RAntorcha - New & Improved Natural Freak

[Hoopie]

Hey buddy how the heck are ya. Your workouts look freaking awesome man. bent rows at 275 for 8 is insane. Wish i could train that heavy again. i miss moving the heavy weight and its feel. By the way writing about being at the pool over the weekend while us northerners freeze our ass off up here just isnt right...LOL

[rantorcha]

Feb 8, 2011 23:19:54 GMT -5 Hoopie said:

Hey buddy how the heck are ya. Your workouts look freaking awesome man. bent rows at 275 for 8 is insane. Wish i could train that heavy again. i miss moving the heavy weight and its feel. By the way writing about being at the pool over the weekend while us northerners freeze our ass off up here just isnt right...LOL

Thanks, Hoopster! Yeah, I am really hitting it hard lately. Feeling really good in the gym.

As for hanging by the pool....yeah, I'm sorry about that! Didn't mean to rub it in, but I honestly live in the best place on earth. Well, maybe not earth, but the best place at least on the east coast. lol

[rantorcha]

I woke up this morning and immediately hit the treadmill for 35 minutes. Not a bad start to this morning. I didn't start out with the usual high intensity, but by the end of it, I was pretty much there.

By the afternoon, I was truly ready to hit the gym. I took my CellRush & Kre-Alk Pro (I am finishing this off before I start K-Otic again) and off I went. Today was my bi-weekly Quads day,so it took a special mindset to get going. But once I got going, it was ON!

QUADS
Leg Press
6plts each side/20
6plts each side/20
7plts each side/15..drop..6plts/7..drop..5plts/8

Hack Squat - very slow
3plts each side/13
3plts each side/12

Squat Machine Lunge
13 reps, 12 reps

Leg Ext ss/Sissy Squat
130/13; (hold 4-sec)/6
130/12; (hold 4-sec)/6

CALVES
Seated Calf
90/20, 135/14, 180/9..drop..135/7..drop..90/8
Free Motion Calf Press
220/14, 220/13

ABS
V-ups
15, 15, 12, 12
Cable Crunch
65/20, 65/16, 6/14

CARDIO - 20 minutes total!! - this session was rough. After Quads and with my lower back already sore from Deads on Monday
10 min on Stairmill
10 min on Elliptical

[littlebear]

seems you had also did a good job on leg day and even cardio after your legs

[rantorcha]

Feb 10, 2011 1:01:58 GMT -5 littlebear said:

seems you had also did a good job on leg day and even cardio after your legs

It was ok, I guess.

[rantorcha]

I gave myself a little rest this morning and slept in a bit. I still had to wake up a tad earlier than normal to get my girls to school I did postpone cardio a tad. After getting a couple of small meals in me, I was off to the gym to do some off-day cardio. Since I am planning to train on Saturday, I figured I could use one off day from weights. But that didn't stop me from hitting the gym for some cardio.

I managed to squeeze out 40 minutes on the stairmill which had me dripping in sweat!

I almost forgot to mention that I added to my normal EFX supplement stack...I added TEST CHARGE to the arsenal!! The first time I took it, I was knee deep in contest prep. I am eager to see how well it works when I am trying to gain muscle! I started it on Saturday, so I guess we'll see how it goes.

[rantorcha]

Although today is Friday and normally the end of my training week, I've got one more day to go. As it turns out, if all goes according to plan, I am training with the Yoda of training and my great friend, Eric (Broser). I am very excited about this since I haven't seen my friend for a while...prob since November which was my last show. A session long over due!

As for today, I woke up and did 40 minutes on the Treadmill after a really good night sleep. Not a bad way to start the day. By the afternoon, and after watching a few training vids online, I was ready to go all out again at the gym

HAMS-Glutes
Stiff Leg Deads - haven't started Hams with these in a while. Very tough, but very effective!
275/15, 295/11, 315/8, 315/6..drop..225/4..135/6
Lying Leg Curl - held for 1-sec at the contraction
95/15+1, 110/8+1, 110/..drop..80/5...50/5
Abduction Machine
145/25, 145/25

mini-BACK
D-bar Pulldown
210/11, 210/8+1..drop..180/5..150/5
CG Pulldowns
225/8+1, 225/7..drop..195/4...165/4
Stiff-arm Pulldown (EZ bar)
140/11, 140/11..drop..110/6...80/7

TRICEPS
EZ bar Pushdown
170/7, 170/9, 170/8..drop..140/6
Seated Overhead EZ bar Ext
85/11, 85/9
Dip Machine
230/0, 230/10..drop..190/8
Free Motion Rev 1-arm Ext - 2 sets

CARDIO #2 - 5 min on Stairmill (my glutes couldn't take it!); 10 more minutes on the treadmill

Now I can eat, rest and look forward to training tomorrow!

[rantorcha]

As promised, yesterday afternoon I was able to train with Eric, which is always fun and intense. I wouldn't necessarily classify it as one of our most intense sessions, but intense nonetheless. We hit Chest and Biceps quite hard as you will see...

CHEST - Hybrid
"Rack" Smith Incl Press - 3 sets (Power)
Flat Press/Flye Machine - 3 sets (RR)
Incl Flye ss/ Dips - 2 sets each (Shock)

BICEPS - Hybrid
DB Curl - 2 sets (Pwr)
Lying Top Cable Curl - 3 sets (RR)
EZ Bar Rev Curls ss/ Hammer Curl - 1 sets each (Shock)

(only me...)
mini-DELTS
Side laterals ss/ Smith Upright Row - 3 sets each

We finished things off with a nice brisk treadmill session of 30 minutes.

The best thing about training with Eric is that no matter how long it's been that we haven't seen each other, we pick up right where we left off. We had a great time training, but I had even more fun catching up.

[rantorcha]

What a WILD day! Got up and did 35 mintues of cardio (that wasn't the wild part, though). After getting through my training session, I get a call that my oldest has a fever and I should go get her. Of course, when I go get her, she has no fever and seemingly is fine. Oh well. Life as a dad, I guess! LOL

I did manage to sqeak out one hell of a back workout!

BACK
WG Pulldowns (after 3 sets of pullups as warm up) - 3 sets
Corner T-bar Row - 3 sets
Hammer Row - 3 sets
One-arm DB Row - 2 sets
Stiff arm pulldown - 3 sets

TRAPS - DB Shrugs...3 sets

HAMS - they are still sore from the last time I smashed the shiz out of them, so I went about 3/4 intensity.
One-leg Lying LC - 3 sets
Ham-Hyperextensions - 2 sets of very high reps

CARDIO #2 - 15 minutes on Elliptical (50min total for the day)

[rantorcha]

What an incredibly whirlwind day!! Thank goodness it's almost over. Work, kids, etc., had me going ape-sh*t today! lol I'll keep today's entry to what I was able to do in the gym.

I started things off this morning (even though I was realy tired for some reason) with 40 minutes of cardio.

When I was finally able to hit the gym, I managed to have another outstanding workout...

DELTS
Smith Delt Press - 3 sets
Rev Pec Dec - 2 sets
Lean-away Side Laterals - 3 sets
Machine Press (facing pad) - 2 sets
Plate Front Raises - 2 sets

mini-CHEST
Incl Hammer Press - went super slow and squeezed at the top - 3 sets
Cable Crossover - 2 sets (really squeezing the contraction)

[rantorcha]

It's been a few days since I posted last. Unfortunately, I seemed to have gotten one of those infamous "bugs" hit my computer. After doing some clean up, I am back posting and hopefully all of my computer issues are behind me. Now, on to the good stuff.

I've still obviously been hard at work in the gym & outside of it! Namely hitting cardio with a fury like no other. lol I continue to try to offset my "bad weekend eating". Something's gotta give at some point, but I feel like I am holding steady & will get over the hump soon enough. After dieting for almost 2 years (for 4 shows), I need that mental break on the weekends fro being so stringent. That said, I do have goals for 2012, so it's almost time to put on my big-boy pants and get going hardcore.

So, after a fun-filled weekend of training on Saturday, hanging by the pool a couple of days, playing basketball with friends, squeezing in a couple of cardio sessions and chillin with my DVR (I love that thing!), it was back to work today.

45 minutes in the morning of interval cardio - for every 5 min of walking, I ran for 2.5 min.

Training in the afternoon...

BACK
Rev Grip BB Row - 3 heavy sets
Rack Deads - 3 heavy sets with 425 for no less than 8 reps (as many as 10)
CG Seated Row - 4 sets
WG Pulldowns - after the above, I had to swallow my ego a bit and use much lower weight than I am used to just to even feel my lats working.
One-arm Row - 3 long sets with 120s

mini-HAMS
Lying Leg Curl - just blasted my hams with set after set with limited breaks in between.

[tapo31]

Feb 21, 2011 14:37:09 GMT -5 rantorcha said:

It's been a few days since I posted last. Unfortunately, I seemed to have gotten one of those infamous "bugs" hit my computer. After doing some clean up, I am back posting and hopefully all of my computer issues are behind me. Now, on to the good stuff.

I've still obviously been hard at work in the gym & outside of it! Namely hitting cardio with a fury like no other. lol I continue to try to offset my "bad weekend eating". Something's gotta give at some point, but I feel like I am holding steady & will get over the hump soon enough. After dieting for almost 2 years (for 4 shows), I need that mental break on the weekends fro being so stringent. That said, I do have goals for 2012, so it's almost time to put on my big-boy pants and get going hardcore.

So, after a fun-filled weekend of training on Saturday, hanging by the pool a couple of days, playing basketball with friends, squeezing in a couple of cardio sessions and chillin with my DVR (I love that thing!), it was back to work today.

45 minutes in the morning of interval cardio - for every 5 min of walking, I ran for 2.5 min.

Training in the afternoon...

BACK
Rev Grip BB Row - 3 heavy sets
Rack Deads - 3 heavy sets with 425 for no less than 8 reps (as many as 10)
CG Seated Row - 4 sets
WG Pulldowns - after the above, I had to swallow my ego a bit and use much lower weight than I am used to just to even feel my lats working.
One-arm Row - 3 long sets with 120s

mini-HAMS
Lying Leg Curl - just blasted my hams with set after set with limited breaks in between.

Nicely done RA. And I totally feel you on the increased cardio to overcome some suboptimal eating.

On a side note, what are your thoughts on Golden so far?

[rantorcha]

Feb 21, 2011 19:39:53 GMT -5 tapo31 said:

Nicely done RA. And I totally feel you on the increased cardio to overcome some suboptimal eating.

On a side note, what are your thoughts on Golden so far?

Thanks, T.

As for Golden, I have to say, I don't know how it will translate in the win/loss column, but I sincerely LOVE this guy, his attitude, passion, etc. He has something we haven't had here since Jimmy Johnson. The guy is holding EVERYONE accountable and I LOVE IT!

[rantorcha]

After yesterday's Back-thrashing, I have to say, I woke up pretty darn sore! But probably not as sore as I will be tomorrow. lol

I usually do some interval walking/running, but for this morning's cardio, it was all fast-paced walking for 45 minutes.

DELTS
Seated DB Press - 4 sets
WG Upright Row - 3 sets
Rev Pec Dec - 3 sets
Side Laterals (Seated) - 3 sets (ss/ with Standing Side Laterals with the same weight on the last set)

mini-CHEST
Incl DB Press - used much lighter weights than normal; squeezed big time, and got 12-15 reps
Incl Hammer Press - several high intensity drop sets

CARDIO #2 - Stairmill for 20 minutes

A couple of funny points to be made after today's workout...
- don't pose between sets in the mirror unless you want to be stared at; and,
- are they staring at the muscle I've put on, my intensity, or my crazy-ass beard!

[rantorcha]

I woke up this mronig a little sleepy for some reason. Apparently, I drank way too much water before bed because I was hitting the bathroom all night. I guess that was part of the reason I was so tired. But, no rest for the tubby, as I woke up early to hit cardio...45 mintues on my treadmill alternating between walking and running. This morning was a little tough to start out, but I got going after a bit.

Today was my bi-weekly Quad-kicking workout. I seem to always go in with a mindset of taking it easy (sort of) and not blasting them so hard, but that never happens! Once I get going, I find myself saying "one more rep...ok, one more..ONE MORE!" And, of course, now I won't be able to walk until the weekend is over!

I did, however, try to incorporate more "shock" techniques than normal. I think that will be my battle plan for the foreseeable future, as my main goal with quads is to bring out as much detail as possible. Still heavy, but higher reps and much more squeezing.

QUADS
Leg Ext - pseudo warmup
70/20, 90/15, 110/15, 130/15

Hammer Squat Machine - facing pad
4plts each side/15
4plts each side/15
4plts+25 each side/12..drop..3plts/10..drop../12

Walking Lunges - really slow reps
100/22 steps, 100/24 steps

Leg Press - 1-1/2 reps (bring all the way down, 1/2 way up, back down, then all the way up) - really emphasize the top of my quads
5plts each side/10
5plts each side/10
5plts each side/10..drop..4plts each/6..drop..3plts/6

CALVES
Free Motion Calf Press
240/14, 240/12, 220/12..180/7..140/7
Seated Calf Press
105/17, 105/15

CARDIO #2 - 20 hard ass minutes on the Stairmill