Sunnyday's Training Journal

[Sunnyday]

Friday 10/7 lower body

Kids got out early today so like all the other parents at the gym today I was mega-crunched for time. My lower half didn't get the "kids out early" memo so it decided to keep me up much of the night so, yeah, not a good day for a rushed workout. I don't medicate often but today I choked down some pills (stacked with caffeine, whole pot o coffee LOL) and told the bod to suck it up, buttercup.

warmup done haphazardly cuz change sux and I miss my "routine" warmup:
bunch of...
head nods
frog stretches
arm crossovers
banded hippy stuff
some dynamic stretchy-bendy hip/back moves I don't know the names of
cat-and-camels at fast pace
McKenzie press-ups at fast pace
full BW squat with 60 sec hold at bottom
20 hip airplanes (10/side) cuz any more reps than that is YEOOOOW

Squats:
bar x 5
95 x 5
115 x 5
135 x 3 - got to here, realized the time was getting away from me, decided to move on to deads
If I had had the time I would've kept adding weight for triples to around 165. Sigh...some day I'll see those numbers again.

Sumo deads:
135 x 1
155 x 1
175 x 1
195 x 1
215 x 1
226 x 1
3 x 237 x 1 - with 90 sec between singles. My best is 6 at this time interval and I was going for 8 but time was not my friend. Had to stop there cuz kids. Barely beat the bus home LOL

Got the kids settled and got to work on some extras...

Nordics:
3 x BW x 10

Unilateral standing calves:
5 x BW x 5/side with 5-sec hold at top (3 sets)

Rolling planks:
3 x 5-sec hold each side x 5

Stability ball hip thrust superset:
BW x 10 legs straight ss BW x 10 legs bent (3 sets)

Unilateral glute circuit (no rest between sides/exercises):
30 reps side lying clam ss 30 reps side lying abduction
30 reps single leg glute bridge ss 30 reps hip extension on elbows
30 reps single leg swing ss 30 reps fire hydrant

[Sunnyday]

Saturday 10/8 upper body

Had to drive to Baltimore and back last night to retrieve my 16-y.o. from her dad's. Consequently, the hip kept me up most of the night. Ugh. This time rather than medicate myself and try to muddle through, I opted to skip heavy bench and do some different stuff for back day. Good thing, as when I got to the gym I noticed the morning rain kept most of my gym friends home, meaning there wasn't a reliable spotter in the place.

Bunch of dynamic stretchy-bendy stuff for warmup and I could tell it was a good call to skip bench cuz I would've been fighting to set a decent arch. Sheesh, I'm a tight mess. :-/

Skipped bench AND pullups - felt like a fish out of water

Straight arm pulldowns:
3 x 25 x 15

Inverted rows:
3 x BW x 12

Reverse grip bent over rows:
4 x 115 x 8
did these split stance, alternating the lead foot each set

Decline DB rows:
3 x 50 x 10/side

Saw a poster in the gym about the BodPod returning on Nov. 6 and again on Feb. 4. Toying with the idea of doing it again to see where my numbers are. Hmmmm...

[Sunnyday]

Monday 10/10 lower body

Warmup was a jumbled mess of dynamic stretchy-bendy stuff that took almost an hour until I felt like I was ready to squat :-/

Squats:
bar x 5
95 x 5
115 x 5
135 x 4
145 x 4
2 x 155 x 4 - felt solid so I decided to push it
2 x 160 x 4 - yay me! Matched my best-ever 4s woo

Sumo deads:
135 x 1
155 x 1
175 x 1
195 x 1
215 x 1 - felt good to here so...
8 x 222 x 1 - with 1-2 min between singles, my heaviest at this interval. Would have been just 1 min between pulls but nooooooo, some ya-ya tried to take away the setup I was using to block the mirror and I had to stop to fight him off LOL

Ab wheel:
3 x 15

Glute circuit (no rest between sides/exercises):
30 reps side lying clam ss 30 reps side lying abduction
30 reps single leg glute bridge ss 30 reps hip extension on elbows
30 reps single leg swing ss 30 reps fire hydrant

Standing unilateral calves:
5 x 5/side with 5-sec hold at top each rep

Step-ups:
1 x BW x 100/leg

[Sunnyday]

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[Sunnyday]

Tuesday 10/4 upper body:

some dynamic bendy-stretchy stuff for warmup

Bench press: (each rep paused, press to lockout, reset shoulders at top, repeat)
bar x 5
75 x 5
105 x 5
121 x 5
132 x 4 - had a rough time setting an arch today. Decided to stop there and try again later in the week

Wide grip pullups:
4 x BW+35 x 5 - added another set from last week

Had planned overhead press, with the back giving me fits I switched to over & back presses:
3 x 40 x 12

Incline, side-lying DB lateral raise:
3 x 5 x 12/side

Reverse DB fly, leaning on incline bench:
3 x 15s x 12

Hand release pushups (1-sec pause with hands off floor):
3 x 12

[Sunnyday]

Wednesday 10/12 lower body

Kids off from school today so I had them in tow at the gym, meaning I was on a huge time crunch or the childcare nazis were gonna get me

Annnd because every other parent was doing the same as me, the gym was packed enough that all the squat racks were occupied and with several people standing around waiting.
Did stuff backwards from my usual to work around the crowd.

Unilateral standing calves:
5 x 5/side with 5-sec hold at top

Front & side planks:
3 x 60 sec hold each

Jane Fonda-type circuit (no rest between sides/exercises):
30 reps glute bridge on stability ball legs bent ss 30 reps legs straight
30 reps side lying clam ss 30 reps side lying abduction
30 reps single leg glute bridge ss 30 reps hip extension on elbows
30 reps single leg swing ss 30 reps fire hydrant

Squats:
bar x 5
95 x 5
115 x 5
5 x 135 x 5

Had to skip sumo deads cuz time was not on my side

Step-ups:
1 x BW x 100/leg

[Sunnyday]

It took only six years of hard work but I finally added enough muscle to my legs that even at around 8% BF I no longer have an obvious thigh gap. Wooooo! I've struggled with scrawny chicken legs my entire life so this is a big deal. Bought me a new water bottle to celebrate.

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[Sunnyday]

Thursday 10/13 upper body

Bunch of bendy-twisty-stretchy dynamic stuff for warmup

Bench press: (each rep paused, press to lockout, reset shoulders at top, repeat)
bar x 5
75 x 5
105 x 5
121 x 5
127 x 5 - a pound below my best 5s, felt easy, decided to push it
2 x 130 x 5 - my heaviest paused 5s to date! Wooooooo!
128 x 5 - the last rep at 130 was a little slow so I dropped it down by 2 lbs

Chins:
5 x BW+35 x 5 - added another set from last week

Rope pressdown ss Rope hammer curl:
3 x 30 x 12 each

Dips:
3 x BW x 12

Standing bb curl, split stance:
3 x 30 x 10

[Sunnyday]

Friday 10/14 lower body

Warmup of this n that to get the bod firing on all cylinders

Glute circuit (no rest between sides/exercises):
30 reps glute bridge on stability ball legs bent ss 30 reps legs straight
30 reps side lying clam ss 30 reps side lying abduction
30 reps single leg glute bridge ss 30 reps hip extension on elbows
30 reps single leg swing ss 30 reps fire hydrant

Squats:
bar x 5
95 x 5
115 x 5
135 x 3
145 x 3
135 x 3
145 x 3
135 x 3

Sumo deads:
135 x 1
155 x 1
175 x 1
195 x 1
10 x 207 x 1 with 30-45 sec between singles

Seated leg curl:
3 x 50 x 10

Ab wheel ss horizontal calf machine:
15 ss 190 x 10 (3 rounds)

Step-ups:
1 x BW x 100/leg

[cook]

It took only six years of hard work but I finally added enough muscle to my legs that even at around 8% BF I no longer have an obvious thigh gap. Wooooo! I've struggled with scrawny chicken legs my entire life so this is a big deal. Bought me a new water bottle to celebrate.

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Awesome job Sunny!

[Sunnyday]

Awesome job Sunny!

Thanks, cook! Great to see you in here!

[Sunnyday]

Almost time for the final round of USA Powerlifting Raw Nationals!

I've been watching the livestream since Thursday. My fam is all powerlifted out LOL and I'm like, "Just ONE more session, peeps!! I wanna see Bonica kill it and then there's Ray Lewis, I wanna see him dunk a grand raw and LIVE!

GO RAY, GO BONICA!!!!!

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[Sunnyday]

HUGE CONGRATS TO RAY WILLIAMS MAKING HISTORY, FIRST MAN TO SQUAT 1005-lb RAW!!!!

[Sunnyday]

Monday 10/17 lower body

Got beat up by my chiro pre-workout. Felt foggy, like the Hulk smashed me through the floor like he did to Loki in The Avengers. :-/

45 min warmup. Nuff said.

Squats:
bar x 5
95 x 5
115 x 5
135 x 5
4 x 145 x 4

Sumo deads:
135 x 1
155 x 1
175 x 1
195 x 1
215 x 1 - went OK but slower than I would have liked and the hip wasn't liking it. decided not to push my luck this time and just moved on

Seated leg curl:
3 x 50 x 12 - up 2 reps/set

Leg extension:
prollly a year since I did these but given the light squats and lack of deads I felt I needed something
3 x 50 x 12

Horizontal calves:
3 x 170 x 12

Ab wheel:
3 x 15

Step-ups:
1 x BW x 100/leg

[Sunnyday]

Tuesday 10/18 upper body:

30 min dynamic stretchy stuff

Bench press: (each rep paused, press to lockout, reset shoulders at top, repeat)
bar x 5
75 x 5
105 x 5
121 x 5
132 x 4
4 x 138 x 4 - bumped this up a whopping pound LOL. Not bad considering I skipped bench on Saturday

Wide grip pullups:
5 x BW+35 x 5 - added a set from last week

Overhead press:
4 x 75 x 5 - skipped this last week and my previous best was 3 sets

Reverse DB fly, leaning on incline bench:
3 x 15s x 12

Incline, side-lying DB lateral raise:
3 x 5# x 12/side

Hand release pushups:
3 x BW x 15 - up 3 reps/set from last week woo hoo woo hoo

20 min walk around the neighborhood