Hit Em Hard's Log

Hey this is my first time keeping a log and have been reading this site for a year or so now. I train for strength with a training style that resembles powerlifting though I do not intend to compete. ok so here are my stats

Height: 5ft 8
Age: 18 years
Weight: around 74kg ( heighest weight I have been is 80kg)

Close grip bench press: 95kg
Squat: 165kg
deadlift: 170kg (poor grip strength)
Standing barbell press: 60kg
db rows: 45kgx5

I have been training seriously for about 12 months now and I am starting to realise what works for me. I hope to one day compete in MMA but at the moment cannot get to the club that I would like to train at.

I have 5 and a half years years kickboxing experience(from 7 and a half until 13 years old) , reaching brown belt ( two away from black belt) and had a record of 2 wins 2 losses( the two losses came at the age of 8 and i did not compete again until I was 12 the last win by K.O in the first round)the plan for the moment is to build strength and gain some weight before cutting down to fight.

I have no illusions of fighting as a pro or at a weight higher than welter weight more likely to fight at light weight.

here is a brief look at my training.

mondays: squats(usualy olympic) followed by hamstrings and abs( usualy stiff leg deadlifts and pull down abs)

wednesday: bench (usualy close grip, incline or board press) triceps and back work

friday: deadlifts and some quad work( leg press and high box squats) as well as more ab work

sunday: db bench some shoulder work and triceps as well as back work.

today I went to the gym but had no energy and was in the frame of minid that I should not be training

db bench( weight is for 1 db)
20kgx7
25kgx6
27.5kgx6
35kgx5
40kgx2 PR

db shoulder press
20kgx5
22.5kgx6
25kgx6

after this I just had no energy, had more planned but decided to call it a day

sorry for the long post.

hope everyone has a good day, Im off to get sorted for tonights party.

back in the gym today after yesterdays party. A mixture of a slight hang over and no sleep told me this wasnt going to be a great training session and most probably I should not have went in today but im not going to make excuses to miss a training session.

olympic squats (have not done these in too long)

barx15
70kgx3
90kgx3
110kgx1- this felt way to easy
130kgx1- this was a grind out of the hole but half way up just flew up. at this point I knew not to push my look. actualy think this may be a PR

stiff leg deadlifts

70kgx5
90kgx6
110kgx6
110kgx6- the original plan was 3x6x110kg
130kgx5- PR

at this point the lack of sleep was more than evident and I was soaked so knocked it on the head here. missed out 5 sets of pull down abs and 4 sets of calf raises( always seem to miss calf raises and its noticeable)

I realy should cut down on the parties but there is already a beach themed party set for friday and a birthday party of a friend the day after so after that my drinking will be cut out or limited to one or two pints every now and then. I end up feeling sluggish the next day.

ohwell off to drink aload of milk and eat some steak

incline bench press
40kgx6
50kgx6
60kgx6
70kgx1
80kgx1-flew up soo easy!
90kgxFail- would have been a 5kg PR

close parralel grip machine press

65kgx6
80kgx6
80kgx5
80kgx4

t bar rows s/s rear delt fly machine

50kg , 80kg x 6,6
55kg , 87.5kg x 6,6
57.5kg , 95kg x 6,6
50kg , 95kg x 8,6

incline db curls (weights per db)

15kgx6
17.5kgx6
17.5kgx5

db shrugs ( weight per db)

35kgx6
40x6
45x6-next week will go for 10+

not a bad session not too bothered about missing the PR attempt on inclines, think from now on il include db inclines on this day.

on a good note a friend of mine has gave me another weapon in gaining some more weight. she has just got a job at KFC and is going to give me extras and let me use her staff discount…that made me smile

have a good day!

Deadlifts

90kgx3
110kgx3
130kgx1
155kgx2
127.5kgx6setsx3

high box squats ( these are an inch above parallel)

70kgx3
90kgx3
110kgx3
130kgx3
150kgx4PR- going to add a rep or two each week until i hit 10 then add 5kg. could have done another 1 or 2 reps but the bar was slipping down my back.
130kgx8PR loads left in the tank

Leg press

70gkx6
90kgx6
110kgx6
130kgx6

was rushed for time so had to cut the session short.

i have a huge T-bone steak and rice waiting for me and im just finishing off 2ltr of choc milk. stretch marks are getting bigger dont have a clue what my weight is and at the moment I done realy care as long as i keep noticing changes for the better

have a good day!

just a quick update. after reading a post in the begginers section on bulking tips i rushed out and bought a note book to keep a food log. its time to get even more focused and start aiming for some respectable numbers. I have a few goals in mind for the end of the year but as Dave Tate mentioned in one of his articles to keep them to yourself, and thats exactly what im doing.

so my goals:

get bigger!

get stronger!

also alittle story. in march i turned 18 and it was at this point i kind of fell out of the habit of going to the gym and kicking my own arse, it was also at this time i started partyin more. one night I had met a group of friends and after a few pints one of my friends went " have you lost weight?" and then it hit me it had become that obvious that I hadnt been training and eating enough that my friends decided to comment on it. so i made a deal that I would spend the next 8 weeks training my arse off and pushing my self. i now have 1 week and 6 days left and im glad to say I have not missed a training session and I feel 100000% better and look better. this will not stop after the 8 weeks is up as I feel I am opperating at a tiny percentage of what I am capable of.

have a good day!

slept in today so rolled straight out of bed into the shower before quickly getting ready to rush to the gym.

db bench( weight per db)

20kgx5
25kgx5
30kgx5
35kgx5( was going to attempt a few reps with 40kg but just wasnt feeling strong at all)

db shoulder press
20kgx5
22.5kgx5
25kgx5-loads left

close grip bench against red woody band

50kgx5
60kgx2-tried to tuck my feet right back and arch hard. felt so unstable)
60kgx5

db rows
30kgx6
35kgx6
40kgx8
40kgx6

superset with red band face pulls 4x15

db incline curls s/s red band ext(3x15)
17.5kgx6
17.5kgx5
17.5kgx5

overhand shrugs s/s face pulls (35kgx3x6)
80kgx6
90kgx6
100kgx6
110kgx2-traps were fried

ok so i felt tired and weak at the beginning by the end i just kept going with upper back work for some time.

not a bad session

have a good day!

quick update before i head off to the gym.

its officialy been 7 days since i have had more than 4 hours sleep. im so tired and for no reason my body hurts. i missed mondays squat session simply because i had not slept at all. i was hoping to sleep most of today but the phone went off and woke me up. to make matters worse i have to be up early tomorrow morning. everytime i eat i feel sick and have no drive to eat at all and no matter what im not feeling hungry. luckly i have been able to eat a few high calorie foods throughout the days and suprisingly put on 3lb but oddly look leaner. i have no drive to go to the gym at all today but im going to push myself and get a quick bench session in. im realy looking forward to deadlifting for some reason so might switch sessions around but dont no until i get to the gym.

il post again in a few hours hopefully i will have ate something substantial and had a half decent session

have a good day!

ok i gave in and trained deadlifts, this turned out to be a good idea.

deadlifts
90kgx5
110kgx3
130kgx1
150kgx1
165kgx2-PR

normaly when i deadlift i place the bar inline with my knees but this time i placed the bar right against my shins, this felt great and the weights felt realy light and theres alot more left in the tank. was going to try hit a new 1RM but decided this is not the best idea since im so tired. decided not to do speed deads.

high box squats
70kgx5
90kgx3
110kgx1
130kgx1
150kgx6-PR- not sure weather to go for 10 reps or to up the weight next week.

leg press
70kgx6
90kgx6
110kgx6
130kgx6
150kgx3-PR-EASY!

calf raises
52.5kgx8
60kgx8
67.5kgx8
75kgx8

nice little session today even though one of my converse decided it didnt like the sole of the shoe and popped. i would not mind but i have only had these for 4 weeks at the most. the mother reckons i should bin them but my arguement is im still hitting PR’s in them and until this stops i will keep wearing them. Alittle bit supersticious maybe lol feeling better after this session and didnt feel physicaly drained as i thought i would.

have a good day!

ok well i have been able 2 sleep for around 10 hours the last two nights which has made all the difference in the world, i feel fresh and my appitite has come back with avengance to say the least. i was at a party the other night and had two cans and left it there, i just dont fancy getting drunk for a while so i have cut right back on parties and its nice because my friends are supporting me and they are cutting down on parties as well instead we are going to play pool or bowling or to the pictures instead once a week since its the summer holidays. on another note my original 8 week challenge has been changed. a friend of mine is doing his specialist training to be a fire fighter in the RAF and has 17 weeks left so between us we are having a challenge for the 17 weeks, mine being to be the biggest and strongest i have been and him to be the fittest he has been ( he just came 1st in his section for fitness) and to celebrate we are going to go to pizza hut for all you can eat and then out even though he doesnt drink and i dont plan on drinking.

on the training front i have made a few changes which will become apparant over the next few training sessions, nothing to major but things that have helped me in the past and i have neglected because they dont stroke my ego. i have a pile of old training log books that i have been reading through this weekend. i even found my old max’s out and my body weight when i first started traning

start body weight-45kg
bench using york set-15kg(yes less than a standard bar)
squat at start-30kg
deadlift at start-40kg

ok i got tied up today( not litraly ) so i got to the gym late and ended up missing some of what i had planned out as the gym was due to shut.

3 board close grip
50kgx5
60kgx5
70kgx3
80kgx3
90kgx1-was easy but had no spotter, i think im good for maybe 4-5 next time

inclince db press

25kgx5
27.5kgx5
30kgx5- i think this is a joint PR

db rows s/s face pulls
db fp
30kg / 35kg x 6/6
35kg / 35kg x 6/6
42.5kg/ 35kg x 6/6

overhand grip shurgs

90kgx6
100kgx5

during the bench warm ups my forearms were painful for no apparant reason and i had to keep stopping my wrists from rolling back and i never have this problem. this pain continued on the db rows and shrugs. hopefully this is a one off but will have to keep an eye on it.

now im off to eat a litre of triple choc ice cream and choc milk. always a winner

have a good day!

oly paused squats
70kgx3
90kgx5
100kgx3
110kgx2

low box squats
70kgx3
90kgx3

stiff leg deads
70kgx6
90kgx6
110kgx6
130kgx5-joint PR
150kgx2-PR!!

leg curls

45kgx6
50kgx6
60kgx3

calf raises

60kgx6
75kgx3x6

side bends
40kgx6
50kgx6
55kgx5PR

good session today didnt have a low box so used the 50kg dbs with 2x25kg plates and 1x20kg plates will use these instead of oly squats and slowly build up the weight. felt slow getting off the box so they should help. my obliques are sore as well as my lower back but its all part of the fun.

have a good day!

bench
50kgx6
60kgx6
70kgx6
80kgx4-joint PR 2-3 reps in tank

incline bench
40kgx8
50kgx6
60kgx5
65kgx5
72.5kgx4-PR 1-2 reps in tank

db shrugs (per db)
40kgx8
45kgx11PR
50kgx10PR
55kgx5PR

t rows s/s with rear delt machine

T-row R.delt
50kg / 80kg x 6/6
55kg / 95kg x 6/6
57.5kg/ 95kg x 6/6
60kg /102.5kgx 4/6-back was hammered by this point

db seated side raises (per db)
10kgx6
12.5kgx6
15kgx4

incline db curls(per db) s/s rope ext
17.5kg/30kg x 6/6
20kgx35kg x 4/6
17.5kg/40kg x 6/4

hamstrings are still alittle sore from monday but its all good. i plan on pulling a PR on friday if all goes well. on the bench and incline im going to try and add reps before bumping up the weight. il probably aim for 6-8 reps then put the weight up by 2.5kg and keep doing this until i fail majorly before going for a 1RM. it was roasting in the gym today and everyone was sufforing but its all part of the fun.

have a good day!

Crap session today this was due to a few factors which il explain later.

deadlifts

90kgx3
110kgx3
130kgx3
150kgx1-stupidly fast but still felt heavy!
170kgxfail! got it to knee then jst didnt budge, was there for around 20secs but just wouldnt move, this should have been a double!

rack pulls from knee
150kgx3
170kgx2
190kgxfail-bollocks!

high box squats-should not have bothered

70kgx3
90kgx4
110kgx4
130kgx2-slowwwwww as hell
155kgx4

got up early this morning because the neightbours car battery died so he wanted me to push it. decided i would go see the new batman film which is 2:32mins long was good but i wasnt half hungry after so rushed something to eat and rushed to the gym. back felt burnt out. i fancy a change of pace so il give jr.smolov a bash for bench. il start on monday

first session of jr.smolov

close grip bench
50kgx6
60kgx6
67.5kgx6
67.5kgx6
67.5kgx6
67.5kgx6
67.5kgx6
67.5kgx6

s/s pull ups

bwx5
bwx5
bwx3
bwx3
bwx5
bwx3
bwx3
bwx4

db shurgs(per db)
50kgx10
50kgx8
50kgx8
50kgx8

incline db curls (per db)

17.5kgx6
17.5kgx6
17.5kgx6
20kgx4

my triceps are feeling alittle fatigued but nothing major but my back is tired, i dont do pull ups at all and the last time i did was probably december. the pull ups were done from a dead hang and none were taken to failure expect the last set. on bench i havent done any realy volume before so im sure im going to be sore but thats half the fun. felt sick today simply because i woke up and ate a 14inch meat feast pizza and two spicy beef wraps and headed straight to the gym. oh and today i got a latter saying i have been accepted into uni! in a great mood, off to eat another pizza and play some pool and catch up with my mates.

have a good day!

Apifanies, arghhh’s and wtf moments

wtf am i doing?- this is the question i found my self asking. my whole intention this year was to make some moves towards MMA, have i? have i bollocks!

my problem is im lazy! i can gain weight easy and stay lean without a problem…why dont i? im too lazy to go cook another meal. why aint i practising some sort of martial art at the moment? im too lazy…why aint i training at the mma club i wish to? i cant drive…why cant i drive? im too lazy to finish my lessons and do my test.

at this moment in time im going to uni…a chance to change the direction of my life…maybe to change who i am percived and how i see my self.

i over complicate my training…i should know high volume, high frequency training such as smolov jr doesnt work for me. what does? progressive over load and simple training!

time to take things into perspective and do what i need to do to suceed!

short term goals:
*incline bench 92.5kg
*pull ups 5x10kg
*build my box squat up
*start driving again
*start some sort of martial art
*move to a gym with people who are strong training there

long time goals:
*gain 50lb before thinking about dropping weight to fight
*pass my driving test
*start MMA
*build some decent strenght
*stop being a tit!

how did all this come about? i went to the gym when i knew i should not have bothered. truth be told iv been slacking on the food front and partying more. i laid on the bench today and though wtf am i doing i dnt even want to bench. i wanted to deadlift but thats all i have done recently and as a result i have a hole in my palm the size of a small coin and scabs where my caluses used to live, my lower back is fried and im sick of it.

i deadlifted any way

90kgx3
110kgx3
130kgx3
150kgx1
172.5kgxfail stalled about 2inches from lock out and i held it for about 30secs fighting with the stupid thing only to fail TWICE!

TIME TO STOP BEING A LAZY B*$TARD!

im going to focus on meal frequency as im not spending time weighing food and working out mirco nutrients and im going to simplify my training and bust my arse training! time to look for a new martial art to start training!

have a good day!

Spent the last 2 days at a local music festival and spent most of last night watching the happy mondays! noticed a new gym near by so i popped in and talked to the owner and they are opening a MMA team in 4-6 weeks.

The gym its self is is small and has no machines and lots of weight plates. it is were i plan on training as soon as their team starts.

went to the gym after hardly any sleep so decided to do some speed work

speed box squats
70kgx5
90kgx3
90kgx3
90kgx3
90kgx5
100kgx2

speed deadlifts
90kgx5
110kgx3
130kgx3

my lift home arived early so had to dash.

shall train again tomorrow which is bench session.

have a good day!

another late night last night as it was the end of the music festival and there was a big closing display on. for anyone looking for a great lively band that is always a crowd pleaser have a listen to the wild cats of kilkenny(think thats spelt right).

incline bench
40kgx6
50kgx6
60kgx5-last rep on here and the 2 previous sets was a 6 sec pause
72.5kgx4 joint pr(another 2 reps in the tank if i had a spotter)
60kgx8PR

db bench(per db)
27.5kgx5
32.5kgx5
35kgx2-burnt out after the inclines

rolling db extensions (slow negative)per db
12.5kgx6
15kgx6
17.5kgx6
20kgx6

yates rows
55kgx6
65kgx6
75kgx6
85kgx5

over hand grip shurgs

80kgx6
90kgx6
100kgx5
110kgx4

ab circuit 1 2

pull down abs(40kg) 6 6
side bends (40kg) 6 6
hanging knee raises (10kg) 6 6

will do more back volume on my assistance day.

also did some hip stretches

parrallel box squats
60kgx5
80kgx5
100kgx3
120kgx2 setsx3
140kgx3
155kgx2
160kgx3-PR-maybe another 2 in the tank

deficit deadlifts
80kgx3
100kgx3
120kgx
150kgx1

should have done more but the squats took it out of me. i should realy start training with a ws4sb type aproach and work on flexibility as its not long until i start training MMA now.

Rep upper

back into the WS4SB way of training

bench
50kgx10
60kgx8
70kg6-WTF i should be able to rep this easy!
75kgx5-again WTF

machine shoulder press
3x6

pull ups
5kgx6
10kgx4
10kgx3

s/s rear delt fly machine(3x6@95lg)

i do not get how i cant seem to rep 70kg past 6 reps when i can incline 72.5kgx4 and close grip 95kg. maybe i just need to work on reps but who knows! unusual!

have a good day!

ME lower

box squats

60kgx6
80kgx8
100kgx6
120kgx3
140kgx3
160kgx3-EASY! Joint PR maybe another 3-4 in the tank
165kgx1-Joint PR will do this next week for 3 or so

barbell lunges

45kgx8 per leg
55kgx6 per leg
65kgx6 per leg-had no energy to get this off my back

for these i had to power clean then press the bar to get it onto my back then push press it back over my head. maybe il try the bar in the front squat possition.

stiff leg deads

90kgx6
110kgx6
130kgx5-lost air and crumpled at the waist

calf raises
2x6@75kg

tired!

good little session missed abs because well…just because im lazy as hell and burnt out from squating twice in 3 days.

have a good day!