Increasing weights

Ok, so my brief lapse in health does not seem to have affected my strength much....just my motivation. I am in the process of increasing my weights in my sets. So far, the increase is in my lats pulldown, straight arm pulldown, low row, bent bar bicep curl, but the other exercise are so slow in coming. Monday I will see what increases I can make in chest, shoulders, and tris. The following day I have legs.

Back on the road

Well the flu lasted 3 days, took a full day off once the body aches were gone. Did two days of full body exercises and one day of cardio. Now back on the normal routine.
I do have to say I went to do chest/shoulders/tri today and got distracted by an unexpected gym goer and ended up doing chest/shoulders/bi. What can I say it was bound to happen. Sooooo I will end up not getting a tri workout for one cycle, not an issue since it is once of my stronger body parts, next to my legs of course.
I even got an earlier cardio session in. I have been feeling a lil on the plumper side lately, so I figure extra cardio my help that.

bound to happen

Well, it has been awhile but I came down with the flu just as I got in the swing with my workouts and actually began doing the max weights without assistance. I will spend the next several days doing lite full body workouts and cardio to ease my body back into the workout and get back into my routine on Monday. I like keeping my workouts days set so that it doesn't require much brain power to remember what I am doing. I also have the bodyparts setup on certain days to accomodate my rather strange work schedule.

Weeks workout

Ok so we at about 17 weeks and a couple of days out from competition and I stepped on the scale and I am at minus 2 lbs. My trainer (Bob) says my weight can fluctuate 7 lbs....wow never knew that, so not getting really excited about the loss. Can't take my body fat measurements cause I keep getting an Error message. Will try to switch out batteries and see if it changes.
The workouts are progressing, added the explosive movement to the first exercise and definitely feel the challenge and the impact on the other exercises it has. Already increased the alt db bi curl and maxing at 40 lbs...wow! Gonna try doing 50 lb db chest press without assist. I think I have built enough strength to manage. Gonna switch my upright rows to something else...shoulders are hurting from the movement....my husband (a chiropractor) said the exercise can cause shoulder issues and impingement problems....he is right. If I incorporate upright rows back later it will be dumbbells. The exercises continue to be a challenge which I am happy about. Really need the focus and concentrate demanded by them.

Ok so sunday are suppose to be my day off but since I haven't been able to get my cardio in, I did 1 hour of cardio and abs. I will be hitting the gym twice a day now to get the cardio in on a separate visit. That will leave my energies for the actual workout. I am also incorporating an explosive movement on the first exercise for the major muscle groups (chest, back and legs), the reason behind this is to force my body to release more testosterone. The explosive movements I will be doing are (chest) angeled push off push up on a flat bench supersetted with my flat bench press; number of reps will be equal to the reps I am doing but no less than 6, (legs) squat jumps with the plate loaded leg press, (back) assisted pullups with lat pulldowns starting at 3 min for the pull ups. My workouts are already difficult but this lends a little needed variation to the exercises. These exercises definitely have me wiped out but then....that the way I like it!

Workout week

Ok, so the daily logging of info got away from me. This is high maintenance stuff. With 3 young children and one adult child, its a challenge to be on the computer with enough brain stamina to do more than play solitare while the dinner is cooking.
So my workouts are done on a 3 day split, so I do 3 days, 3 days and then the way it works out I take Sunday off but I actually get 2 1/2 days off. On Saturday I workout in the morning but won't be back in the gym til Monday evening, but it only feels like I take one day off in my mind. Scary place to be. I do about chest/shoulder/tris, legs, and then back/bis/calves. I do about 3 exercises per body part (tris and bis only 2 now but increasing to 3 this next week). My sets are descending in reps (10,8,6,4,2) and increasing the wt as the rep decreases; but then for the last set I do 20 reps at half the weight I did the 2 rep set...clear?
So here is a sample of what my workouts look like; some of the exercises the 2 rep set looks a little different depending on if I can find someone to assist.
Chest/shoulders/tris
* assist needed
Incline bb press 45/10; 65/8; 85/6; 105/4; 125/2*; 65/20
Flat bench db press 20/10; 27.5/8; 35/6; 42.5/4; 50/2; 25/20
Crossover 10/10; 15/8; 20/6; 25/4; 30/2; 15/20
Shoulder press mach 20/10; 30/8; 40/6; 50/4; 60/2; 30/20
Lateral raise mach 30/10; 40/8; 50/6; 60/4; 70/2; 35/20
Upright row (bent bar) 35/10; 45/8; 55/6; 65/4; 75/2; 35/20
French press 35/10; 40/8; 45/6; 50/4; 55/2; 35/20
Tricep pressdown 70/10; 90/8; 110/6; 130/4; 150/2; 70/20

Legs
* assist needed #isolate work to working leg only
Leg Press 180/10; 225/8; 270/6; 315/4; 360/2; 180/20
Smith Squat 20/10; 40/8; 60/6; 80/4; 100/2; 50/20
Leg Ext 70/10; 90/8; 110/6; 130/4; 150/2; 75/20
Seated leg curls 50/10; 70/8; 90/6; 110/4; 130/2; 65/20
Smith Lunges 0/10#; 20/8; 40/6; 60/4; 80/2; 40/20
Stiff legged deadlifts 45/10; 55/8; 65/6; 75/4; 85/2; 45/20

Back/bis/calves
*assist needed
Wide lat pulldown 90/10; 105/8; 120/6; 135/4; 150/2; 75/20
Straight arm pulldown 50/10; 70/8; 90/6; 110/4; 130/2; 60/20
1-arm bo row 30/10; 35/8; 40/6; 45/4; 50/2; 25/20
Seated cable row 75/10; 90/8; 105/6; 120/4; 135/2; 60/20
Hyperextension (plates) 10/10; 25/8; 35/6; 45/4; 55/2; 25/20
EZ bar curl 35/10; 40/8; 45/6; 50/4; 55/2; 35/20
Alt bicep curl 10/10; 20/8; 25/6; 30/4; 35/2; 17.5/20
Seated calf press 45/10; 70/8; 95/6; 120/4; 145/2; 70/20
Calf extension 80/10; 100/8; 120/6; 140/4; 160/2; 80/20

Monday Mar 1, 10

Today I worked Chest, shoulders and tris: now my instructions were to go up 20 lbs at a time however (now don't get mad) I didn't, but I did increase by 10 lbs with some exercises. Since I work out alone for the most part, I don't have a training partner, so I usually stick with weights I can handle but still used more weight that I usually do.
Did the sets in a decending rep 10-8-6-4-2 and then cutting the weight I do the 2 rep set in half and knocking 20 reps.
Chest:
Incline dummbull press 15; 20; 30; 37.5; 45; 45; 20
Flat bench dumbbell press 20; 30; 35; 40; 45; 45; 25
cable crossover 15; 20; 25; 30; 35; 17.5
Shoulders:
Military press 30; 40; 50; 60; 70; 35
Lateral raise: 40; 50; 60; 70; 80; 40
upright row: 35; 45; 55; 65; 75; 35
Tri:
Lying tri press 35; 45; 55; 65; 75; 35
Tricep pressdown 70; 90; 110; 130; 150; 70
cable kick back 20; 20; 20; 30; 30; 10 (dumbbell)
Ball ab crunches 60
reverse ball roll 30
Food
6:30
1 scoop protein 25g p; 7g c; 3.5g f: 160
coffee c/sf creamer
9:00
1 cup oatmeal 10g p; 54g c; 6g f: 300
1 scoop protein 25g p; 7g c; 3.5g f; 160
11:00
1 cup mixed greens 1g p; 3g c; 0 f: 15
1 cup egg whites 24g p; 0g c; 0 g f; 120
1 large carrot 1g p; 7g c; 0 f; 30
1:30
1 protein pancake 30g p; 34g c; 6.5g f: 310
3:00
1 buffalo patty 43g p; 0g c; 12g f: 280
1 sl amer. cheese 4g p; 2g c; 5g f; 70
2 thin slice bun 5g p; 21g c; 1g f; 100
6:00
1 scoop protein same as above
9:00
1 buffalo patty 43g p; 0g c; 12g f; 280
1 sl america cheese 4g p; 2g c; 5g f: 70
grand total 236 g protein: 144g Carbs: 54.5g fat: 2055 calories
So I went a little over on the carbs, so I will bring down the servings of the oatmeal back to 1/2 cup serving and try to figure where to put more protein. I am sure the extra carbs will do well for leg day to follow.

Sunday start of the eating thing.....

Okay so here is what I ate, try eating every two hours:
Time Food Protein Carb Fat Calories
8:00 1/2 cup egg whites 112g 0 0 60
10:00 1/2 cup oatmeal 5g 27g 3g 150
1/2 scoop protein powder 12.5g 3.5g 1.75g 80
12:00 1/2 cup oatmeal 5g 27g 3g 150
1/2 scoop protein powder 12.5g 3.5g 1.75g 80
2:00 1/2 cup banana chip
1/2 chicken breast 27g 0 3g 142
1 cup broccoli 6g 10g 0 52
4:00 1/2 chicken breast 27g 0 3g 142
6:00 1/2 chicken breast 27g 0 3g 142
1 cup broccoli 6g 10g 0 142
8:00 1 scoop protein powder 25g 7g 3.5g 160

Grand total (minus banana chips) 265g protein 88g carb 24g fat 1300 calories

These number will increase once I get use to the eating regularly. I will add another shake and perhaps more to each meal to increase my caloric intake another 1200....YIKES!

20 Weeks

Ok so today I am officially 20 weeks out from my next competition and yes the butterflies have commenced. Today I will be working on what my diet should like for the next 4 weeks. This is the hard part for me, those who know me....I am not a big food eater. I have a tendency to graze on my meals which as some of you know is not good since you don't really give your body an opportunity to draw from your other fuel stores in between meals if you are continually supplying it food. So if any of you have recipes to share, give them up. Next step is to also determine if I am working out properly for the "phase" I am suppose to be in....which I have no clue about. haha! Actually I am still trying to put some muscle mass on and then when I hit 16 weeks the precontest dieting shall begin. Did 12 weeks out last year and other than not knowing what I was doing, I still came in with alot of fat and water.
The last two weeks I have been doing one body part a day, working with a slow tempo on the exercises. Focusing on the muscle work versus the amount weight I am actually working with. with some exercises I am still using the same weight as before but most exercises I have to go down in weight. This type of workout is working out well for me, I feel like I am really hitting each body part and not running out of time I am allowed.

My workouts

So for anyone who knows me, knows that I spend alot of time in the gym...probably to the point of overtraining. Don't mean to but I like being there (the sights are great!) and its also an escape for me. I make a habit of doing ALOT of cardio. So recently I stopped all that and try very hard to limit my cardio sessions to 30 minutes....especially if I know I will back that day. So how much cardio is too much? And what is the magic number of exercises and sets I should be doing for my workouts....I am currently hitting one body part a day. I am focusing mostly on my upper body at this point cause my legs are pretty much dialed in although I never pass up suggestions. Oh and on my cardio I like to change it up every couple of days and have even done a couple or so machine for shorter times to equal 30 minutes.

My start (restart) on the road of competitions

I am entering my second competition in July 2010. Last year, I just wanted to get to the point of getting up on stage....as a mom of 4 girls (you ladies will understand) I am reluctant to put anything on that shows my middle. So the idea of having to a two piece bikini on filled me with nervous energy....alot of it. So this year, (still nervous) but better prepared....I think....to definitely get on stage with a smile and better muscle development and definition. I have added more support to my corner, Chereese and Bob. I am currently a litte over 20 weeks out from competition and will have to kick butt in the next 4 weeks but with a 16 week pre-contest prep, I believe I will be able to continue to put a little more muscle on and shred. Time will tell.