengths, and you can do specific training for those too.

Take 10 grams daily, even on your off days. The way that it works is that it saturates your muscles so you can't skip days.

As for protein I order from truenutrition.com and I get this
http://truenutrition.com/p-4311-whey-prote...e-1lb-milk.aspx

I just ordered 50 pounds.
If you wanna help me out you can use my discount code and help yourself out too, save 5% JHN125

They got some other stuff on there if you want faster results or more healthy.
Multi fit
fish oil
ect

can't seem to get that webpage to load for whatever reason..

day 2: back and biceps
5 minute warm-up run on treadmill - ~7.5mph or better
pull ups - 15, assisted, not sure how much weight as i get someone to hold my feet to offset the weight some - 50 lbs assisted
one arm dumb bell rows - 4 sets of 8 - 35lb bells
lat pull down machine - 4 sets of 12-15 - 90lbs first set, 110lbs remaining
compound row machine - 4 sets of 12-15 reps - 70lbs all sets
straight bar curls - 3 sets of 8-10 reps - 45(bar) 50lbs 55 lbs
seated dumb bell curls - 3 sets of 12 reps - 22.5 lbs all sets
hammer curls - 3 sets of 10 reps - 22.5 lbs all sets
wrist curls - 3 sets of 10 reps - 20 lbs all sets
1.5 mile run - 7.5mph or better - 7.0 mph

day 3: legs and triceps
5 minute warm-up run on treadmill - 7.5mph or better
Squats - 4 sets of 8 - 90 140 160 160
leg extension machine - 3 sets of 8 - 90 90 100
seated leg curls - 3 sets of 8 - 80 80 90
lats push down machine - 4 sets of 8 - 90 90 100 110
close grip bench press - 3 sets of 8 - 65 80 85
skull crushers - 3 sets of 8 - 40 40 40
ab machine - 3 sets of 15 - 90 90 90
80 sit ups
leg raises 3 sets of 15
60 push ups

damn, im lucky to hit 6.5mph for more than like 2 minutes on the treadmill

workout looks p intense

thats what i was thinking, how long does this take you every night?

assuming it's not too busy in the gym, it's about an hour. if it's a little busy then 75-90 min.

gym is p small and anymore than like 10-15 people in there at one point makes it a p huge cluster fuck



sadly i need to be at like 8-8.2mph for ~11:30-12 min.. running hates me as much as i hate it

This post has been edited by beatin on Mon - Nov 12 2012 - 20:43:44

5 minute warm-up run on treadmill - ~7.5mph or better - 4 minutes at 7.5, 2 minutes at 8.2
bench press 5 sets of 8 - 85 95 95 95 95
incline dumb bell press 4 sets of 8 - 25 25 25 25
flat dumb bell press 4 sets of 8 - 25 25 25 25
front standing dumb bell raises 3 sets of 8 - 15 15 15
side standing dumb bell raises 3 sets of 8 - 15 15 15
Ab machine 3 sets of 15 - 80 90 90
80 sit ups
leg raises 3 sets of 15
60 push ups

5 minute warm-up run on treadmill - ~7.5mph or better
pull ups - 15, assisted, not sure how much weight as i get someone to hold my feet to offset the weight some
one arm dumb bell rows - 4 sets of 8 - 40 40 40 40
lat pull down machine - 4 sets of 12-15 - 110 110 110 130
compound row machine - 4 sets of 12-15 reps - 80 90 90 100
straight bar curls - 3 sets of 8-10 reps - 45 55 55
seated dumb bell curls - 3 sets of 12 reps - 25 25 25
hammer curls - 3 sets of 10 reps - 25 25 25
wrist curls - 3 sets of 10 reps - 25 25 25
1.5 mile run - 7.5mph or better

5 minute warm-up run on treadmill - 7.5mph or better
Squats - 4 sets of 8 - 140 140 160 165
leg extension machine - 3 sets of 8 - 90 100 110
seated leg curls - 3 sets of 8 - 80 90 100
lats push down machine - 4 sets of 8 - 80 100 110 120
close grip bench press - 3 sets of 8 - 65 85 95
skull crushers - 3 sets of 8 - 25 35 40
ab machine - 3 sets of 15 - 80 90 90
80 sit ups
leg raises 3 sets of 15
60 push ups

gl dude
maybe you'll inspire me

5 minute warm-up run on treadmill - ~7.5mph or better
bench press 5 sets of 8 - 95 95 105 105 105
incline dumb bell press 4 sets of 8 - 22.5 25 27.5 30
flat dumb bell press 4 sets of 8 - 25 30 35 35
front standing dumb bell raises 3 sets of 8 - 22.5 22.5 22.5
side standing dumb bell raises 3 sets of 8 - 15 15 15
Ab machine 3 sets of 15 - 90
80 sit ups
leg raises 3 sets of 15
60 push ups


was able to do 44 push ups to the point of failure, squeaked off accouple more, but they were p bad. so at 44/58 for my goal

5 minute warm-up run on treadmill - ~7.5mph or better
pull ups - 15, assisted, not sure how much weight as i get someone to hold my feet to offset the weight some
one arm dumb bell rows - 4 sets of 8 - 30 35 40 45
lat pull down machine - 4 sets of 12-15 - 80 90 100 110
compound row machine - 4 sets of 12-15 reps - 70 80 90 100
straight bar curls - 3 sets of 8-10 reps - 45 55 55
seated dumb bell curls - 3 sets of 12 reps - 20 25 30
hammer curls - 3 sets of 10 reps - 20 25 30
wrist curls - 3 sets of 10 reps - 45 50 50
1.5 mile run - 7.5mph or better

5 minute warm-up run on treadmill - 7.5mph or better
Squats - 4 sets of 8 - 140 160 160 180
leg extension machine - 3 sets of 8 - 90 100 110
seated leg curls - 3 sets of 8 - 70 80 90
lats push down machine - 4 sets of 8 - 80 100 110 120
close grip bench press - 3 sets of 8 - 95 115 125(only got 3 reps)
skull crushers - 3 sets of 8 - 45 55 65
ab machine - 3 sets of 15 - 70 80 90
80 sit ups - 30 30 20
leg raises 3 sets of 15
60 push ups - 30 11 10 10

tough guy
gz, gj

5 minute warm-up run on treadmill - ~7.5mph or better
bench press 5 sets of 8 95 95 105 115 125(x3)
incline dumb bell press 5 sets of 8 20 25 30 35 40(x3)
flat dumb bell press 5 sets of 8 25 30 35 40 40
front standing dumb bell raises 4 sets of 8 10 10 15 15
side standing dumb bell raises 4 sets of 8 10 10 15 15
80 sit ups
leg raises 3 sets of 15
60 push ups

day 2: back and biceps
5 minute warm-up run on treadmill - ~7.5mph or better
pull ups - 15, 20lbs assisted
one arm dumb bell rows - 5 sets 15/12/12/10/8 20 25 30 35 40
lat pull down machine - 5 sets 15/15/12/10/8 70 90 110 130 150
compound row machine - 5 sets of 15/12/10/10/8 80 90 100 110 120
straight bar curls - 4 sets of 15/12/10/10 45 45 55 65
seated dumb bell curls - 4 sets of 12/10/8/6 20 25 30 35
hammer curls - 4 sets of 12/10/10/8 25 30 35 35
wrist curls - 3 sets of 20/20/15 45 50 55

1.75 hours of racquetball instead of running today
Leg Press - 5 sets of 8 130 150 170 190 210
leg extension machine - 4 sets of 8 70 90 110 110
seated leg curls - 2 sets of 8 50 70 *leg was feeling weird so cut it short for the day
lats push down machine - 5 sets of 8 60 70 80 90 100
close grip bench press - 4 sets of 8 95 105 115 135(x2)
skull crushers - 4 sets of 8 30 40 50 60
ab machine - 3 sets of 15 70 90 90
80 sit ups
leg raises 3 sets of 15
60 push ups

This post has been edited by beatin on Sun - Nov 25 2012 - 16:58:18

day 1: Chest and shoulders
5 minute warm-up run on treadmill - ~7.5mph or better
bench press 5 sets of 8 95 105 105 115 125
incline dumb bell press 5 sets of 8 25 30 35 40 40(x4)
flat dumb bell press 5 sets of 8 25 30 35 40 40
front standing dumb bell raises 4 sets of 8 15 15 20 25(x5)
side standing dumb bell raises 4 sets of 8 15 15 20 25(x4)
Ab machine 3 sets of 15 80 90 100
80 sit ups
leg raises 3 sets of 15
60 push ups

day 2: back and biceps
5 minute warm-up run on treadmill - ~7.5mph or better
pull ups - 15, assisted, ~30 lbs assisted
one arm dumb bell rows - 5 sets of 8 30 35 40 45 50
lat pull down machine - 5 sets of 12-15 80 90 110 130 150
compound row machine - 5 sets of 12-15 reps 80 90 100 110 120
straight bar curls - 3 sets of 8-10 reps 55 55 60 65
seated dumb bell curls - 4 sets of 12 reps 20 25 30 35
hammer curls - 4 sets of 10 reps 20 25 30 35
wrist curls - 4 sets of 10 reps 40 40 50 50
1.5 mile run - 7.5mph or better 12:00 min (7.5 average speed

day 3: legs and triceps
5 minute warm-up run on treadmill - 7.5mph or better
Leg Press - 4 sets of 8 180 380 410 435 (friend convinced me to try heavier w8)
leg extension machine - 4 sets of 8 90 100 110 120
seated leg curls - 4 sets of 8 90 100 110 120
lats push down machine - 5 sets of 8 70 80 90 100 110
close grip bench press - 4 sets of 8 105 115 125 125
skull crushers - 4 sets of 8 55 65 70(x4) 75(x2)
ab machine - 3 sets of 15 90 100 110
80 sit ups
leg raises 3 sets of 15
60 push ups

day 1: Chest and shoulders
5 minute warm-up run on treadmill - ~7.5mph or better
bench press 5 sets of 8 105 115 125 135 140(X3)
incline dumb bell press 5 sets of 8 25 30 35 40 45(x3)
flat dumb bell press 5 sets of 8 30 35 40 45 50(x1)
front standing dumb bell raises 4 sets of 8 12.5 15 17.5 20
side standing dumb bell raises 4 sets of 8 12.5 15 17.5 20
Ab machine 3 sets of 15 70 80 90
80 sit ups
leg raises
60 push ups

day 2: back and biceps
5 minute warm-up run on treadmill - ~7.5mph or better
pull ups - 15, assisted, not sure how much weight as i get someone to hold my feet to offset the weight some
one arm dumb bell rows - 5 sets of 8 30 35 40 45 50
lat pull down machine - 5 sets of 12 90 110 130 150 170(x4)
compound row machine - 5 sets of 12 90 100 110 120 130(x4)
straight bar curls - 4 sets of 10 65 75 65 65
seated dumb bell curls - 4 sets of 12 20 25 30 35
hammer curls - 4 sets of 10 20 25 30 35
1.5 mile run - 7.5mph or better

felt amazing running at the start of my workout, running at the end is always a huge chore..

5 minute warm-up run on treadmill - 7.5mph or better
Leg press - 5 sets of 8 210 235 260 285 310
leg extension machine - 4 sets of 8 100 110 120 130
seated leg curls - 4 sets of 8 90 100 110 120
lats push down machine - 5 sets of 8 80 90 100 110
close grip bench press - 4 sets of 8 95 105 115 125(x3)
skull crushers - 4 sets of 8 65 75 75 80
ab machine - 3 sets of 15 80 90 100
80 sit ups
leg raises 3 sets of 15
60 push ups

Supa late reply.

First off, gz on your progress ofc.

Secondly, the big lifts all strengthen your core like whoa.

Also the fastest way to build muscle overall (and this will strengthen your upper body) are the big compound lifts
you're working all your muscles essentially to failure, and Squats are the king of test boosters.

Higher test - > more strength -> more muscle growth.

If nothing else, maybe try it out once you can hit your pushup and sit up goal.

Also a great push up trick, do sets with pushup bars for now. When you have to do them without the bars you'll feel like it
is the easiest shit ever.

been super busy lately ofc, still workin out tho

academy is doing a huge amount of cardio, cant say that i'm a huge fan, but i'm getting better

1.5 mile run on jan 9, 11:53

1.5 mile run february 6, 11:04

push ups (until failure) jan 9, 40

push ups (until failure) feb 6, 48

sit ups (1 min) jan 9, 46

sit ups (1 min) feb 6, 52

typical workouts:

monday - distance day - 3-3.5 miles in ~35 min
tuesday - weight room - usually do chest or back
wednesday - speed day running - 1/10th mile track, running ~1.5 mile at varying intervals, usually around 40 sec/lap
thursday - crossfit - bunch of stations set up to work all parts of the body
friday - recovery/distance - 3-3.5 miles in ~35 min