1st Blast Week After Cruise

Crippling soreness. And I love it.   Still need to train legs tomorrow but managed to finally get to the Chiro this week after almost 4 weeks. I was getting anxious as I could feel my back getting tighter and was reminded that this is exactly how I have injured myself in the past. I just had so much crap to get done that there wasn't enough time to get there. My Chiro being almost 70 miles round trip doesn't help, either. Price I pay for living in the mountains as opposed to the big city, I guess.   I get tired of detailing the lameness of my workouts because on paper they are incredibly boring whether I am progressing well or not. I have decided to still lay out my workouts but only on occasion. I would prefer to discuss ideology and what is going on in my head for planning and things of that nature. Far less boring ... I think.   One of my credos for this off season is to do what I haven't always done so I figured I would give some examples for each muscle group that I am focusing on this off season:   Abs - less isolated work for just the abdominal wall and more of what I call "hinge work" like doing reverse crunches where I lie flat on a bench and from a position with my legs straight, I pull my knees to my chest. I am also doing assisted decline situps, as well. I plan to show these exercises (not just the ab exercises) in videos for future log entries. I am also doing a lot of intercoastal and serratus work this year to thicken this area up. When I did this in 09 it helped me quite a bit to give my midsection a better look.   Chest - more dumbbell flye work and higher reps instead of the typical low rep (6 to 8 reps) pressing that hasn't helped my chest in more than a few years.   Back - I am focusing more on different grips than just different exercises. However, dumbbell pullovers are going to be a mainstay in my back protocol this off season because I believe they help considerably for width. I am also doing a lot of underhand grip rowing and latt pulling/chins. This grip I have not used much in the past.   Delts - PBN and this exercise is progressing well for me and already adding to my shoulder development. I am also playing with some angles for dumbbell upright rows and these are going to make a big difference, as well. I will get a video of these up soon, too.   Tris and Bis - my arms aren't very weak, relative to everything else but I am still looking for change so I am using a lot of neutral grips for different angles of dumbbell extensions. I have a video to show form. These started out very, very weak and are progressing well. For biceps I am focussing more on "peak" type exercises so instead of dumbbell curls standing I do them facing into an incline bench and I am also using narrow, undergrip latt pulls to the chin as a finisher. Awesome movement to finish with.   [youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sb_yv3eRpwo]   Traps - I haven't directly trained traps in years and I have gone back to doing shrugs.   Calves - I have good calves these days so no special changes are being used for calves.   Quads and hams - This is a huge challenge because as great as my back feels, I still have to be careful and smart. I have gone back to free squatting but ... I am not sure that is a great idea. It feels ok but this is a really vulnerable position for my lower back. I am unsure as to whether I will keep these or not. Hacks are a mainstay that hammer my quads and don't bother my back. Leg presses are good as long as I am not too deep. My focus on legs is not as much poundage but digging deep into the muscle and working the hell out of it. I am not confident that my back can handle heavy leg training so I find other ways to keep intensity high and TUT high. I am also doing adductor and abductor work to help fill out my legs from the front and back by providing more width.   I had my blood work done on Wednesday so I am hoping to get those results on Monday and then I plan to kill this off season.... as much as a 45-year-old father of four can, anyway.