Mister C's College Workout Journal

Members Area My Training Journal
1

After a month of college, I have finally regained the motivation to start working out again. However, this semester, it will not be the type of stuff I’ve done in the past. Back in high school, I would workout 5-6 times a week, sometimes twice a day even (with football and track). I was a training nut.

Not anymore. This semester in college is infinitely more busy and stressful, the reading load is much higher, homework in general requires more critical thinking (equals a lot harder), and on top of all that, I am pledging a fraternity.

My goals for this first semester of college as far as training goes are simple. Don’t miss any workout days. Stay stable at 160lbs and keep body fat % at 10% or less. Regain some sort of respectability in the bench and squat, along with some decent short speed sprint times.

To go about achieving all of this, I’m only doing formal running/lifting 3 times a week on top of the 2 times a week where I have sessions for flag football.

Here’s what the weeks will look like.

Sun: IM Flag Football Game
Mon: Off
Tue: AM- Sprints/Lifting; PM- IM Practice
Wed: Off
Thu: Sprints/Lifting
Fri: Tempo
Sat: Off

Lifting is total body, 5 lifts, to be done in aprroximately 45 minutes to an hour. Running is not to go over an hour in a session (including warmup and cooldown).

I have the lifting selection and progression all worked out, and the sprinting/tempo progressions will be set by the end of the day. I’m not gonna bother posting them up in advance, I know how it should go. If anybody notices anything throughout training though, I’d appreciate all input.

One more thing, for this entire workout cycle (right now looking to be about 12 weeks), I will not be taking any supplements, at least for the first 8 weeks. That means no protein, no creatine, no NO Explode, nothing. I will be utilizing a vitamin (subject to me remembering to take it) though. The reason is because for the past 3 years I’ve been supplementing with protein, past 2 years ZMA and then creatine on and off, and the past 6 months with NO Explode. It’s time to give my body a break and to just allow things to fall into place.

Instead, I’m going to focus on eating healthy and timing my meals properly (i.e. a high protein-carb meal following running/lifting). I know that to some not supplementing with protein seems like an ignorant thing to do, but this is just a matter of allowing my body to progress naturally without outside supplements. I’m not training for a competitive sport or track (yet…), so I’m not looking to maximize results in as short a time as possible. I just want to be fit.

So here’s to a successful semester and to a steadfast committment to my training. I’m back, and it’s go time.

2

Tuesday - 9/19

Day 1 of working out and went off without a hitch. I’ve had a lot of stress and a lot to deal with the past 24 hours, so I really needed this workout to burn some of that off. The running was more to get reacclimated to moving faster than a walk and to help get my fitness up a bit. I also need to loosen up my legs a lot due to past strains and pulls before I start pushing it too much in sprinting workouts. Lifts felt weak, but that’s to be expected given the break and the lack of supplements. All measurements are in pounds by the way.

AM Running/Lifting 7:15-8:45
3 Lap Warmup
Dynamics and Stretches
2x10yds
2x20yds
1x(10, 20, 30)yds
3 Lap Cooldown
5 minutes to Gym
Bench Press 3x12 115, 125, 125
RDL 3x12 50, 65, 75
Pullups 3x8 @ BW
Preacher Curl (CG) 3x12 @ 45
DB Front/Side Raises 3x10 w/ 8lbs weights
Abs~200
10 minutes stretching

3

Tuesday - 9/19 continued

Later in the evening I had an intermural volleyball game for my house, it was so close, we lost 19-21 and 20-22. That was a good workout for me because I never left the court, so I figured it would be relevant to add in here. Starting to get a little DOMS in hamstrings already from the RDL, but hopefully I’ll be fine for Thursday.

4

Thursday - 9/21

Took yesterday off as planned, but I woke up this morning still with a significant amount of DOMS. I continued with my training though, and so I headed over to the practice field/track only to find that ROTC had locked it off to do some kind of formal drilling ceremony. I decided then to lift first and run after, and I headed over to the gym. Lifts felt heavy, even though they really weren’t, it’ll be a couple weeks before I start to feel like I’m firing on all cylinders.

After that I went over to the field and decided to axe the sprinting workout. My legs were too sore, I was already fatigued, and there was too great a risk of injury. Instead I did a short tempo work to get my fitness back up, and it wasn’t too difficult to complete, but I did break a good sweat. Good morning overall.

AM Workout 8:30 - 10:00
Squats 3x12 135, 155, 155
Seated-Row 3x12 90, 100, 110
DB Incline Bench 3x12 30, 40, 40
Preacher Curl (WG) 3x12 45, 45, 45
DB Shoulder Press 2x12 25, 27.5
Dips 3x8 @ BW
Abs: 250
10 minutes stretching
Running
1 lap jog
10x100yds tempo @ 50-60%, w/ 50yd walk between reps
2 lap jog

5

Friday - 9/22

Ahh, the DOMS burns! My quads, hamstrings, and glutes all feel like not working on me right now! I went out for another tempo this morning to try and loosen them up some more, and it helped decently I would have to say. This afternoon I’m going home for the weekend and so once I’m there I will slip into an ice bath and that’ll definitely help out some.

AM Tempo 9:00 - 10:00
1/2 mile warmup
Dynamics and Stretching
10x100yds tempo (walk 50 between reps)
100 Abs
Planks and L/R Bridgesx45s each
1/2 mile cooldown
Stretches

6

Sunday - 9/24

Played intermural football this morning, and this was after having 3 hours of fitful sleep on a friend’s apartment floor. I didnt play as much as I normally do in the game, but that was fine by me. I had two catches in the game, and I was burning fools left and right, even though my legs are STILL sore from Thursday. I considered myself the X-Factor in the game, with me in, we were ahead 19-0, with me out, we’re behind 6-13. Go figure.

Right now I’m just doing my best to catch up on all the work I have due this week. The first week of training was suprisingly easy, and I can’t wait to be able to keep this up and stay in shape.

1 Hour of Flag Football 10:00 - 11:00 AM

7

It’s good to see you back on here. How’s college life treating you so far? Been to any SC games yet?

8

Thanks man, it’s good to be back. College is definitely an uprade from high school, I love having complete control over my own time. It is really busy though, and I let it all get to me the first few weeks and stopped working out, and it really shows because I’m lifting and running like shit.

As for the games, yes I’ve gone, and the one so far has been insane. The only thing is that so many students try to get in the game at once and it gets pretty close to being out of control and a stampede almost busting loose.

What about you, how has football been going for you? I see you’re team has been doing well, but what about you in particular as far as PT and making plays in practice?

9

Tuesday - 9/26

Solid workout this morning, I was excited because I just got my first paper back in class with a B+ and everyone else got Cs. It was a cool morning for SoCal, which was nice and gave me even more energy. I felt a lot better running today, but I’m still a little tight and my coordination and rythmn when running fast are not quite back to where they should be.

Lifting went according to plan, the only thing is that I hate not being able to lift anywhere near what I was lifting two months ago. I feel like such a puss only putting up 1 plate when I’m benching, and pullups are definintely a struggle for me now when they used to be no problem. Still, I’m hoping that because of muscle memory once I get back into it I’ll progress quickly back to where I once was.

AM Running/Lifting
9:00 - 11:00
3 Lap Warmup
Dynamics and Stretches
2x10yd and 2x20yd warmup runs
40yd buildup
4x10yds from stomach
2x20yds from pushup position
1x30yds from 3-point stance
5 minute walk
Weightlifting
Bench Press 4x10 135, 135, 135, 135
RDL 4x10 60, 70, 80, 90
Pullups 2x10 @ BW; 5, 5 @ BW
Preacher Curl (CG) 4x10 45, 50, 50, 50
DB Front/Side Raises 3x10 w/ 8lb DBs
Abs~250
10 minutes stretching

10

Thursday - 9/28

Quick update, things are feeling better…

AM Running/Lifting 9:15 - 11:00
1 mile warmup
Dynamics and Stretches
2x(10, 20, 30) from stomach
1x30 from fly
5 min walk to Gym
Squats 4x10 135, 155, 165, 175
DB Shoulder Press 3x10 30, 35, 35, 35; 2x5 35, 35
Seated Cable Row 4x10 90, 100, 110, 110
Preacher Curls (WG) 4x10 @ 50
Dips 3x10 @ BW
Abs: 250

11

Tuesday - 10/3

Didnt have intermural this weekend because I was out camping on a fraternity retreat. That involved a 6 mile hike through the mountains, so that counts as my physical activity for the weekend.

Today I was completely tired, but I gutted through the workout anyways. I saw the USC hurdlers working out at the track this morning, and those guys just made me feel so slow. Not only are they fast, but because I’m just getting back into it my speed is just awful.

The weights were a struggle, and even 135 felt heavy. Overall, I’m hoping this was just from me being tired and having a long weekend.

Oh yeah, and my bike lock was cut and bike got stolen the other night. Damn thugs around campus. This really increases my travel time going everywhere and it pisses me off.

AM Workout 9:15 - 11:30
1 mile warmup jog
Dynamics and Stretches
2x(10, 20, 30) 1st set on grass, 2nd set on track
1x(20E/20F/20E)
15 minute walk
Weightlifting
Bench Press 4x10 135, 135, 140, 140
RDL 4x10 75, 85, 95, 100
Pullups 2x10 @ BW; 8, 2 @ BW
Preacher Curls (CG) 4x10 50, 50, 50, 50
DB Front/Side Raises 3x10 w/ 8lb DBs
Abs~300
10 minutes stretching

12

go join the team.

13

Monday - 10/9

It’s been a while because I had some major midterms last week, which did cause me to miss Thursday simply because I had to study. I have decided to step it up though, and lift 3 days a week instead of only 2. I felt that with 2 there was just too much time between different lifts and it wasn’t helping me that much.

As for joining the team, the truth of the matter is that there is simply not enough time for me to join. When I committ to something, I don’t like to half-ass it, and if I tried to join the track team I wouldn’t be able to pour as much as I’d like into my training and so I’d be wasting the time of the coaches and wasting my own time. For now, I’m just sticking to training on my own.

PM Workout 2:00 - 4:00
1 Mile warmup jog
Tempo
2x100m (walk 50 between reps, 200 between sets)
5 min Break
Weightlifting
Bench Press 4x10 135, 145, 145, 135
DB Shoulder Press 4x10 25, 25, 25, 25
Seated Cable Row (neutral grip) 4x10 100, 110, 110, 110
Preacher Curl (wide-grip) 4x10 45, 45, 55, 55
Abs: 350

14

why are you training for - do u like the sport that much.?

15

I think you’re right to not compete yet. You have a lot on your plate. When you’re in shape and fast, then you can see if it would be worthwhile. Till then, you have your priorities in order.

16

ut, I’m not looking to get immediately back into competitive track right now. I killed myself training last year and I felt the effects of that for a long time. Right now, college and keeping my life together with everything else is my number one priority. I still love competing in track and I’ve always loved being fast. I also like being able to walk into a room and know that I’m in the best shape/have the most athletic build of anyone there.

So I’m training to stay in shape, keep my physique, and to be within striking distance of making a return to track if I so desire. I am not paying 40k a year at USC to kill myself running Div-1 track, and so at this point joining the team is not for me. As juggler says, it’s about keeping your priorities in order and that’s what I’m doing.

17

Wednesday - 10/11

I went out to the track this afternoon and there was a team-wide practice for the USC track team. It simply wasn’t feasible to run, as the throwers were making the center field a hazard to be on and the runners were using all 8 lanes for some type of relay-based workout.

Instead, I went to the weightroom and lifted there first, followed by a spirited hour and a half of racquetball after that. I feel that makes up for the tempo I would’ve run today, and I’m happy with what I did.

PM Lifting
3:30 - 6:00
Weightlifting
DB Bench Press 4x10 50, 50, 50, 50
Chin-Ups (underhand grip) 2x10 @ BW; 8,2 @ BW
Squats 4x10 135, 155, 175, 185
DB Curls 4x10 25, 30, 30, 30
Abs:250
1 1/2 hours of racquetball

18

Update for Saturday - 10/15

Ended up skipping Friday because of a fraternity function that was out of my control. I made up for it a bit by playing some intermural football on Saturday. We ended up losing, but I got a lot of running in and broke a nice sweat.

19

Monday - 10/16

No running today, I just didn’t feel up to it and I was in a time crunch. I know this isnt the normal type of committment I would give to my training, but I’ve been insanely busy lately, so shoot me.

Got one of my bros to come and lift with me, and that helped push me a little more. I still need to get my diet together not necessarily in terms of eating healthier, because I am eating relatively nutritious food. I need to work on not over-eating and establish better times to eat as opposed to just stuffing myself multiple times a day.

Weightlifting
Bench Press 4x8 135, 155, 160, 160
DB Shoulder Press 4x8 30, 35, 35, 35
Seated-Cable Rows 4x8 110, 120, 120, 120
Preacher Curls (close-grip) 4x8 45, 55, 55, 55
Abs: 400

20

Update for Tuesday - 10/17

I guess me skipping the running on Monday was made up on Tuesday night. We had an intermural soccer game and I went in there, shook off the rust, and had some fun playing soccer. I did a lot of running, hard running too, and by the end of the match I was soaked in sweat. It felt really good to be playing a sport and running as opposed to running just for the sake of it.