Week 3 - Summary

Week 3 of working out was pretty bad. Here's why:

1) I had no real cardio due to my ankle injury. At the most I have been doing light biking on the stationary bikes at the gym for maybe 5 minutes (it's even more boring than jogging).

2) After my Wednesday - Leg and Back workout I felt horrible and had to quit halfway. The good news is that I got a decent leg workout. The bad - I didn't get to work out my back.

Therefore, week 3 was a fiasco. I got 1.5 full workouts and no cardio. Week 4 is going great so far but I am really playing catchup.

On the bright side, I think I gained some weight. Hopefully, it is more muscle than fat but I seem to be weighing 165lbs or more at the gym (measured before and after my workouts). That means I gained 2 lbs and maybe by the end of my 8 week program I would have gained 8 lbs of muscle.

Week 1 - Legs & Back

Legs
Working out my legs are my least favorite workout because they are really intense and very tiring. The legs are such huge muscle group. If you think about it, it is basically your entire lower body. It probably isn't 50% of your muscles - it could be more or less, but it is definitely a large % of body muscle.

Today's leg workout consisted of the squat (yay! ~sarcastically), the leg press, deadlift and calf raises. The squats did not ask for increasing weight but I somehow did increase my weight but after the 2nd time of increment I realized I didn't have to. I was still able to complete my sets so this really shows I didn't have enough weight for my first set of 10 reps. I know, I am such a cheater! The rest were pretty good I must say. I did really enjoy the calf raises. It was asking for 6 sets to failure. I used a 25lb dumbbell to decrease the number of reps and hopefully build more muscle. I have really small calves genetically so hopefully this will help.

After my leg workout I was pretty much sweating and panting. But this time around I felt really good about my leg workout. But I think I didn't work out as hard as I could have but it still felt like a good workout. I also then decided to try to change my mentality and hopefully it will help in future workouts. I am no longer going to say it is my least favorite workout instead, I am going to say I enjoy the workout because I actually did!

Back
After 40 minutes of doing my leg workout it was time to workout the back. I must say, it was not nearly as tough as it was for the legs but that is how this routine seems to be. It is more of an intensive workout for the first muscle group and then a lesser intense workout for the 2nd half of the workout. Its fine by me as long as it shows results. The routine consisted of wide pullups, seated cable pull, one arm rows and extensions. None of these were too bad but I always find myself limited by the strength of my bicep and sometimes I don't feel as good as a workout because of that.

Day 18 (post Insanity): Back

Today I was pretty energetic at the gym. Could it be that I am eating better? Possibly, but I also think that it is also because I am sleeping better. These past few days I am already kind of awake before my alarm goes off - hopefully because I had enough sleep and not because I am stressing out about something else.

At the gym I worked my back and my abs. Back workout days are usually pretty short and sweet so don't over do it and make sure you get your ab workout in 2-3 times a week. They are still muscles and even though they are not showing because you are not below 10% body fat, they still need to be worked out for when you do get lower body fat to show them off.

The bent over barbell row is my favorite. Here is how to do it from MaximuscleUk:


Also, throughout the day I still felt my legs a little sore. It was that pleasurable pain you get after a good workout. I was also thinking about my skinny calves and might change change my calf workout a little after some research.

Day 16 (post Insanity): Legs

Yes, today was my most dreaded workout - LEGS! It is just a very tiring workout and at the end of the workout I was sweating more than the usual. The exercise that takes up the most energy is definitely the squat exercise. It uses the largest muscle group in your legs and requires a big range of motion. After doing squats my heart is definitely pounding and 60 seconds rest between reps does not seem enough for me at times.

This is a clip from Scott Herman on how to do Squats. I use the machine as I don't have the proper tools to use a free standing barbell.


This is my updated workout routine:

Tuesday - Legs
Hamstrings
Exercise	Sets	Reps
Stiff-Leg Deadlifts	4	8
One-Leg Leg Curls	4	8
Quads
Exercise	Sets	Reps
Squats	4	10
Leg Presses	4	8
Leg Extension	4	8
Calves
Exercise	Sets	Reps
Standing Calf Raise	4	15,12,10,8 (with a 30 lb dumbell)

Day 2 (post Insanity): Legs

Leg workouts are my least favorite because I feel week afterwards. I also feel like they just drain your energy out by the end of the workout.

Regardless, today I gave it 90% because I am still motivated from yesterday. Why do I say 90%? Because I know I could have done a little more weights at the squats but I wanted to play safe as it is a lot of weight to drop!


Tomorrow will be my outdoor sports day - more like a rest day :D.

Day 2 (post Insanity): Legs

I worked on my legs yesterday - my least favorite workout routine.  It was actually not too bad at the beginning. Usually the first time I do the workouts I try to figure out what is the correct weight to use so if a set feels too easy, increase the weight and finish the set off.

I did come across one problem. At my small gym, the one station where I could do the squats was being hogged by this idiot who would do a set for 30 seconds and take 2 minutes break. He was there while I did my leg presses, leg extension and calf raises - so I got annoyed, impatient and left without doing my squats - just the excuse I needed.

Today I feel sore - in fact, my entire body feels sore including the muscles I worked out on Monday. My body is adjusting. Let's hope for good results

Tuesday - Legs
Hamstrings
Exercise	Sets	Reps
Stiff-Leg Deadlifts	3	8
One-Leg Leg Curls	3	8
Quads
Exercise	Sets	Reps
Squats	3	10
Leg Presses	3	8
Leg Extension	3	8
Calves
Exercise	Sets	Reps
Standing Calf Raise	4	15,12,10,8 (with a 20 lb dumbell)