Confessions of an Icelandic Viking (Hjortur's diary)

Alright, yesterday evening I did my Tuesday's back workout, I'm always coming closer and closer to catching up with myself. Here's the workout;

Deadlift - 1*130, 1*120, 120*fail!
Pull-ups - 8+6+7
Dumbbell Rows - 22,5*12+10+8
Chin-ups - 8+5+6 (I think.... didn't write it down immediately)

Deadlifts were a big let down... couple of weeks ago I did 130*4 for 2 sets, but this time around my grip just failed! Even with mixed grip I couldn't manage to keep my hand on the bar... they were slippery and sore. I'll hopefully buy gloves before I try this again. They didn't have a heavier dumbbell at the gym for rows, and I must admit, I was doing my pullups faster than usual xD because I was recording the progress... I won't do it again though, slow 2 up 2 down for me!

Then I did a leg workout this morning, I was disappointed that the benches had been screwed into the weight-bar... so I couldn't get into a proper squat posittion... looks like I'm going to have to record progress on that later, but anywho, here's the workout;

Warm-ups with lunges, as it doesn't matter how heavy the weights I hold are, they don't get me into the hypertrophy range. heaviest dumbbells in the gym are 22.5kgs, I used a pair of those.
Pistol-squats - bodyweight*9, 14*6+4
Leg extensions - 59*10+10+10
Stiff legged dead lifts - 40*12+12+12
Single-leg Calf Raises - 17,5*12+10+10

Got a sweet burn on all exercises, but still need a little balancing work on weighted pistol squats before they become truly efficient. Right now I've got sweet DOMS in my chest really happy with that! Also got some DOMS in deltoids and a little in my biceps and triceps. Don't feel lats that much, but then again I never really have. quads, hams and calves feel a nice burn, glutes need work. Looking forward to shoulders tonight! I don't go to the gym for that, I have a special trick up my sleeve =P.

I got a phonecall yesterday when I was going to do my cardio and it lasted for hours! I'm hopefully gonna make up for it by being extra productive today.

Edit: And sorry the introduction was so freaking long!!! I really don't know how that happened o.0

You could do a 5x5 program for chest yeah. I'm doing it atm to increase my bench press (only exercise that I do for chest) and it's going good, so yeah. However, I don't know if it's very good to do flyes in a low rep range.

I personally find db pullovers an awesome exercise, but if it hurts, you shoulden't be doing it. And if you routine feels good as it is right now, why would you change it?

http://www.askscooby.com/progress-diaries/ruben's-picture-diary/  This is mine hehe.

Something that could be a replacer of db pullover : Stiff-Arm Pulldown
First one I could find.

Not a problem.

Thanks, Orange ^_^ gloves are off! And I will look into buying chalk.

The grip wasn't a problem with mixed grip last time I did deadlifts though, I managed a 130*4 twice (with a lot of effort though) less than a month ago. I think it was an off day, this was not long after I did the Pull-up post. I'm gonna try to go lighter on my deadlifts tomorrow though, possibly do a 3*8, just to get the right feel of them again before I go back into the 5-rep rut.

Edit: I am new to deadlifts though, I kinda just discovered them less than 2 months ago and I haven't even done them every week.

Like db pullover, your triceps gets used, alot. Elseway you're arms would just bend.

Alright, I didn't do legs last week... I'm sorry!!! I showed up at the gym at 11, and it's supposed to be open from 10-12, but it was closed!! Sucks! I'm showing up at 10AM sharp next time. I should've done single-leg squats and SLDLs at home, but I didn't... my bad. Didn't do my arm workout either because we went on a family vacation early Friday. It was really fun btw! I'll be sure to add some pictures soon  . I lost my progress diary... so I don't have last weeks shoulder workout, but here's this weeks Chest, back and legs workouts by memory, so they might be off =/. Also note, for chest and lats I usually do the first portion of the workout at the gym and then go home because I like my pull-up bar and dumbbells better, plus I have push-up stands. But because I just got a gym buddy I did the whole thing at the gym. It hurt my stats a bit.

Chest Supersets
Bench Press (70kg) + Flyes (10kg) - 7+10, 6+10, 4+10
Inc. Bench (50kg) + Inc. Flyes (8kg) - 6+8, 6+8, 6+8
Hip Push-ups + Ultrawide Push-ups - 8+8, 8+8, 8+8
Debth Push-ups + Flyes (9kg) + DB Press (9kg) - Don't remember stats, but I was very worn out and remember I could only do 7-10 depth push-ups as opposed to 12*3 last week.

I wasn't gonna do the superset workout again since I did it last week, but this time around I took my cousin with me, I was kind of his personal trainer, I had to make him really work it! He's been dying in his pecs after! He runs a horse rental, and he told me he had to keep his pecs flexed the entire time he was horse riding because bouncing hurt so bad! A job well done I say  . It's nice to finally have a gym buddy and a spotter, it allowed me to push myself more on the bench press. The last set was very failed for some reason.. I think I can definitely do 7*3 at 70kg by now. I'm improving rapidly on my bench and moving closer and closer to my goal of a 100kg bench! 15kg to go. If I make 8 reps next week I'm going to try for a 90kg max the week after.

Back
Dead-lifts - 110kg*6+6 150kg*1 120kg*5
Pull-ups - 10+6+6 (disappointment)
Pull-downs - 66kg*8+7*6 (I think...)
Dumbbell Rows - 22,5kg*10+10+10 (or 12, don't remember)
Stiff-arm Pull-downs - Don't remember, at this point I was kind of just playing with it, feeling the movement, it's a nice exercise. I used 18kg again though.

I don't like the pull-up bar at the gym... they only have an assisted pull-up bar, but I needed it as my cousin can't do normal pull-ups. I just put a kettlebell on the assistance pad when it was my turn so I could do normal pull-ups, but the handles are so thick! And my grip was already weakened a lot by the dead-lifts. My cousin was AMAZING at the dead-lifts! He could use the same weight as me with no problems! And it was his first time dead-lifting. He's got lots of strength from holding sheep all the time. Anyways, there were lots of guys at the gym, so the dead-lifting became somewhat of a game. A friend of my cousin's dared him up to a 150kg dead-lift, and he got it high off the ground, but couldn't completely straighten his back out. Since the weight was on already, I had to give it a shot! I used straps though... my grip was giving out at 6 reps of 110, could've gone to 8*3 if it wasn't for that.. I still haven't found any place that sells chalk. Anyway, it was REALLY hard! And I'm sure I can't handle any more weight than 150kg, but with a lot of effort I got it up AND straightened my back! My lower back muscles are still feeling it.

Legs
Hack Squats - 90*8+6 (grip gave out) 105*4 (with straps)
Leg extensions - 66*8+8 and then my cousin just had to show off! (I'll explain below)
Leg Curl - 59*8+8+8 (really nice and slow)
Single-leg Calf-raises - bw+22,5kg*10+10+10

First time trying Hack Squats, and they're an AWESOME exercise! I just wish my grip was stronger.. I have to use straps on these, I can't use mixed grip. Squats aren't meant as a forearm exercise anyway! I was gonna try maxing out at 105, nice surprise there, I'm gonna try to max out at 115 next week. Alright, leg extensions! I usually do these nice and slow, and keep in a high rep-range so I definitely don't cheat. TBF I haven't been training my legs as much as I should have been.. but my cousin's quads are A LOT stronger than mine! We upped the weight little by little, since I was doing 4 exercises instead of 5 (skipped lunges) I wasn't worried about the number of sets. So in the end, he was using max weight! I think it was 120kg, and he lifted it 15 times! To keep him in a lower rep range I told him next time we're doing the exercise slowly, but MAN!!! He's got some serious leg strength! (I can be happy with my hack squats though, he stayed at 70kg for those). I was gonna do SLDL for hamstrings, but they didn't agree with his back, and they didn't agree with my grip, so we used the curl machine. flame responsibly xD.

I've been working A LOT this week, so I have to let something go, I'm going to do an arms exercise with my cousin at home later today, I've skipped doing arms way too long! What's with that anyway? I never skip shoulders, but always skip arms xD. Anyways, I'm letting shoulders alone this week since I haven't skipped them all month, and even longer than that.

Edit: I'm going to try making these things shorter... I just get really carried away writing  I can't imagine anyone would be bothered to read the whole thing...