##FOOD 8:30AM - 3 eggs 1:00PM - 3 scoops of protein 1:45PM - laksa yong tau fu with half a bowl of rice 2:00PM - yakult 3:00PM - some fruit of sorts x2 8:00PM - bunch of fish and chips and seafood platter 9:00PM - yakult
Push Press
20kgs x10
30kgs x10
40kgs x3x6, did 50 reps of band push down before each set
40kgs x2x6, did 25 reps of band push down before each set
40kgs x6, no band push downs
Seal Row
40kgs x10
60kgs x4x10
70kgs x10, reps were quite half assed but they felt fucking hard so I guess that counts for something???
##FOOD 9:40AM - banana 12:00PM - famous bowl, chicken thigh, iced tea 7:00PM - noodles 8:00PM - banana 10:45PM - 3 scoops of protein
2250-ish calories
##Training
entered at 10:00AM
Bench
20kgs x10
30kgs x10
40kgs x10
52.5kgs x4x5, did 30 reps of band push down before each set
52.5kgs x2x5, did 50 reps of band push down before each set
52.5kgs x5, did anywhere from 70-100 reps of band push down before each set, lost count
Incline Dumbbell Bench
14kgs x3x12
14kgs x7
Incline Plate Squeeze Press
5kgs x20
10kgs x20
interesting exercise, will do more in the future
It’s sad cause that’s my school gym. I’m actually allowed to pull from the floor, it’s just that the plates are about a 1 inch smaller in diameter than regular plates so pulling from the mats puts it 1/4 inch higher than a normal(plate) deadlift. Used to do it without the mats but it was hella straining for my lower back.
Maybe I just haven’t gotten the right groove in with this new technique but some reps feel really easy and comfortable whereas others feels like a grind from the start.
Some of the reps where it moved a bit slower your pre lift sort of hip movement was different and those reps looked slower.
When your hip movement at the start was different at 0:39 compared to 0:47 the weight came off the floor a lot faster.
Probably this.
Looked at the vid again and tried to be more objective with it and yup, deadlifts definitely look better for the most part. Maybe I just wasn’t as clear headed when I first reviewed the video.
I can understand why you’re feeling bitter. You’re a competitive young SOB, for one. You also put heart and soul into your training.
Here’s the kicker (as I see it). You’ve been training consistently but not consistently optimally. Part of that is due to circumstances not outside your control, but which nonetheless exert an influence on your ability to train optimally: study commitments, home commitments. Quite rightly you focused on them. Another part of it is due to various injuries. You seem to have a talent for messing yourself up. I suspect that stems at least partly from your competitive mentality: you push harder than necessary all the time almost to prove a point. This ends up biting you on the arse (and wrist, and back, and wrist again and that’s just what I remember).
Here comes the less palatable bit: you can achieve a better return on your investment but it is going to take a real change in how you look at things. For all that you’re a hard worker, honest with yourself and intelligent you’re making one big mistake and that is working hard at what you’re good at (which is working hard) and leaving it at that.
You need to work hard at what you suck at instead. From my outside perspective these are the things you suck at:
nutrition. Your diet is fucking terrible. You’re getting away with it because you’re young, but it’s letting you down because you’re getting away with rather than optimising. I know Singapore isn’t somewhere you can easily get perfect food, but I’m guessing you could lay your hands on rice, some kind of relatively lean meat and a bunch of vegetables with relatively little cost or effort. Make that effort, learn how to cook that food and eat it. Consistently. Sure, have a meal out here and there, but apply the same tenacity to your nutrition as you do your training.
goal setting. You have too many goals. Pick two to three complementary ones and pursue them until achieved. Then move on to the next two to three.
programming. Less of an issue but still important. Plan out your training for the next 12 weeks and do ONLY that. Plan it so that you can complete it almost no matter what crops up. If that means limiting training to three days a week, that’s what you program for and that’s what you do. You don’t do less and you sure as fuck don’t do more no matter what.
priorities. If you want results, you train to achieve them - not to have fun training. I’m pretty obstinate on that point. It doesn’t mean you don’t enjoy training, but it means the time you spend in the gym is a means to an end and not an end in itself. You don’t go and train because you’re bored, or because you’re sad, or because your mates are there. You go and train if you have work to do that day, and then to leave. If you have no work to do that day, you don’t go and train.
When your idea of “working your ass off” is Smolov and deadlifts, why are you wondering why your upper body does not resemble his in any way? If I make him do what you are doing, he will look like a slightly bigger version of you with the same diet. If you don’t believe me, go look at some of the strongman competitors in the higher weight classes in your country.
Not at all. I know for a fact that I’ve always had a lagging upper body in contrast in my not impressive in the first place lower body. This probably has something to do with the whole starting strength, not enough upper body volume and my general disdain for upper body work (especially isolation stuff which seems to be rather crucial for development apparently).
As for the whole smolov and deadlifts, I’m not sure if you’ve read through my training log but to catch you up to speed, I’ve a minor ligament tear in both wrists and I couldn’t do a push up at all until the 17th of this month. I injured(high rep axle clean press in a comp) my right wrist ligament once mid 2016, it got better and I re-injured(slipped and fell) it late 2016. My left wrist was banged up (botched log clean) the start of this year.
Officially speaking, I’m not done with rehab on either wrists. My right wrist is currently in the 3rd (out of 3) phase of rehab and my left wrist is still supposed to be a splint ‘aka’ mobilisation phase. Not to go on about how I’m hardworking and shit but I suspect most people probably would’ve taken quite a fair bit of time off from the gym, at least that’s what everyone is telling me they would do if they were in my circumstance.
So going by that logic, are you to suggest that if I did what they were doing/eating, I’d simply be a smaller version of them? I can’t comprehend that to be honest. I knew this guy who competed in bodybuilding (won his cat) who only squatted once every 3-4 weeks. I shit you not. The guy squats about as much as me on a good day and he has bigger legs with striations whilst being not too far from me in terms of bodyweight(1-2kgs different).
More like I’m reckless and stupid but eh, unlcuky sounds nicer. [quote=“hugh_gilly, post:238, topic:224832”]
couldn’t masturbate for a while and he got stroppy as hell.
[/quote]
fortunately not an issue for me haha
Thanks but the gains aren’t great enough, they never are and they never will be.
What I mean is you are working harder than him with that much lower body compound work but since you are channeling your energy in a different area, lamenting that you “work your ass off” without seeing similar results is rather misplaced.
I have read your log. I know of your wrist problems but it is a recent thing. Your weight has fluctuated between 73-76kg for a whole year. There is no overall plan for nor commitment to cutting or gaining. These are just some examples at the top of my head.
Why?
Edit: This is not a rhetorical question. I really want to understand your thought process.
I know people with big legs that don’t squat. Who said you need to squat for big legs? It’s all just muscles contracting against resistance.
I’ve never expected similar results simply because I don’t train in a similar fashion as them. What I’m lamenting on is the different rates of return I’m seeing. I train mainly for strength, it just baffles/annoys me that people who couldn’t give 2 shits can compete (and even outdo) my strength levels despite their lack of effort in said area.
Personally, I hardly consider that a “recent thing”. I’ve had it for 9 months. I’ve been training for roughly 3 years? That’s literally 25% of my training career thus far.
Yup, that is correct. Started off the year at 75kgs, cleaned up my diet and it went down to high 73s. Exams came and I got lazy, messed up my diet and it went back up to 75/76. Now I’m just trying to get my weight down for the end of the T-ransfromation Challenge.
In case you were wondering, the original plan was to clean up my diet, surplus till mid march and deficit till June.
Correction to my statement. The guy trains legs, not squats, once every 3-4 weeks. His leg routine is literally a few set of squats, some leg extensions and leg press. I know this seems like as if I’m making shit up to justify my point (cause it’s that absurd) but I assure you I’m not.
You are constantly peaking thinking that’s “strength training”. I’ve been warning people about this mentality on this site for years: Start building a base of muscle and technique from the start. They’re bigger than you. Of course they’re going to be stronger than you.
I apologise. Didn’t realise that. But you could have utilized machines and dumbbell variations without messing them up further right?
Well, then that"s over 25% of your training career spent spinning your wheels. You gotta recognise the importance of a proper eating strategy. You can literally half-ass half of your workout and still gain(not optimally) with a proper diet.
This would be genetics then. Again, if you don’t believe me, ask @BrickHead about his legs. He’s natty.
I know what you mean but I’ve never thought the way I train could be considered peaking. I would consider most of my training would be rather volume-ish if you asked me. Most of my training does not culminate in a day where I’ll be performing at my most optimal. Hell, I’ve always trained in what I would consider subpar conditions to be honest.
Nope, I tried and my wrists were pretty beat up. There’s a reason why I focused quite a shit ton on rows(in hopes that it’ll give me a better foundation to press from in the future) until I could slowly incorporate rope work (couldn’t straight bar curl until recently since mid 2016) and then pull ups and now my pressing movements. Personally, I feel like when you can’t even do 1 bodyweight push up pain free, it’s best to avoid pressing movements for a while.
Obviously, I could’ve done uber light dumbbell flies/high for high reps but honestly, they just seemed very pointless and not worth the effort. I guess it won’t be inappropriate to say I was lazy when it came to that.
You are correct. I do see it now that both you and @MarkKO have pointed it out and I do really sincerely appreciate it.
Well then, I’ll take your word for it.
PS: if I come off as rude or whatever, I’m sorry, wasn’t intending to. When I read back my posts, I often think to myself, this guy is such a prick.
