You may remember that I stopped working out at the end of 2003.  Although I used the horrordays as a cheap excuse, I had actually hurt my shoulder at some point (stress-related) and found my workouts increasingly difficult and incomplete.  That’s why I stopped working out altogether in the hopes that it would allow my shoulder to heal.  Now that it has and I’ve grown to hate the couch-potato attitude I’ve had of late, it’s time to get my ass back to the gym.

In that spirit, I began my workouts again this past Monday (April 5, 2004).  After several months away from the gym, it’ll take me a few weeks to get back into the full workout routine.  Until then, I’ll focus on training my body to get through the workouts again and on proper form and control.

I’m still looking at personal trainers, but, for now, I think it’s more important to be working out and looking than to be looking alone.

I once again optimized my strength training routine in the hopes of better focusing my time and energy.  The biggest change is how I’m doing my abs.  Rather than doing abs on a schedule concurrent with my other workout, I’ll now be doing abs on a separate schedule.

Why?  See my trunk routine for details.

Since I’m looking to make my muscles grow with this workout, I’m keeping the reps in the middle at 8-10 per set.  If I were trying to tone them, I would shoot for a higher number of reps (12-15) per set.  Likewise if I were trying to strengthen them, I would aim at a lower rep count (6-8) per set.

All of that having been said, here’s my new strength training routine.

 

Monday	Chest
	Set 1 Reps Set 2 Reps Set 3 Reps Bench Press 8-10 8-10 8-10 Chest Fly 8-10 8-10 8-10 Incline Bench Press 8-10 8-10 8-10 Decline Bench Press 8-10 8-10 8-10 Decline Push-up x1 x x Incline Push-up x x x Push-up x x x2
Tuesday	Upper Back, Lats
	Set 1 Reps Set 2 Reps Set 3 Reps Front Pulldown 8-10 8-10 8-10 Close Grip Pulldown 8-10 8-10 8-10 Underhand Pulldown 8-10 8-10 8-10 Rear Pulldown 8-10 8-10 8-10 Seated Row 8-10 8-10 8-10
Wednesday	Lower Back, Legs
	Set 1 Reps Set 2 Reps Set 3 Reps Squat 8-10 8-10 8-10 Calf Raise 8-10 8-10 8-10 Deadlift 8-10 8-10 8-10 Leg Press 8-10 8-10 8-10 Stiff-leg Deadlift 8-10 8-10 8-10 Leg Extension 8-10 8-10 8-10 Leg Curl 8-10 8-10 8-10
Thursday	Shoulders, Traps, Chest3
	Set 1 Reps Set 2 Reps Set 3 Reps Military Press 8-10 8-10 8-10 Reverse Fly 8-10 8-10 8-10 Shoulder Press 8-10 8-10 8-10 Haney Shrug 8-10 8-10 8-10 Shoulder Row 8-10 8-10 8-10 Lateral Fly 8-10 8-10 8-10 Shoulder Shrug 8-10 8-10 8-10 Bench Press 8-10 8-10 8-10 Chest Fly 8-10 8-10 8-10 Incline Bench Press 8-10 8-10 8-10 Decline Bench Press 8-10 8-10 8-10
Friday	Arms
	Set 1 Reps Set 2 Reps Set 3 Reps Barbell Curl 8-10 8-10 8-10 Triceps Pushdown 8-10 8-10 8-10 Dumbbell Curl 8-10 8-10 8-10 Triceps Extension 8-10 8-10 8-10 Concentration Curl 8-10 8-10 8-10 Hammer Curl 8-10 8-10 8-10 Wrist Curl 8-10 8-10 8-10 Reverse Wrist Curl 8-10 8-10 8-10

 

Key:
1 – For these exercises, the x in the repetition columns simply indicates that I don’t have a limited or target range.  I simply force myself (to failure) by increasing the repetitions each week by at least two.  For instance, if I’m doing three sets of 20 crunches this week, I’ll push myself to do at least two sets of 20 and one set of 22 next week.  Since these exercises don’t include easily increased weight (only body resistance), it made more sense to remove the reps from the table and use a variable instead.

2 – I normally follow the last set of push-ups with an immediate drop-set.  That is, once I fail on the last set, I immediately put my knees on the ground and do a set that way.  I know — sissy push-ups.  All I have to say is try it once after you’ve done three sets to failure on the last set.  You’ll understand.

3 – I need to put more effort into my chest workout in order to get the results I want, thus I’ve added a supplemental chest workout to my Thursday routine.  This isn’t permanent and will only last until I make some progress in that area, then I’ll narrow it back down to one day per week.