Wednesday, March 16, 2016

Day 2 of 90 Day Cut/Progression Check| High Volume Back Day


Today was back day! Back day of the course of the last 2-3 years has been a huge emphasize in my training. I was always a natural when it came down to the bench press, due to a lot of push ups done on late school nights while growing up (I had no idea what I was doing, but push ups, sit ups, and dumbbell curls where my best friend growing up in the lonely south). Today's training volume (Reps x Sets) was higher then usual, which is a good thing because the intensity (% Compare to 1 Rep Max) was around 70-85%. This is great because that means I am making progress in my 'gainz'. I still am ultimately training to lose weight/cut, so I made sure to either do a couple of drop sets perworkout and/or include supersets, making my overall training volume very high.

Back/Biceps (1 minute rest per set)
4 x 10-12 Lat Pull Down (not including 2 warm-up sets) (Double Drop Set last Set)
Superset w/ 4 x 10 Standing Cable Biceps Curl (Alternate Wide/Close Grip per set)

5 x 10-12 Machine Lat Pull Overs

5 x 10 Hammer-Strength High Row (Single Drop set last set)
superset w/ 4 x 10 Zottman Curl

4 x 10-12 Standing Dumbbell Bicep Curls
Superset w/ 4 x 10 Stiff Leg Dumbbell Deadlift

5 x 10 Hammer-Strength Row (Double Drop Set)

3 x 10 Standing Cable High Row
Superset w / 3 x 10-12 Single Arm Cable Bicep Curls

Finisher (Abs)
3 x 20 Seated Weighted Abdominal Curls
Superset w/ 3 x 10 Back Extension (No Rest)

I warmed up by doing a quick 5 minute jog on the treadmill while listening to one of my e-books. I immediately followed that with some upper body mobility to help loosen my joints. I was already fairly warm due to the weather outside being absurdly humid, plus driving in your car with no windows or AC on while wearing a hoodie will do the trick.

Whenever I start the actual workout, I always do a couple of warm-up sets before actually hitting the working sets. This is just another way of 'insurance', making sure I am definitely warm and my joints are in it for the long haul. You can never be too safe when it comes to your body. Plus when you are properly warmed up, you notice the mind-muscle connection is almost unreal. I felt all of the pauses at the contraction phase, which is a must if you are training to for hypertrophy.

One of the biggest things I have been doing is adding supersets that also focus on my hips. Stiff leg dumbbell deadlifts is an example. I always make sure I am leading with my glutes/ass, allowing my body to naturally sink through the hips while leaning forward. I HATE squats but its a must when it comes to leg day, so to help with that particular motion, you'll see a lot of supersets that either include stiff leg dumbbell deadlift or dumbbell front squats, if not both.

The gym was packed but I didn't let that stop me. I hit all of my sets aggressively, with an abdominal finisher, which was a pain but well worth it. Felt my lower back doing work, which I was happy with. I was in and out of the gym within 55 minutes, not bad for going right before peak time, or the industry calls it 'prime time'. Overall, the workout was a success! Hope ya'll enjoy the read. :)

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