10’ elliptical
yoga
specific stretches
self-massage
ice r. shoulder 15’
notes:
-man, yoga is gonna be perfect. my large muscles tend to be pretty flexible. my smaller, more concealed muscles however were definitely exposed in even the beginner poses
-legs even more sore today. probably will take tomorrow almost as a recovery workout. chest and shoulders getting sorer as the day went on
-its cool to see the muscular changes that occur after hard workouts. could see decreases and increases in muscle tone/size based off where they are in the recovery process. i already look more fit after just two workouts. could just be in my head, and the scale doesn’t lie! broke 150 before bed one night, haven’t seen it that high in ages and my bf% seems to be its lowest ever (can see striations in shoulders fairly easily). i’ll be curious to see my morning weigh-in next week
occurred to me that i should probably include some more info about myself as far as to explain workouts
only will lift 4x per week, 2x per upper/lower. if i lift a body section more than 2x per week, almost always is overkill. saw big gains only lifting heavy 1x per week full body and easy 2x fullbody per week
recently got a diagnosis for narcolepsy. have struggled pretty severely with excessive daytime sleepiness for years and i live a pretty healthy lifestyle. everyone assumed i was just lazy, rude and bored when i would fall asleep in class, couldn’t pay attention hen people talked to me, claimed i was hallucinating because i was so tired. academic success convinced people that i must be fine. exercise was my only cure until recently, it always seemed to wake me up a bit and feel better throughout the day in general. recently been prescribed methylphenidate (ritalin) to take. usual side effect is decreased appetite and weight loss, but my hunger increased and i am now gaining weight/muscle much easier. asked doctor about it, she said must e performance enhancing for me. i think i was so tired that exhaustion was preventing me from being hungry or gaining weight more than taking ritalin does. because it is being given to me for a disorder, i should be all set as far as ncaa drug testing goes
played baseball all the way until my senior year when i switched to track full time. could hit homeruns and throw nearly 85 mph (and this was before i really started getting decent in the weight room and was only 16 years old) but i was so bad at hitting for contact and so inaccurate that i really was useless. not really taking care of my throwing arm has left me with shoulder and elbow stiffness, but i have seen very easy gains since starting to “rehab” them. this is how i ended up in javelin
made track team at my school because my bw ratios in the weight room were so good for a college freshman, especially one who essentially trained himself (put up 2.5xbw in the squat and 1.7xbw in the clean and 1.5xbw in bench freshman fall). never actually showed any aptitude for track besides block starts, but my coach is hoping my strength potential will lead to track success with proper coaching
lactose intolerant. still occansionally take weight gainer or protein supplements with lactase pills, but will always cause me an upset stomach so i have to determine whether the timing is worth the risk of ruining my appetite for my next meal. drink a ton of lactaid whole milk or choco soy
I talked to my coaches and it appears that ncaa d1 drug testing only requires coaches to be aware of what drugs their athletes are being prescribed and so long as its not off label usage, should i get informed that i will be drug tested, i just need the coach and my physician to submit proof
thrower’s warm-up
oly lifts checks
5x10 power clean@95,115,125,135,135
5x10 squat@135,185,205,225,225
2x10:
-hamstring curl (single leg negatives, alt)
-calf raise
1x20:
-each x-band
-ankle dorsi-flexion
500 reps core
self-massage
lower/core stretch
15’ ice r. shoulder
notes:
-made claim on here that i’ve already been successful in adding muscle. didn’t want to make a false claim so i weighed in during the am. i generally add 5 lbs after off time in the first week i start to lift again, but to do it after only 2 workouts and after only about a week of no lifting im pretty happy with. once i enter the 150s is when things will get interesting
-volume should look much better now, i just overestimated my fitness so my early sets were far too heavy on monday. this set up gives me enough volume to pack on some pounds and allows me to get some heavier lifts in without killing myself
-power clean form much improved. second pull has gotten much more effective. got bruises on my quads for the first time and didnt scrape shins as badly.
notes:
-minor leg doms
-really starting to see some flexibility gains
-changed lift notations, i remember that a friend once inquire if 5x5@225,250, 275, 295, 300 was 25 total reps or 5x5 at each weight, i mean the weights are for each set. 225 for set 1, 250 for set 2, yadda, yadda. i hope people didn’t think i was doing 250 reps of cleans!
10’ elliptical
self-massage
yoga
specific stretches
ice r. shoulder 15’
notes:
-because of a couple commitments early this week, i will be doing 1. yoga 2. yoga 3. lower 4. upper 5. lower 6. upper 7. off. this means i will make sure to be cautious on the first lifting days to make sure that i will not be sore for the next two. i will think of them as prep days so i can figure out how to maximize the weights for each set later in the week
10’ elliptical
self-massage
stretch checks
jav specific stretches
injury stretches
yoga (1 routine)
ice r. shoulder 15’
notes:
-have been busy and not feeling well last couple days. I plan on having a bit higher volume stuffed into the net four days than I would prefer, but since I really am just lifting to gain weight, I’ll just make sure I’m limiting my soreness and will get back on track next week
-weight has been all over the place between some appetite and hydration problems (plus I’m sure not lifting for four straight days isn’t helping). I’ll just weigh-in the morning after a rest day next week (probably Thursday morning before work). i’m going to start eating a meal before bed because I keep waking up hungry during the night
-parts of my workouts are taking too long because I don’t have a definite routine written down to follow. I will get those worked out before next week (stretching, yoga, massage, supplements)
notes:
-felt good to be exercising again. havent done resistance work in like 5 days. felt very fresh in warm-ups, over-rotated a bit in my backflip check, human flag was about as solid as ever and accels felt smooth and fast
-“f@5” means i would’ve failed so i stopped at 5 reps. i hope to rarely do this, but it happens! i prefer just to move on to the next set since i already did too much if i couldn’t make the reps
-by ghost throws i mean i just kind of fooled around getting comfortable with the jav throwing motion. starting to feel more natural to me than a baseball motion, which is great. did some crossovers too. looked at a couple in mirror and i actually look like i know what i’m doing! can’t wait til the weather’s nicer and i can start throwing the spear. the added ROM is gonna be huge
-will be putting together a more exact template this weekend for parts of my workout so that i can read off print outs instead of wasting time memorizing. i’ll probably post a copy here. will do an unloading week similar in structure to what i’ve been doing the last couple weeks for the first week of april, then probably will do a 8,7,6 unload before getting into some more fitness and specific work. really just trying to get started with a good strength base and pack on some pounds!
thrower’s warm-up
ghost throws
oly lift checks
5x8 power clean (95,115,135,165(f@5),155)
5x8 power squat (135,185,205,225,225)
2x10:
-hamstrings curl (single-leg on negatives, alt)
-calf raise
1x20:
-each, x-band
-ankle dorsi-flexion
500 reps core
stretching (lower, core)
15’ ice (r. shoulder)
notes:
-felt good during the day today. can really feel the benefits of exercise as far as alertness, appetite and mood the day after
-minor doms in chest, lats, obliques
-began to rush into the second pull when i start to get tired on power cleans. i’ll stay lighter to look at improved technique. squats felt fantastic. 225 felt very smooth and easy, maybe i’ll increase weight on my next session
-significantly more comfortable in the single digit rep range. probably will be looking at doing my next cycle 8,6,4,unload instead since it feels better to me, i can get heavier weights on the bar and i believe i tend to experience more hypertrophy in lower rep ranges anyways. planning on finishing my 10,8,6,unload then doing 8,6,4,unload and then i will probably go to a 3 day, whole body lift schedule (probably drop extra lower body exercises (besides the 1x20’s), swap in pullovers for bench and keep with an upper body circuit and 1x20s) so i can look at having two off days and one day for some conditioning and speedwork and the other for throwing and yoga. not planning on doing any testing until end of summer since all i really care about is gaining weight at this point
-probably going to do ghost throws on the same days i do the acrobat stuff. tend to improve the most on mechanics when i work really hard at them and then dont do anything for a long time and come back to it
-setting the weights for sets by (easy, technique, minimum, reach, adjust) and technique for the 2x10’s and easy for the 1x20’s
thrower’s warm up
acrobatic checks
ghost throws
oly lift checks
5x8 pc (95,115,135,145,145)
5x8 squat (135,185,205,225,225)
self-massage
stretching (core)
15’ ice (r. shoulder)
notes:
-will do core work tomorrow morning, and lower beach lifts, lower injury lifts and lower stretching tomorrow with my upperbody day. felt tired gong into workout, but lifting always makes me feel better, just didn’t want to over do it. should be good to go tomorrow as i always feel much more energized on days after i lift. thinking about moving my offday to sats so that I’ll feel better for monday workouts
-power clean technique getting much better, just have to keep the weight light and concentration on mechanics while i cement the motor pattern and squats felt easy, but hard enough that i think i’ll still have some doms tomorrow, so no need to go heavier. starting 6 rep phase tomorrow, so i think i’ll get to see the wights get into the heavier range again, which is nice. it think that my muscular endurance is so poor that i tend to see better hypertrophy results with a lower rep range on bigger lifts (after getting some fitness back) simply because i cannot get a great enough stimulus in the typical hypertrophy rep range
notes:
-I generally do weekend workouts in the am, and noticed that my energy levels seem much improved for the rest of the day. I think I’ll be switching core work, massage and stretching to mornings on weekdays. Will make waking up easier, me more productive at work and workouts after work shorter. i just have to give up my guaranteed 1 hr lunch break, which I don’t really care for because that is usually when I among the most tired in my day if I don’t exercise so i’m not looking to be real social in those hours anyways
5’ bike
oly lift checks
5x6:
-bench (135,145,155,155,175)
-lat pull-down (70, 95, 105, 120, 120)
2x10 (super-set with above):
-hamstrings curl (single leg on negatives, alt)
-calf raise
1x20 (also in super-set):
-each x-band
-ankle dorsi-flexion
2x10:
-upperbody circuit (10 exercises)
1x20:
-shoulder complex
-band pulls
-pullover stretch (normal grip, supinated grip both on swiss ball w/ feet anchored)
self-massage
stretching (lower, upper)
15’ ice (r. shoulder)
notes:
-felt good in the gym today. actually, energy levels felt pretty terrific in general. I will keep doing the core work in the am and will see if this trend continues. i also took hypersomnia medication before dinner as opposed to after (I’m forced to lift after dinner, which honestly is fine because I don’t do much cardio and then I eat after, too, so it probably allows me to eat more calories)
-because of gym time limitations, was not able to do full warm-up, but I’m not overly concerned as it was an upperbody day, and 175 is the heaviest I’ve benched for reps in a long time. can’t wait until I’m getting 185 for bench, 225 for clean and 315 for squat on the bar again. probably will hit those numbers by the time i get to a 4 rep week about 4 weeks from now. probably will do the full warm-up before stretch checks tomorrow, as I include it as much for the warming-up aspect as for the ROM and drills parts
-initially planned on tomorrow just being a yoga day, but probably will do 5’ bike, core and core stretching in the am and a full warm-up with stretch checks and some yoga afterwards in the pm
notes:
-definitely helped me wake up more. appetite felt better when eating breakfast, but worse for rest of morning. Maybe I digested my food better? I’ve definitely noticed that I don’t seem to gain anymore weight when I force down calories to the point of holding in vomit, so perhaps just attempting to overeat slightly is my best bet so that even if I can’t get down 10,000/day like some guys and gain ten pounds a week, I can get enough surplus to add 1 lb per week instead of not digesting it at all (and 1 lb/week is 52 lbs in a year, I’m sure most people would be plenty happy with that!!)
-upperbody looks noticibly smaller than yesterday morning. Probably not size, but a decrease in muscle tone. I think it’s pretty cool that I can kind of predict what part of the recovery process certain muscles are in based off their appearance relative to before the workout. they get real flat before doms, a little swollen looking while sore then with good tone and if I wait too long, slowly starts getting flatter again. i’ll also almost always notice weight loss the day after working lots of muscles, but then will gain it back (and hopefully more) by the time I feel like I’m fresh again
5’ elliptical
self-massage
yoga (10 positions)
thrower’s warm-up
jav specific stretches
stretch checks
injury stretches
15’ ice (r. shoulder)
notes:
-high energy on lower than typical dose of medication. i think working out in the morning is the way to go! chest and front of shoulders had some doms, but could see and feel an increase in my bodies muscle tone. physique is definitely looking my best ever, so great for the ego an adds to the motivation to work out, though i have to make sure that i keep the mindset that bodyfat gains are good since i need the weight and higher bf levels are associated with higher testosterone levels so i think getting up so im out of single digit bf% (as far as the usual under estimates go that people give visually, i assume im around 8-10%, but my coach would probably say 4-6%) would be beneficial to muscel gains
-shoulder mobility and discomfort definitely improving. yoga positions getting easier to hit
notes:
-surprised at how light the weigh in was. woke up pretty hungry so i’m curious how much variation levels of recent food intake and hydration play, even if I do weigh-in’s when I first wake-up. The day I cracked 148 lbs in the morning, I barely hit 150 before bed, so I wonder what I will weigh before bed today. what I think I will do, because I’ve seen this type of fluctuations, where even if I’m doing great and adding 2 lbs/week, that measuring weight gain and loss is difficult because I see my weight generally fluctuate up to 8 lbs in a given, normal day. I think what I will do is weigh in each day when I wake up and each night before bed and then will keep track of my weekly high, low and mode. I just wanto gain about 15 lbs over the course of about a year, so if I add 2 lbs a month I’d be more than happy, and that could definitely look negligible in terms of how I’ve kept track of weight. it’s just too hard to see the effects of medication, dietary, recovery and training changes, so i suppose I’ll just have to be patient, trust in my experience, make sure I’m getting stronger and, most importantly, eat a ton
-visually I definitely look the best I have in a while. seeing bulk on my shoulders, obliques and arms that I’ve never seen before, as well as mass in the smaller muscles in my upper back. perhaps I’m weighing light because I haven’t really squatted heavy lately so I’m sure my lower back muscles and thighs, which I believe were much bigger in high school, arent carrying the mass they used to. i read everywhere that legs respond to high reps training, but i’m just so week much above 5 reps that I can’t say I’ve ever seen any of my major muscle groups grow lifting higher reps
notes:
-as i suspected, equal to about the heaviest i’ve seen the scale tip in a year. will do am and pm weigh-in’s, then will record my high, low and mode for each week to keep track of mass gains
-felt great in the gym, doing core in the morning does not seem to have negatively affected the pm session. squats went up pretty easy, power clean form was pretty good. caught my last rep too high actually and pinched my neck skin, so i know i could’ve gone heavier, but i’m more concerned with technique
-not looking as fragile in a t-shirt anymore. definitely have more muscle, at least upperbody, even if scale doesn’t seem to show it. now that my squat weight s getting back up, perhaps i’ll see bigger weight gains