Evil’s Workout Plan – August 2014
Doing maintenance workouts for two weeks and still having to handle the problems from last month’s plan gave me a lot to ponder!
Up And Away!
Now isn’t this plan two weeks late? Again? Yes, that’s what happens when you are once more on the road (or in the air, for that matter) to seek out new ways of furthering mankind’s collective knowledge and have to make do with your basic maintenance plan.
When back home I continue the regular plan until I’ve filled up all four columns on the sheet of paper where I leave my progress for the amazement of posteriority. Which is not, I stress, a nicer way of saying that no one can ever be assed bothered to look at it.
This plan by and large reflects the troubles from last month and what happens when you get out of your routine.
Evil’s Current Workout Plan (August 2014)
| Day | Body Part | Exercise | Sets | Repetitions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monday | ||||
| Chest, Triceps, Abs | ||||
| Weighted Wide Push-Ups | 3 | 6 – 12 (5 – 8) | ||
| Dumbbell Pullovers | 3 | 6 – 12 | ||
| Incline Flyes | 3 | 6 – 12 | ||
| Close-Grip Bench Presses | 3 | 6 – 12 | ||
| Lying Triceps Extensions | 3 | 6 – 12 | ||
| Triceps Kickbacks | 3 | 6 – 12 | ||
| Crunches | 3 | 6 – 12 | ||
| Tuesday | Cardio, 60 minutes | |||
| Wednesday | ||||
| Back, Biceps, Abs | ||||
| Weighted Pull-Ups | 3 | 6 – 12 | ||
| Barbell Rows | 3 | 6 – 12 | ||
| Barbell Pullovers | 3 | 6 – 12 (5 – 8) | ||
| Barbell Curls | 3 | 6 – 12 | ||
| Concentration Curls | 3 | 6 – 12 | ||
| Chin-ups | 3 | To failure | ||
| Lying Leg Raises | 3 | 6 – 12 | ||
| Thursday | Cardio, 60 minutes | |||
| Friday | ||||
| Shoulders, Legs, Abs | ||||
| Dumbbell Shoulder Presses | 3 | 6 – 12 | ||
| Rear Delt Rows | 3 | 6 – 12 | ||
| Lying Side Raises | 3 | 6 – 12 | ||
| Hack Squats | 3 | 6 – 12 | ||
| Good Mornings | 3 | 6 – 12 | ||
| Crunches | 3 | 6 – 12 | ||
| Saturday | Rest | |||
| Sunday | Rest | |||
ExRx links still go to exercises I was too lazy to do a video on yet.
Mondays Explained
As I said in the July plan: is there really that big a difference between dumbbell pullovers and barbell pullovers? Does one really train more chest and the other more lats?
I’m still not sure, but I can tell that on Wednesdays my chest knows that my lats were up to something. The progress on barbell pullovers isn’t what it used to be.
The rest of Monday works as it should, so nothing much more to see here. Move along.
Wednesdays Explained
Those pesky pull-ups. For years and years they worked like a well-oiled tank. Lumbering along, but reliably mowing down anything on their slow road to progress. Now they stalled. I think this calls for the occasional drop set or one or the other low rep set.
About those barbell pullovers: who was I kidding? The last set has turned abysmal. This could be due to me being off the regular schedule for two weeks, but my suspicions glance at Monday’s dumbbell pullovers. Like with the pull-ups I’ll keep them for now but change the way I do them.
The dumbbell curls can say good-bye again in exchange for barbell curls, because my left brachioradialis called and let it be known that enough is enough. That’s why I haven’t done hammer curls for years. With those my forearms turn into incendiary devices in record time.
Fridays Explained
The military presses still don’t work as they should, which like above may be due to me being off the regular schedule for two weeks, but with them I didn’t feel like taking chances. Instead I replaced them with dumbbell shoulder presses, which are another great front delt compound.
9 Comments
Good know there is a site for us older folks that are having a hard time getting in shape
Remember: you are never too old! 🙂
Now everyone must wonder: what was EC doing on the road? racing rocketships? Biergarten adventure? Big time grown up business? building a moon base? The world may never know.
Ah, just the usual: personally checking my accounts on the Bahamas, getting my 747 remodeled and doing some repairs on my secret base beneath an active volcano.
6 sets a week for the largest muscle group the human body has.
I do 6 sets/wk for lower body, too. 3 of elevated front SS, and 3 of unilateral hip thrusts. Lower 1 and lower 2. John, who comments here sometimes, calls them my “no workout lower body workouts”. No issues, but then my lower body was always disproportionally big.
You are right, that’s not many, but all I can do. More than that, and I get severe knee problems.
Sounds like you are still having problems with forearm and shoulder strain. Not to beat a dead horse, but I think you could cut back on some things, while adding others.
a) You are trying to hit your back hard, since you only do it once a week. So you decided to do chin-ups AND pullups. However, what probably happens is that you do a few sets of chin-ups half-heartedly because you know, in the back of your mind, that you have to do pullups later. Or, on the other extreme, you are killing yourself. Shoulders and forearms get irritated, but your back doesn’t necessarily the full benefit. Why not do pullups one week, and then chin-ups the next week? Or think about doing back twice a week (4 sets of back twice a week might be better than 12 sets of back once a week).
b) Barbell rows can be problematic. Since the body must fight to maintain stability, supporting muscles can give out before back is fully exercised. You might want to try bench-supported one-arm rows or something else which you find helps shoulders/forearms.
c) Dumbbell pullovers can have low rewards for many people. Notice where the tension comes and goes in the movement, and how the risks are increased at the times when you have the least control. Ask yourself whether it’s worth it. I prefer bands/cables for pullovers (continuous tension, safety, etc.).
d) You could cut your overhead presses down to 1 or 2 sets. Or substitute an exercise that is more friendly to the shoulder girdle. You could also think about dropping them altogether, since it’s arguable that they get enough work on Monday.
e) If you are committed to working out three days a week, and you’re having troubles with your knees, how about something like the following?
Monday – Back/Biceps (heavy), Chest/Shoulders/Triceps (light), Assistance exercises as desired,
Wednesday – Legs, Assistance exercises
Friday – Back/Biceps (light), Chest/Shoulders/Triceps (heavy), Assistance exercises
The reason I suggest this is because it seems you are hitting shoulders three times a week, but back is only getting hit once (although it does get hit on Friday with rear delt rows).
Back is arguably something that could be hit more than once a week (especially for natural bodybuilders). Or even if you like hitting it once a week, cut down the sets and just give more effort (2-3 hard sets is better than 9 mediocre sets).
Everybody’s different, but many people find their chest does better with a few sets twice a week instead of hammering them once a week. So you could do 30-60 reps of your favorite chest exercise on Monday, then 30-60 reps of another exercise on Friday. This would still give 60-120 reps. I can’t guarantee this is necessarily better for chest growth, but it would almost definitely mean you would be less likely to irritate shoulders, which are now getting involved 3 times a week.
Good luck.
Sorry for the belated answer and thank you for these detailed recommendations!! You gave me some food for thought!