David’s Fitness Journey

My Workout Regimen

I have been lifting weights for about 8 years now. Before I started lifting weights I was a very active child who was a competed Nationwide as a gymnast and also a competitive soccer player. I fell In love with weight lifting as I started to see results and saw how I could push myself to my limits. My goals from resistance training always change from getting bigger, getting stronger, or being more athletic. My goal right now is to become bigger as I just finished soccer season and lost lots of muscle, so I am focusing to get this muscle back.

I am currently lifting 5 days a week and hitting a new major muscle every day. This plan works best for me because it gives me lots of time to rest each major muscle group. My plan includes lots of super sets to increase the intensity and what a super set is when you do two sperate exercises in one set without resting in between them. On Mondays I do a chest workout and finish it with an intense tricep workout. My back workout is performed on Tuesday and I follow it up with a bicep workout. My leg day is my most intense day because growing my legs is my major goal. I also perform my work out that targets abdominals on this day. On Thursday I hit shoulders and also will do light cardio just to keep my cardiovascular system strong. Friday is an intense arm day where I finish with the same abdominal workout as Wednesday.

Monday: Chest/Tricep Day
Flat Bench Press: 3 Sets of 8 Reps
Dumbell Press & Dumbbell Fly: 4 Sets of 10 & 12 Reps
Fly Machine: 3 Sets of 12 Reps
Single Arm Dumbell Incline Press: 3 Sets of 10 Reps
Medicine Ball Push-Ups & Laying Medicene Ball Throws: 5 Sets of 15
Cable Pull Down & Single Arm Pull Down: 3 Sets of 12 & 15
Overhead Dumbbell Press: 3 Sets of 10
Dips: 100 Reps in as many sets as it takes.
Laying Dumbell Extension: 3 Sets of 12

Tuesday: Back/Bicep Day
Barbell Row & Pull-Up: 3 Sets of 12 Reps
Single Arm Row & Barbell Curl: 3 Sets of 8 & 12
Shoulder Shrugs & W’s: 4 Sets of 12 Reps
Dumbbell Rows: 3 Sets of 12 Reps
Supermans: 5 Sets of 15 Reps
Hammer Curls: 3 Sets of 12 Reps
Concentration Curls: 3 Sets of 8 Reps

Wendesday: Legs & Abs
Squat & Calf Raise: 3 Sets of 12 & 15 Reps
Dumbbell RDL: 4 Sets of 10 Reps
Weighted Step Up & Goblet Squat: 3 Sets of 8 & 12 Reps
Hamstring Curl: 4 Sets of 12 Reps
Leg Extension: 3 Sets of 15 Reps (Light Weight)
Weighted Crunch: 5 Sets of 12 Reps
Plank: 3 Sets of 1 Minutes
Hanging Toe Touch: 3 Sets of 15 Reps
Plate Toe Touches: 3 Sets of 10 Reps

Thursday: Shoulders
Military Press & Dumbbell Side Raise: 3 Sets of 8 & 12 Reps
Dumbbell Front Raise & W’s: 3 Sets of 12 & 15 Reps
Single Arm Dumbbell Shoulder Press: 3 Sets of 10 Reps
Cable Side Raise: 3 Sets of 12 Reps
Face Pull: 3 Sets of 15 Reps

Friday: Arms & Abdominals
Cable Pull Down & Single Arm Pull Down: 3 Sets of 12 & 15
Overhead Dumbbell Press: 3 Sets of 10
Dips: 100 Reps in as many sets as it takes.
Laying Dumbell Extension: 3 Sets of 12
E-Z Bar Curl: 3 Sets of 12 Reps
Hammer Curls: 3 Sets of 12 Reps
Concentration Curls: 3 Sets of 8 Reps
Weighted Crunch: 5 Sets of 12 Reps
Plank: 3 Sets of 1 Minutes
Hanging Toe Touch: 3 Sets of 15 Reps
Plate Toe Touches: 3 Sets of 10 Reps

Ketogenic Diet & Athletic Performance

As a college athlete I understand how much stress we put on our bodies. From spending hours in the weight room taxing our muscles to running miles and miles on end during games. I did extensive research on ways to maximize athletic performance and speed up recovery from all that stress we put ourselves through. A diet that is very popular is today’s society but also controversial is the ketogenic diet. This diet also comes with a lot of athletic benefits.

An athlete needs a diet that is rich in protein because protein is what repairs our muscles. With the ketogenic diet you are exceeding the recommended fat and protein intake and eating fewer carbohydrates. The exact ratio of a ketogenic diet is 55% Fat, 35% Protein and 10% carbohydrates. What this ratio does is put our body in a state of ketosis. Ketosis is when your body does not have enough glucose to use for fuel, which causes your body to burn fat as the main source of energy. A lot of people say this is very dangerous but others say it is healthy because you are not in a dangerous state of ketosis.

I read through many articles that researched on athletes partaking in ketogenic diets. My conclusion was that the benefits outweighed the cons greatly. Athletes that use a ketogenic diet have higher iron levels and also muscular strength increased. There is also a link between maintaining a healthy weight as well as increasing ones immune system. With all of these findings I learned that the ketogenic diet is an effective diet for not only athletes but anyone that wants to get into shape. As long as it is done as a short-term diet there are almost no downsides.

Sleep

Sleep is one of the most important things we as human beings do and spend on average about 25 years of our whole lives sleeping. Sleep helps us live and function as humans but also benefits us in exercise and athletic peformance. It affects everything from how we can recover from training to how sharp our reaction times are. A lot of people have trouble getting the recommended amount of sleep each night but there are many different ways to improve sleep and get more sleep each night.

I have always been told since I can remember how important it is to get 8 hours of sleep to become a strong healthy man. To this day I still always aim to get at least 8 hours a night. Lack of sleep comes with many complications such as decreased cognitive function, slower recovery, and a higher risk of becoming injured.

Ways to increase your quality include getting yourself to go to bed at a good time every night, avoid phones, laptops, and television right before bed, avoid caffeine and take a supplement such as melatonin.

Creatine

Creatine is one supplement I will always stand by and tell everyone I take and recommend people to take. If you are serious about fitness and want to improve your workouts, then creatine will do nothing but help you. There are a lot of people that say creatine is dangerous for you but after lots of research and learning about it from professors, I can say that this is not true.

Whether you supplement creatine or not, you will already find it in the cells of your muscles. I can be found in foods such as red meat and fish. Without getting too much into the science behind it, creatine gives you that energy you need during that heavy one-rep max to get it up or to get those last 2 reps in for your bicep curls. With this extra energy, your workouts will be more intense and you will be able to workout more effectively.

Ever since I started taking creatine I have seen an increase in my size and strength. I do not say this is only because I take creatine because I also workout very hard. But I am able to workout hard because I take creatine. It helps me get that one last rep in or lockout that max set on bench press. I recommend anyone to try creatine for at least 3 weeks but, before taking it look up the side effects and maybe talk to a physician and make sure it is right for you.

Resources

https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/what-is-creatine#muscle-gain

Davenne, D. (2009). Sleep of athletes – problems and possible solutions. Biological RhythmResearch, 40(1), 45–52.

Bala, S. S., Gayathri, R., & Priya, V. V. (2018). Evaluation of effects of ketogenicdiet among gym trainers and users. Drug Invention Today,

Iacovides, S., & Meiring, R. M. (2018). The effect of a ketogenic diet versus ahigh carbohydrate, low-fat diet on sleep, cognition, thyroid function, and cardiovascular health independent of weight loss: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.