I started this new routine on international chest day (Monday of course) 11/14 and it goes a little something like this. Find your 1RM, for me it's 275 lbs, then find 80% of that which for me is 220 lbs (I rounded up to 225). Now, for the next six weeks I will be benching 3 times a week on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. This does not mean hitting chest 3 days a week though! Just adding heavy bench press at the end of each workout. Monday is chest, Tuesday is arms, Wednesday is legs and bench, Thursday is back and shoulders, and Friday is legs and bench. I've never done a routine like this and I'm hoping my body will respond with huge gains!
The working sets each day vary slightly. For example, on Monday we did 6 sets with only 2 reps per set. On Wednesday we did 6 sets with 3 reps per set and on Friday we did 6 sets with 2 reps again. That's week 1. As the weeks go on the sets either get heavier or you add reps with the same 80% weight! I know it's a stretch but I'm hoping to push 315 by the end of this 6 week program!
I finished my first week today with a deadlift/bench day. I started the workout with bench because I didn't have a spot and wanted to be fresh for this portion of my workout. My warmup was pretty basic. I stretched out my chest with some light controlled reps with just the bar, and then did a few more slow and controlled reps with 135 lbs. I then loaded on 185 lbs and went for another 3 or 4 reps before starting my 6 sets of 225 lbs. The program called for 6 sets with 2 reps per set. I was feeling pretty good today so I varied the reps slightly. 1st set I hit 2 reps, 2nd set I hit 3 reps, 3rd set I hit 3 reps, 4th set I hit 4 reps, 5th set I hit 3 reps, and 6th set I went to failure with 9 reps. I figure with 2 days off over the weekend I should push myself!!
I'm waiting to see if this program is going to over work my muscles and leave me feeling soar without making much progress or if it will result in some great success. I'm hoping that the saying "There's no such thing as over lifting, just under eating and under sleeping" is accurate!!I have however been training long enough to know when my body has had enough and when to back off and give it time to recover. One thing is for sure though and that is if you eat big, you will get big!
I was talking about goals in my last post and that is definitely one goal that has changed for me. I currently reside at 275 lbs which is pretty heavy in comparison to my goal weight, but if I set a goal for myself too weight 250 lbs and to gain 40 lbs on my bench.. It's possible! But you have to make a choice! Either eat big, lift big, and make gains! Or control your diet, cut, and work to gain strength at a calorie deficit. Me personally, I don't care as much about what the scale says, as I do with how my body feels and how I feel in my body. I'm happy right now eating enough calories to maintain a body weight of 275 and working on gaining muscle, and when I get to where I want to be with strength and muscle mass, then I will lower my body fat percentage and find my ideal weight. Currently I don't know how much I want to weight, and frankly I don't care too much. As long as I FEEL good not only physically, but mentally happy with my body. It's great to have goals and to push yourself and want the best for yourself, but if your can't be happy with where you are, you'll never be happy when you reach your goal.
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