Max McKinley Daily Workout

[Max McKinley]

Well, okay. This is the first of my posts on the daily workout portion of the forum. Over the past month, I have kick-started my regimen with the pyramid push up program that John outlined in one of his daily transformation emails. The results have been nothing short of amazing. I have worked up to 200 Atlas push ups in the morning and 200 Atlas III push ups at night. Technique has slipped however, as I believe I have tweaked my left shoulder. I am right-dominant so this would make sense. Recently, I received the Power T's. I am following the instructions and performing the isometric holds and getting used to the balance and stabilizing technique.

I have hesitated posting here as I realize the accountability that this brings. But what the heck. This is good to learn from the others and pick up varying ideas that can be beneficial.

[Max McKinley]

I wasn't really planning on doing anything in the way of a workout today, but I managed to do my pyramid Atlas pushups spread out over an hour (200 total). This isn't great in terms of amount of time between sets, but is better than nothing.

With Omad0n as my example, I managed to do some Power T knee pushups as well - 5 sets of 1. I also did a couple of isometric hold sets with the T's. The shaking is very pronounced, but my competitiveness is greater than the difficulty of the T's. They are indeed addictive.

Diet was thrown out the window this week. Must get it together though or I'll be back in my 36" jeans instead of the 34" I just got back into after several years. My goal is to get back to a 32" waist. I am 6'!" but believe I can accomplish this goal if I maintain discipline and eat in moderation. I have not been on a scale and probably won't until I achieve the goal of getting my measurements more in line.

[farrout]

Hey Max,

You are doing great & moving forward.

Remember not to be too hard on yourself.

Take care & all the very best,
Steve

[Max McKinley]

Thank you for the encouragement Steve. That means a lot.

Day after Christmas - Did not do any exercise. Rested, had fun with the kids. Will engage on Saturday and resume the Atlas and Power T's work I have begun.

[Max McKinley]

It has been a couple of days since my last post. Today, I reengaged half of my pushup workout, followed by my continued effort to learn and eventually master the Power T's. As I go through the week, I will institute the other half of the pushup workout - Atlas III pushups. After the beginning of the year, I will follow Greg Newton's example and begin rounding out the workout by adding ab work.

Today:
Atlas pushups - 200 pyramid style - 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 20, 18, 16, 14, 12
Power T's - 2 sets of isometric holds at the halfway point 15-30 seconds
Power T's - 1 set knee pushups - 5 reps, 1 set knee pushups - 3 reps

[Max McKinley]

Whew! Today, I added back in the Atlas III pushups. Feels good to set challenging but attainable goals ... and then attain them. Performed the Atlas pushups in the am and the Atlas III in the pm. Afterward, worked on the Power T's.

Today's results:

Atlas pushups - 200 pyramid style - 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 20, 18, 16, 14, 12
Atlas III pushups - 200 pyramid style - 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 20, 18, 16, 14, 12
Power T's - 2 sets knee pushups - 5 reps, 1 set knee pushups - 3 reps

Wow ... I just did 404 Atlas pushups and 13 knee pushups on the Power T's ... I can live with that. :)

[Max McKinley]

For the first day of the new year, I have determined that until I figure out how to do Atlas III pushups correctly without stressing my left shoulder, I am going to have to find a different routine. I believe I will begin with the Furey pushups tomorrow and follow up with Atlas pushups, then the T's.

Today's results:

Atlas pushups - 200 pyramid style - 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 20, 18, 16, 14, 12
Atlas III pushups - 200 pyramid style - 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 20, 18, 16, 14, 12
No Power T's tonight as the shoulder just hurt too much.

[Max McKinley]

Sunday, I just did Atlas pushups pyramid as before except I did the first six sets in the morning and the last six at night. I am doing some DVR like movements for my left shoulder. I lay on my back and keep my left arm flat on the floor as I make an arcing motion (like a snow angel) to above my head. I found a sticking point where the pain became pronounced at about the 1 o'clock position.

Atlas pushups - 200 pyramid style - 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 20, 18, 16, 14, 12

[Max McKinley]

Changed my mind about the Furey pusups - decided to go with the standard Liederman pusup today. Today, I returned to the Power T's.

Atlas pushups - 200 pyramid style - 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 20, 18, 16, 14, 12
Liederman pushups - 200 pyramid style - 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 20, 18, 16, 14, 12
Power T's - 1 set 5 knee, 4 sets of 1 rep each full push ups, 1 set 2 reps full pushups - felt strong

In between sets of pushups, I lie flat on my back and move my left arm in an arc from at my side to over my head. The pain was at about the 1 o'clock position. As I continued with this, the shoulder loosened some. I need to experiment with DVRs for the shoulders and see if I can get some flexibility back in that tendon.

[Max McKinley]

Not feeling so strong today, but did manage my basic pushups.

Atlas pushups - 200 pyramid style - 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 20, 18, 16, 14, 12
Liederman pushups - 200 pyramid style - 12, 14, 16, 18, 20, 22, 20, 18, 16, 14, 12
Power T's - 1 set of 2 reps each full push ups, 2 set 1 reps full pushups

[Max McKinley]

Thursday
Thursday (1/8/08), the shoulder is hurting. Did shoulder roll DVR and worked on Power T's

3 sets 10 shoulder rolls DVR with moderate tension
3 sets 8 side raise VRT (simulating shoulder machine) heavy tension
Power T's on knees:
1X3
3X5
1X1 full Power T pushup

Experimenting with whatever I can to help the tendon issues in left shoulder. Simply was unable to perform normal push ups today.

[Max McKinley]

Tonight, I did DVRs with Power T's

Deltoid Shoulder Roll (Heavy Tension)
3 X 8
Deltoid Raise ( Heavy Tension)
3 X 8
Power T's from knees
1 X 10
1 X 8
2 X 5

Working on strengthening the tendons in my shoulder - specifically my left shoulder. The problem is not in the muscle development as there has been great improvement. The issue seems to be the underdevelopment of the tendons in my left side. Will continue this regimen tomorrow. I will try tiger stretch pushups if I feel strong enough.

[Max McKinley]

Power T's only tonite on knees.

1 X 10
2 X 5
2 X 3

Becoming more steady and comfortable with the T's. These definitely require a complete mind / muscle link.

[Max McKinley]

Yesterday (1/13/08), I went to my osteopathic doctor for the pain in my left shoulder. Thankfully, there is not a rotator cuff problem, but rather inflamation caused by an obscure muscle in the rear deltoid region. After some "adjustments" I felt like a new man. There is soreness due to an extended period of inflammation, but I will be able to resume my workouts within a day or two.

[Greg Newton]

Careful on that shoulder Max. I have you tried either the Classic Isometrics contractions or the Isometric Powerflexes from IPR as a whole workout? But regardless, don't do anything to push that shoulder yet. Work around it until you feel 100%.

Your pal,

Greg Newton

[Max McKinley]

Thank you Greg. I have not yet tried CICs or powerflexes with the shoulder yet. As the Dr. predicted, two days after seeing him the soreness in my shoulder has subsided. This evening, I will do light to moderate DVR work for the shoulder and see how I feel tomorrow. I am holding off on my push ups until I feel comfortable with the flexibility in that left shoulder. When I do resume the push up routine I will basically start over slow and deliberate.

[Max McKinley]

Since the doctor made some adjustments this last week, I have basically been inactive. Tonight, I carefully, with very strict form, performed my Atlas push ups. I did the pyramid routine and split it over the day. I was still able to perform a total of 200.

I will begin to implement my full routine over the week.

[Max McKinley]

Wow. The minor adjustments in technique make a world of difference. I pulled the arms in tighter and the hand placement is lower in the relation to the torso - lower pecs. I am performing very strict and slow reps for the Atlas pushups. The shoulder is responding quite well. Now the soreness is a "good" sore in the muscle, not the tendons.

I will edit this later after completing my evening workout, but as of this morning, I completed my pyramid routine of 200 Atlas push ups. I believe I am going to pursue the goal of higher volume sets after this week.

Well shoot. Things did not go the way I planned tonight. That's okay. I will run at this tomorrow. I need to do more than just push ups but hey, I got 200 today. That's not a bad day.

[Max McKinley]

Been a long while since last posting. This shoulder thing is really ticking me off. At this point, I have suspended all pushups and now just do light to medium DVRs and ISOs.