Good evening everyone!
It was a productive day today. I knocked out last night around 10:30p, the earliest I’ve fallen asleep in over a decade. I took three Advil PM liquigels around 8p and I started dozing off midway through writing my paper for class. I’m pretty sure I went on tangents left and right, and after uploading it and turning it in, I fell asleep. Surely my prof will have some interesting comments come class time.
Monday morning:
I woke up this morning at 4:45 AM and decided to check email and then hit the gym. Normally my leg days are done on Sundays but lately, I’ve been putting it off. As much as I wanted to do legs this morning, I know I wasn’t going to give it my best at all, AND being that my plan is to get back on track with strength/power training, hitting a heavy leg day first thing Monday morning wouldn’t have been the smartest of things for me.
So I made it to the gym around 5:45AM, put my headphones in, turned on my audiobook and committed myself to a 45 minute cardio session. Halfway through, the devil arose within me and told me to stop at 20 minutes because it has been a long time since I’ve done any cardio, and because I’m implementing cardio back into my routine, it was OK to take it easy! I said “nah brah, lets keep going,” and at minute 30, he came back, this guy… But those thoughts… Those thoughts and that pressure to keep being the same old me were left behind as of yesterday (lol), so I kept going. Next thing you know, cardio was done, I was drenched, and I finished another chapter of my audiobook. I’m currently listening to Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill (I highly recommend it to everyone who is interested in learning to be financially independent, for those looking for personal development, and overall looking to break the 9-5 rat race lifestyle). Check it out here: Audible and Amazon.
Light stretching and a quick trip to the bank, I made it back home at 7. Next thing you know, 8 am rolls around and I’m at work. I spent the majority of my day watching my Amazon Web Services Cloud Architecture videos (I’m currently working on getting my AWS Cloud Architect Associate cert), and the last hour I spent brushing up on my Linux.
4:30 rolls around, and I’m on my way to the gym. My focus for the next few weeks is to up the number on my front squats. I’ve been a pure back-squatter all my lifting career, having thrown some front squats here and there, but this time around, I’m emphasizing them primarily.
*Front squats are a great alternative for those who want a safe way to squat (aside from dumbbells or body weight exercises). Front squats alleviate your lower back by switching the load to the front of your body. Instead of placing the bar on your upper back, you rack it onto your front delts. It is also a great core/stability movement, I guarantee you’ll feel it in your core for a week after you do them.
*By switching the movement, you’re directly hitting your quads much more than a normal back squat, while building core strength and stability. It is also relatively easier on your knees, but because you do rack it on your front delts (shoulders), you have to practice safe form. So before throwing on a barbell across your upper chest, practice with a kettlebell/dumbbell/weighted plate to get a feel for the movement.
Today’s workout:
Quads
Front Squats: 185×5 | 225×5 | 245×5
Paused Front Squats (One second hold in the hole): 135×3 | 185×3 | 185×3
Overhead kettlebell lunges: 25lb. for three sets of 10 reps per leg, per arm(switching the kettlebell to the opposite arm)
Horizontal Leg Press: 360×12 | 450×12 | 540×10 | 630×10
Leg Extensions: 135×12 | 150×12 | 165×12
Hamstrings
Lying Hamstring Curl: 95×12 | 125×10 | 140×10
Stiff-Legged Deadlift: 135×10 | 185×10 | 225×10
Seated Hamstring Curl: 135×12 | 160×12 | 185×12
Calves
Seated Calf Press: 5×12-15
Standing Calf Press: 4×12-15
I prefer mixing my routines up, so I implement a powerlifting/bodybuilding hybrid approach (powerbuilding) where your main, core movements such as bench, deadlift, squat, are kept in the strength/power set and rep range, while isolation/accessory work is kept in a hypertrophy rep range. In my opinion, this enables the lifter to put on strength, power, and size, while also rounding out the physique for a more “aesthetic” look.
However, it all comes down to what your daily caloric intake is: If you eat at a surplus, you’ll definitely move some heavy weight, but if you’re not careful, you may also start moving heavier body weight. Eat at maintenance, and you can make great progress albeit not as fast at a surplus. Eat at a deficit, and you’ll elicit a stronger fat burn process (increase metabolism –> thermogenic effect) and you’ll still gain strength while dropping body fat!
My current goal is to drop some body fat, I want to be back in the 190-200 pound range, as I’m currently sitting at 245.
Powerbuilding is a fantastic way to train. I’ll write my experiences with dieting and training using this approach soon.
It has been an amazing, productive Monday, I thank God for today – it has been a blessing.
Cheers!
liveestronger.com 
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