A touch of Ab's

Today was a fairly good easy day at the gym today. The weather out here in Florida was extremely hot today so everyone was at the beach today. That meant the gym was empty today and when I got there it was! Today's agenda is ab's. I started of with stretching the body for about 5 mins to loose up my joints.

First exercise I jumped into was Pull-Ups I performed 2 sets of 20 pull ups to get the blood flowing.

I then did Leg Raises which target the lower ab's. I did 3 sets of 20 reps.(I did leg raises on the cable rows bench) 

                                                  (Cable Row Bench I used to do leg raises)

Then I performed Ab Crunches on the Ab Crunches Bench. I did 3 sets of 30 reps with 10lbs.

                                             (Ab Crunch Bench or Machine) I forget the name

After this exercise I went back and did another set of Pull-ups. Along with leg raises on the pull-up bar.

 

NOTE: Remember to contract or flex those ab's while your at the peak of the movement in that exercise you performing. Remember to breathe!

 I then moved on to Leg Raises again on the leg raise machine. I did 3 sets of 20 reps. So I did 20,20,20.

                                                               (Leg Raises Machine)

After all this I did one final set of pull-ups then did 60 push-ups and then I was done for the day.

I went home made a protein shake and then made a chicken breast wrapped with a tortilla and ate a can on tuna so far.

Some picture's after the workout.

I was going to do cardio today but I'm still in my bulking stage so I really don't hit cardio until I start my cutting stage and carb depletion.

Building Mountains Out Of My Shoulders!

Today was a pretty good shoulder day for me. I woke up and as usual  I had my morning protein shake along with oatmeal and a banana (I forgot to add the banana slices into my shake so I just ate one). Then after an hour or so I took my pre-work out drink to get me a little more pumped at the gym today. Yesterday's leg day got me really tired and I woke up with sore legs.


As I got to the gym I went and filled up my water bottle (STAY HYDRATED!!). I drink at least a gallon of water in the gym. Then I proceeded to stretching especially during shoulder day. I've messed up my right shoulder and stretched a ligament a little to much and now I gotta live with it from what my physical therapist told me. So to avoid injury please stretch and warm up. So I stretched for 5 mins and proceeded to do rotator cuff warm up exercises with a 5lbs dumbbell. I usually do 2 sets of 15 reps.


After warming up I go straight to pumping the weights.


My first workout is Front Delt Raises. I do 3 sets of 12,10,8 reps. (Dumbbells)


Second exercise is Side Delt Raises. As above I do 3 sets of 12,10,8 reps.(Dumbbells)


Third I go to the Side Shoulder Raises Machine. I perform 4 sets of 15,12,10,8.


Fourth I work on traps and let my delts rest alittle. I do Dumbbell Shrugs. 3 sets of 15,12,12 


After that I go and do Shrugs with the smith machine. 3 sets of 15,12,10


Then back to delts. Bent-over delt raises with the cable machine.(Targets the rear delts). I do 3 sets of 12,10,8


For my final shoulder workout I did Military presses with dumbbells. I did 3 sets of 12,12,10


After all this I stretched a little more then went to abs. 


I used the ab crunch machine or bench (I forgot the name) and I did 3 sets of 30 crunches with 15lbs.(Make sure you breathe and contract or flex your abs while doing this.)


In all I had a pretty good workout tomorrow when I wake up I will feel it in my shoulders and traps. Make sure to also contract that muscle you are working on to hit those muscle fibers. Stay hydrated and stretch. (Sorry there is no pictures I'm still working on it. Just type in the exercise in google and it will generate pictures of how the exercise or machine looks like).

Legs Day!!!! My energy is drained.

Today I worked on legs which I train the hardest out of my entire body and also requires a lot of energy. I woke up today and as always I make a protein shake with 2 scoops and 2 tablespoons of peanut butter and a couple of slices of bananas. I also took my tablets which is Fish oil and Vitamin C. I waited 2 hours and then made some oatmeal with another spoon of peanut butter mixed in to get my carbs and protein before I went to the gym since legs in my opinion is really demanding and require a lot of energy. As soon I got to the gym I stretched my entire body for about 5 mins and loosened my joints to prevent injury. Sorry in advance if the pics came out alittle small or blurry I'm just showing you what the machines look like.

My first exercise is Leg Extension I perform 4 sets of 15,15,12,10 reps

                                                              (LEG EXTENSION)
After this I do Leg Curls and perform the same amount of sets as leg extensions 4 sets of 15,15,12,10
Sorry I didn't get to take a picture of this machine because someone was already waiting to use the machine so I didn't want to bother but next time I'll have a pic.

Leg extensions and Leg curls are little warm up sets for the bigger and more demanding exercises. I use these two machines to warm up my hamstrings and quads as well as my knees.After I'm done with these two exercises I stretch for about 2 mins then move on.

My next exercise is Legs Presses. I perform 4 sets of 20,15,15,10

                                                                (LEG PRESSES)

Usually after this exercise my energy is gone. I do heavy weight on this machine but heavy enough for me to handle. Never do weights that your body cant handle or can't atleast perform 8 reps. Remember form is more important than weight.

After leg presses I go on to squats and execute 4 sets of 15,15,10,8 (SORRY NO PICTURE EITHER)
Usually after this exercise I take 2 minutes to rest due to it being really energy draining.Then I stretch alittle more because by this time my legs are sore and begin to tense up alittle.

After I stretch I go on to standing calf raises and perform 4 sets of 15,15,15,12

                                                                (STANDING LEG RAISES)

After this I go straight to lying leg curls and do 3 sets of 12,10,10

                                                            (LYING LEG CURLS)

Once I'm done with this exercise I stretch one final time and usually add alittle ab's workout in but today I went alittle heavy since I added more weight this week so I will make ab's up tomorrow after my shoulder's training. I came home and made a protein shake with banana slices to aid with recovery. Then while I made my shake I made two pieces of chicken breast. For dinner I am not sure yet.

But in all this is the workout I had today. Legs are a tough part to work on so make sure you have enough carbs to burn before working out and make sure you stretch,stretch,stretch!!! and as always rest between each set and workout and stay hydrated!!! If you have any questions just leave a comment and I'll be happy to help out.

                                                 

Arm's are swole after today!

I woke up today drank a cup of water along with one fish oil tablet and Vitamin C tablet. I made a protein shake mixed in with 2 scoops of peanut butter and couple of slices of bananas. The protein contains 24g of protein per scoop so I used two scoops. I mixed all this with milk because I’m bulking up (gaining weight). When I’m cutting up I will use water. After that I went off to the gym.

Today I worked on my arms (Biceps and Triceps). I started out with a shoulder warm up due to my shoulder injury. Make sure to always warm up and stretch before executing any exercise. Warming up will loosen the joints and also prevent injury. After my shoulder warm up I went straight to Triceps first since I need a lot more work on tri’s then bi’s. My first exercise was Skull Crushers. I performed 4 sets of reps of 15,12,10,8. The first set(15reps) is my warm up set so I won’t go heavy. After skull crushers I went and performed Triceps pull downs 3 sets containing 12,10,8 reps. Once I finished this exercise I went on to tricep dumbbell kick backs which I used a 30lbs dumbbell and did 3 sets of 12,10,8 reps. After this I went on to tricep overhead dumbbell extensions and I used 85lbs,90lbs,95lbs dumbbell to do 3 sets of 15,12,12. This is my tricep workout for today then I moved on to biceps.

NOTE: In between every set I rest for no more than 1 min. You have to let your body recover for a bit before doing another set unless you are supersetting.

For biceps I did bicep curls sitting down using dumbbells 45lbs,50lbs,55lbs doing 4 sets of 15,12,10,10. After curls I used the EZ bar to perform more curls and did  3 sets of 12,10,8. Using the EZ bar rather then a straight bar in my opinion works alot better. I feel my biceps targeted  a lot harder in the muscle fibers rather than using a straight bar. Then I went on to hammer curls which I just did one set with a 35lbs dumbbell just to get the blood rushing alittle more. After that I was done for the day and went home and immediately made another protein shake to help my muscle’s out with recovery since the muscle is being broken down during training you need a supplement to help feed the muscles immediately so fast acting carbs will also help in this process. Tomorrow is leg day!

NOTE: Make sure with every exercise you perform you SQUEEZE!!!! the muscle your working on. This will help in targeting the muscle deep in the fibers which aid in muscle growth. Make sure you use proper form. You can lift all the weight in the world but poor form can cause injury and will not help you in growing. Anyways I’ll try to make my next post alittle more organized. This was my first post.

What's Up Everyone!

My name is Edwin Soto and this is my first fitness blog. I’m mainly going to blog about the workout’s I’m going to perform that day and if I have time I will add some of the meals I prepare and eat. Fitness has turned into a lifestyle and I want to compete in men’s physique competition. I got a long road ahead of me. Anyways I just want to thank everyone who come’s by and visits my blog just leave a comment if you have any questions.