The Book of Eph

[Eph]

Thoughts/Info/Etc
So, decided to jot my progress down as I get closer to my goal of getting/being big (muscle mass wise. And I guess actual strength too) by my senior year of high school, which is 2 school years from now (Sophomore currently). I've been in MCJROTC for a few weeks now so, can't exactly change my workout which I've noticed is more cardio activities (and yes I know this won't help me get bigger, but it's whatever). I'm trying to get (back) into lifting at home to "counter"/"balance" the cardio, but 20lb dumbbells aren't much help sadly.

I will try to update this as much as possible (which at the least is every other day; muscle recovery and what not you know).

Workouts
September 26
*Due to the fact I didn't keep count of how many sets I did today, this isn't 100% accurate.
30 Pull-ups - 5 reps - About 6 sets
90 Jumping Jacks - 15 reps - About 6 sets
120 Push Ups - 20 reps - About 6 sets
90 Squats - 15 reps - About 6 sets
90 Crunches (*Legs off ground at right angle) - 15 reps - About 6 sets
Run around football field - About 6 sets

Senior year coming up, and sad to say I'm still skinny as fvck. A bit bigger since I started this, but man, I was hoping to be at my goal weight of around 160/170lbs by this point. I'm around 140lbs currently. 20lbs or so since I started this journal. I guess I still have until graduation to put on a bit more weight, but I can't put on any serious weight unless I can get a job. It seems like I've been putting on 2lbs every month or so, so far.

Well, anyway, I'm starting this journal up again. I still have one goal I can accomplish before I graduate: to get a perfect 500 score on my YPFT. To do so, I need 60 push-ups and 100 sit-ups, each in under two minutes, 30 pull-ups, 45 seconds (I believe) on a run (300m or 500m), and like a 110 (inches I think) on a jump. I usually score around 350, and have had a 400+ score before, so I'm not too far off from achieving this.

But, since I'm not in Spanish class anymore, becoming fluent in my second language is all up to me now. So, from this point on this journal will be written in Spanish to help improve my vocabulary. I may do translations.

Today / Hoy:
Pyramids (1-10) consisting of:
-Dumbbell Curls (20lbs)
-Push-ups
-Pull-ups

English:
I also did 50 crunches in between sets to give my arms a break. Once I got to 9, I couldn't stand my pull-up bar anymore. So, I switched out my pull-ups for overhead presses (dumbbells).

Español:
Tambien, hice cincuenta abdominales entre conjuntos. A nueve, estuve enojado a mi barra de pull-up, por lo que hice prensas de arriba.

 

[Eph]

3 Sets:
26 Push-ups
10 Dumbbell Curls
10 Pull-ups
50 Crunches

No hice el último conjunto de pull-ups. Hice 10 prensas de arriba.
I didn't do the last set of pull-ups. Instead I did 10 overhead presses.

 

[Eph]

Hoy, dos veces hice ejercicio. Fui ir a jugar al baloncesto con a mi amigo, pero hacemos.
Today, I worked out twice. I was going to play basketball with a friend, but we ended up working out instead.
4 Sets:
7 Pull-ups
14 Push-ups
50 Crunches

Cuando vine a casa, comí e hice ejercicio de nuevo.
When I got home, I ate and worked out again.
Pyramids (1-11):
Push-ups
Pull-ups
Dumbbell Curls

 

[Eph]

Worked out yesterday, and forgot to add it here, so here goes. Simple day, just 4 sets of
16 Push-ups
16 Dumbbell Curls
16 Pull-ups
50 Crunches

Third set (I think) onwards I switched out pullups for overhead presses.

 

[Eph]

So, I forgot to add what I did last Wednesday, and Friday I took the day off to figure out what I wanted to do today. I've generally been doing the same exercises, which as boring as they've gotten, haven't made me dying for new ones. Friday, I would have done pyramids 1-12, which is why I took the day off.

So, without further ado, today's workout.
Pyramids 1-8:
Pushups doubling the set I was on for reps (i.e Set 1: 2 Pushups)
Dumbbell Curls
Concentration Curls
Pull-ups (Switching between various grips)
50 Crunches each set

I was actually thinking about going to 12 today, but I thought I'd see how I feel tomorrow and decide if I actually need to be doing even more, or if add more exercises and decreasing the number of sets is fine for me. Well, that's it. I'm off to bake cookies!

 

[Eph]

Easy day. 4 sets:
18 Pushups
8 Concentration Curls
8 Overhead Presses

Also, for the hell of it, I did 1 set of 8 Concentration Curls with a 30lb dumbbell and 8 Dumbbell Curls.

 

[Eph]

So, today I started training to increase the number of push-ups and pull-ups I can do. I'm following some ex-Navy Seal's workout plan, with minor adjustments. For the next 21 days (3 weeks), I'm going to (try to) do 200 push-ups and 50 pull-ups every day. The only full-day of rest I'll get is Sunday. So, I'm on an 18:3 ratio. After 3 weeks, I'll take 3 full days off where I won't do any upper body exercises. It's going to be tough to not do any upper body exercises, because once school starts, it's just a matter of time before PT starts as well.

Even days, I have to do 200 push-ups and 50 pull-ups in as few sets as possible. Odd days, I get to spread them throughout the day. So, I'll have some rest on the odd days, just not a full day of rest. Should be exactly what I need to feel the burn, I've probably been under-training these last couple of months.

So, since I started today, I did 150 push-ups in like 40 or so sets. I stopped counting. I was strapped for time today, so that's as far as I got. On the bright side, my first set I got to 48, which is good because my max number of push-ups tends to fluctuate a bit. Earlier this year, my max was 60, then it kept going down into the lower 50's. Right before Summer break started, I was at like 35.

I try my hardest to maintain good form while I'm doing push-ups, which tends to make me do them slower. So, I'm trying to find the right balance between speed and form.

 

[Eph]

Wow, I don't think my triceps have ever been this sore before. Today, I'll be doing 20 push ups and 50 pull ups through out the day. I've done 30 push ups so far.

 

[Eph]

Day 3 of my extreme workout and it was by far the longest ever. I started at around 10:40 and just finished at about 12:30. 2 continuous hours of pyramids 1-10 and and back down. I increased number of pushups by 2 each set, and did concentration curls, pull-ups, and crunches.

I actually stopped doing curls when I was at my 8th set going up because my right wrist felt like it was going to pop. Then I stopped doing crunches somewhere on my way back down just because I wanted to finish soon. I even had to switch my grip on my pull-up bar throughout the entire workout. I went from wide, to close, to neutral, and finally finished with chin-ups.

This was way too long for me, so no more pyramids as long as I'm doing 200 pushups per day.

 

[Eph]

It feels great to take the day off from exercise. I'm not sore for the first time since I started, which is great. Kinda don't want tomorrow to come.

 

[Eph]

So, I finished my 2-week exercise program. I didn't end up doing any pull-ups, but it's really improved my pushups. Both my form and my max are better, so I think I'll do another round. I'm kinda scared that if I don't keep this up, my max will start decreasing again. This time I think I'll make it 250 pushups per day (excluding Sunday, of course) and 50 pull-ups. I'll try to actually do the pull-ups this time, though I really hate my pull-up bar, so I'll try to go out to get them done at a pull-up bar we have just outside of my school.