Front Squats
80/176 x 8 - 90/198 x 8 - 100/220 x 3
Leg Press (do people include "sled weight?? I’m assuming not?)
170/374 x 10 - 190/418 x 10 - 210/462 x 10 - 230/506 x 7 (possibly PR)
Hack Squat (do people include "sled weight?? I’m assuming not?)
40/88 x 10 - 60/132 x 10 - 80/176 x 6
Leg Extension (setting no.)
4 x 12 SET PR - 5 x 12 SET PR - 6 x 8 PR
Hard quad stretch x 60 seconds per leg
Calf Raise Machine (paused at bottom, held contraction at top. setting no.)
9 x 8 - 10 x 8 - 11 x 8 - 12 x 6
Leg Press Calf Raise
170/374 x 10 - 180/394 x 10 SET PR - 190/418 x 6
DC style weighted calf stretch x 60 seconds PR (last week setting 6, this time 7)
Felt physically/mentally pretty fine: 8/10 or more…
-Front squats my form/feel SUCKS at the moment! Get the strong feeling this would feel better in olympic shoes but in all honesty I’m not performing this well enough to progress properly and see good gains from it!
-Leg Press much heavier/better then last week- quite possibly a PR top set though I may have done similar reps at 240kg on a different leg press in the past. I am VERY positive about what this is going to do for my legs and can’t see myself doing a quad session where I don’t leg press for a very long time.
-Hacks felt I got a little confused thinking I was using more then last week because in my head I included the “bar weight” when last time I didn’t, turns out I did the exact same weights and -2 reps on my top set. TONS of progression to come from these though I think, I hope progress a fair bit in the 6-7 sessions I have left with the hack squat.
^^ Organic Butter & Wholemeal Rye Bread for breakfast, good stuff, I’ve been starting on the Mountain Dog Diet principles and intend to do them properly from late September.
Also bought some free-range egg whites since they were on offer, may buy them for convenience depending on how the next 3 weeks with them go.
Yesterday I did…
Shoulder Day (KG/LBS)
Seated BB Press
52/114 x 8 - 56/123 x 6 - 62/136 x 1 ?? (serious fail as an exercise choice with my current set-up for them, these numbers are almost meaningless)
Arnold DB Press (good eccentric and full rom)
19.6/43s x 10 - 21.6/45s x 6
Seated DB Lateral Raise (feet on bench)
11.6/26s x 12 - 12.6/28s x 12 - 13.6/30s x 6
Front Raise
13.6/30s x 10 set PR - 14.6/32s x 4 PR
Shrugs
300lb~ experiment with holding contraction x some
Pretty useless shoulder day, I didn’t benifit from having to rush it a little due to bad organisation. Decided seated press without using a bench with a back is just stupid and doesn’t allow for proper progression. So i’m undecided between switching to push press or seated DB press as my main shoulder movement.
Just a thought, I did T Bar Rows yesterday using 15kg plates rather than the usual 20kg. Manned up, shrugged off the ego, worked up to an ego-busting 75kgx12 reps, squeezing my scapulae together at the top. My mid-back is on fire today and normally nothing makes it sore. You’re doing absolutely amazing though, I must train with you and feel weak when I am back in Yorkshire.
[quote]Bambi wrote:
Just a thought, I did T Bar Rows yesterday using 15kg plates rather than the usual 20kg. Manned up, shrugged off the ego, worked up to an ego-busting 75kgx12 reps, squeezing my scapulae together at the top. My mid-back is on fire today and normally nothing makes it sore. You’re doing absolutely amazing though, I must train with you and feel weak when I am back in Yorkshire.[/quote]
It’s a useful thought; I am always looking to improve that movement as I like the feel of “how hard I can go on it” BUT the mind-muscle on it is particularly hard for me. I should probably look over some training videos to see what sort of torso angle etc. people are using to really smash the back.
If I’m being honest I may drop them sometime soon but as I’ve improved my ROM/set-up a little there is still experimentation to be had. The 20s I use are actually closer in size to “proper sized” iron 15s anyway, so this probably helps the ROM somewhat.
For sure I would train with you if possible, depends where in Yorkshire you’d be? I train at pay-as-you-go gyms here in Barnsley, but back in Leeds I’m planning to join the University gym again (from late September). I really have tons and tons of strength to gain before I’d consider myself anywhere near strong, but working hard is the more important thing! & essentially on the movements that are hitting bodyparts well
Hit 200 pounds on the scale tonight after a good day of eating. Not sure what my morning weight will come out as really…
Anyways I felt reasonably big/not too bloated for this time of night so I took a few pics after being inspired by Bug’s log. Worth noting I’m a decent photographer and these are delibrately unflatting lighting/conditions for the most part. Just taken quickly on my webcam…
Bad attempt at side tri/side chest/front relaxed/back relaxed.
I need to lose that stubborn back/love handle fat to instantly look 2x as good…
Don’t really know why I posted the front relaxed, it’s a very unflatting angle (pointing upwards from laptop) and its way too blown out… I’m all for harshness though and it shows my relaxed “waist look” which is all I wanted. Here’s a quick blackberry shot to show shape from the front in decent lighting. That’s as far as I’ll go for now as I’m not taking any more progress pics with my DSLR until a couple months down the line at least…
^^^^^ this was me around 2 months of training time in late 07. My first year didn’t count as hard training, I was definitely like 137 tops here lol. Started at 133.
ARM DAY BABY (KG/LBS)
Keeping the form nice n’ tight today, good stuff.
Dips (upright for tri)
BW x 8 - +7.5/17 x 8 SET PR - 15/33 x 5 PR
Preacher DB Curl (good eccentric, full rom)
13.6/30s x 8 - 14.6/32s x 8 - 15.6/32s x 7 PR
Seated DB Alternate Curls (palms kept facing forward even at bottom of movement, saw Waylander mention this and he’s the king of these)
16.6/37s x 10 - 17.6/39s x 3
CGBP
75/165 x 10 - 80/176 x 10 - 85/187 x 4 PR
Seated DB Hammers (thib style! Amazing!!!)
11.6/26 x 10 - 13.6/30 x 10 - 15.6/34 x 6
DB Skullcrushers/Extensions
14.6/32s x 10 - 15.6/34s x 8 - 16.6/37s x 5 - 13.6/30s x 12
Standing BB Curl (very slight cheat)
50/110 x 3
Not putting up much HEAVY ASS WEIGHT but regardless some good PRs today and AMAZING pump thanks to the tweaked curling techniques/exercise order and WOW I must say hammers where you try and pull the arm backwards at the same time as seen in the Indigo videos- THEY WORK! I’ve never felt hammers as hard as I would have liked but these hit the spot better then anything I’ve ever done! Happy.
Lying Leg Curls
20/44 x 12 - 25/55 x 12 - 30/66 x 4 - end of workout 20xsome@sloweccentric
Deadlift
141/310 x 6 - 161/354 x 6 - 177/389 x 1
SLDL
110/242 x 10 - 125/275 x 10 - 141/310 x 4 PR
GMs
80/176 x 10 - 90/198 x 10 - 105/231 x 4 PR
FFFFfFFUUUU DEADLIFTS getting tired of them not going ANYWHERE even when I don’t go all out every week. Might just drop them. Or do them every other week. Or try Sumo’s. OR even do them last on back day just 1 or 2 sets. Any advices?
Great news is I went full retard earlier in this log and worked out 141kg as 300lbs. So now I’ve clued myself up I realise that I just gained 10lbs of squat. 310lb x 6 afterall. I feel stronger! Now to bring my front squat a little closer to that
BB Bench Press
75/165 x 8 - 85/187 x 8 - 94/207 x 3 PR
BB Pin Press
72/158 x 8 - 81/178 x 8 - 90/198 x 5 PR
DB Power Flyes (sets go: incline/low incline/even lower incline)
21.6/48s x 10 - 23.6/52s x 10 - 27.6/61s x 8 BIG PR
Band Pushdowns x 8 - x 12 - x 10.
Band (long-head) Extensions x 8 - x 11
Light Band x Pump
GREAT chest training today. Though looking at my physique my shoulders definitely overpower my arms from the side (maybe I’m the rarity of mainly lacking front delt??) I will go out on a limb and say I’m almost definitely a “chest bencher” in that I have some decent chest size considering my relatively low strength in pressing exercises. I’m starting to get a pump after the first 6 sets with no pump in shoulders/tris as such then after 1 set of flyes thats it, pumped like hell.
I’m certainly NOT tricep dominant and have only really seen proper growth since I’ve been trying to hit the long head/isolate in general. Triceps were also on fire after the band work which does hit them hard. They still were somewhat weak today since my arm day is two days before my chest.
So a couple days back I installed a 5.1 surround system in my home gym. I don’t like to rely too much on music for motivation but when I feel I need a kick loud music and heavy bass is very awesome
BACK DAY (KG/LBS)
Pull-ups
BW x 10 (SET #1 PR) - BW + 7.5/17 x 8 (SET #2 PR)- BW + 15/33 x 5.5 -PR-
Yates Rows
110/242 x 10 - 120/264 x 10 - 130/286 x 10 - 141/310 x 5 -PR-
T-Bar Rows
4P x 10 - 5P x 6
DB Pullovers
25.6/56 x 10 - 27.6/61 x 10 - 31.6/70 x 4
Preacher Curls&Incline hammers @ 11.6/26s x high reps&slow eccentrics&hard contractions x some
DC Style Hanging Lat Stretch
20/44 x 35 seconds
Great back session, not the greatest lat pump though… still, happy to be getting stronger on the rows as per usual
Front Squat (deep, good eccentric)
70/154 x 8 - 80/176 x 8 - 90/198 x 4
Leg Press
190/418 x 10 - 210/462 x 10 - 240/528 x 4 PR
Hack Squat (go down until I feel full stretch in quads… deep as possible = exploding knees)
60/132 x 8 (set #1 PR) - 70/154 x 10 (set #2 PR) - 80/176 x 9 PR
Back Squat (deep, constant tension reps)
100/220 x 13
Leg Extension (setting no.)
4 x 12 - 5 x 12 - 6 x 8
Standing Calf Machine (setting no.)
9 x 8 - 10 x 8 - 11 x 8 - 12 x 7 PR
Leg Press Calf Raise
170/374 x 10 - 180/396 x 10 - 190/418 x 7 PR
Quad Stetches + 60 second Calf stretch setting 8. (next week a few settings higher, not painful enough)
Good leg day today, managed to sort my front squat form and depth. Feels 10 x better even if the weights are pathetic, still hits the legs hard. If I stick to this no doubt it will actually progress quickly…
High-rep squat with 100kg felt good after everything else, really want to get 20 on this next week. Think I’ll make a habit of including this after everything, see if I can improve my 20RM
#1- I’ve been looking through Bug’s old log & its made me realise how much further down the line I should strength/size wise for 3 years serious training. I know I can do so much better. I’m hoping the strength comes somewhat with the size as I’m planning to be up ~25 pounds or so in the next ~30 weeks or so. I’m detirmined to make this year (year 3 at uni) the one where I make big bodyweight improvements and big strength to go with it. I have all the tools and knowledge, just need to eat and focus on hitting the exercises that WORK. Every single day.
#2- Today was an awesome session. I realise now I should train at my local gym every day rather then once/twice a week and the rest at home. I generally push myself harder, hit more PRs and even get through the workout much quicker due to the long DB changes/set-up time at home… only gripe is that I’m used to KG and they have all their DBs in LB, mind explosion. Still, they go up to 165lb… which is nice.
SHOULDERS & TRAPS (KG/LB)
Seated DB Press (bench slightly angled)
25/55s x 8 - 27/60s x 8 - 32/70s x 8 PR (spotted last few reps)
Seated Laterals w/feet on bench
12/27s x 10 - 15/32s x 10 PR - 17/37 x 5 PR (starting to get somewhere with these)
Front Raise (standing)
11/25s x 10 - 14/31s x 10 - 19/41s x 5 PR (as above, pushing them properly now)
Machine Lterals (setting no.)
3 x 10 - 5 x 6+4 forced
Rear Fly Seated (reverse pec dec?? not sure whats the proper name but you hold handles at arms length and contract your rear delts)
30 x 10 - 40 x 6 - 20 x 6 (no idea if these weights were in kg or pounds… damn confusing gym)
DB Shrugs (standing, squeeze but only briefest of holds)
41/90s x 10 - 44/97s x 10 - 52/114s x 7 PR
BB Shrugs (standing, form decent but contraction not held)
140/308 x 10 - 160/352 x 10 - 180/396 x 5
^ skip to just over half way to see the top set, my bad
Behold a reasonably good day that included deadlifts, it finally happened.
Only a hilarious (annoying) fail moment stopping it being the perfect day! Exciting!
HAMSTRING/LOWERBACK/SPINAL ERECTORZ DAY (KG/LBS)
Lying Leg Curl (pre-exhaust)
24/53 x 8 - 27/59 x 9 (set #2 PR) - 30/66 x 6 PR
Deadlift
141/310 x 6 (first 3 clean grip, rest mixed grip) - 171/376 x 5 (mixed grip) - 185/407 x 3 PR ^^^^^^VIDEO (SKIP TO HALF WAY!) ^^^^^^ (SORT OF PR… all will be revealed)
SLDL
110/242 x 10 - 125/275 x 10 - 141/310 x 6 PR
Good Mornings
80/176 x 10 - 90/198 x 10 - 105/231 x 5 PR
So what happened on the deadlift set was basically this ^^^
My first rep was definitely 185kg, my second & third could have been anywhere from 181-185kg as the checking the bar after the reps were done I was down to 181 but unfortunately do not know when the plates fell off. It was probably something like 185>183>181.
Annoyed as I know I would have got that for 3 at 185 no problem. Mixed grip > straps for me. Next week I’m going for 185 again, this time with a vengence.
Wide looking back there jake! Solid shoulder session as well. Some strong pressing, laterals and shrugging. You training on a 5 day split? Anyways, keep working hard, I’ll be checking in:)
[quote]whatever2k wrote:
Wide looking back there jake! Solid shoulder session as well. Some strong pressing, laterals and shrugging. You training on a 5 day split? Anyways, keep working hard, I’ll be checking in:) [/quote]
Thanks man, means a lot to have a viewer! I’ll train my very hardest to ensure it’s at least mildly entertaining
I do actually think my back will come out a standout bodypart along with quads when the time comes to lean up some, but for now, everything will get bigger as I’m pushing forward for 20-30 pound weight gain in around that many weeks!
[quote]phlegms wrote:
Checking in for the ride brother! Some impressive lifts up in hurrr. [/quote]
Thanks man, appreciate the support.
I’ve turned on beastmode eating/training wise & I’m giving it it everything I can really. So I should get stronger across the board pretty damn consistantly. I’ll be on my way to “decently strong” and “quite big” within the next year, I know that much.
FOR THE LULZ:
“Bulking Burger”
1 “slice” German Rye Bread (halved, toasted, w/organic Free Range butter)
2 eggs fried in olive oil (preferably organic free-range, though mine aren’t)
2 100% fat-ass Beef Burgers (preferably lean or grass fed, though mine aren’t)
Cathedral City 30% Less Fat cheese (thin slices for taste)
1 tablespoon reduced salt&sugar ketchup (preferably not used or replaced with humous but I had run out)
Solid shoulder session as well. Some strong pressing, laterals and shrugging. You training on a 5 day split? Anyways, keep working hard, I’ll be checking in:)