Sunday - Technically an off day
Wasnt really an off day to be honest - did a 10mile hike cross country in about 3 3/4 hours in preparation for the three peaks challenge next weekend. Comfortable pace, should be quite easy really.
probably a little low on cals today but no matter, one day does not equal failure.
Looking forward to a four day gym blast starting monday before I have 4 days off.
Monday - Press Day
Strangely my legs felt better today than they did going into the walk yesterday, can only be a good sign roll on the challenge.
Made a small change this morning to breakfast, I scrapped the veg, nuts and fish oil that I would usually have so my shake was; 2 raw eggs, 1 scoop whey, 1 apple 1.5 bananas, 250ml semi skimmed (no full fat in the fridge) and a little left over CC. Went to the gym less than full and although I was a little tired I got a good session going.
OH press 65kg
5 3 4
Dropped the weight slightly to get that first set with the full 5 reps and got it, technically a new PR, was happy with that. Second set lost the rhythm a little but managed to pick it up in the 3rd set. Will decide what to do with the weights next week.
EZ bar curl 50kg
5 3 4
Was feeling good so I fancied a challenge, a solid 5 to begin with. I had to change hand position on the second set during the set which threw me off. Final set went well. This is tough on the forearms though.
CGBP
77.5kg 5 5
80kg 5 3
Did a couple more warm up sets than usual. dropped the weight to get the reps and hit 5 on both sets, I felt strong through out so raised it up to 80kg. Got the 5 that have been eluding me for a couple of weeks now I tihnk I can start progressing a little faster.
Was running a little short of time at this point so I did hammer, push down and rope crunches as a circuit.
alt Hammer curl 20kg 8 6 6
Tricep push down 40kg 7 6 6
Rope Crunches 30kg 8 8 9
This was hard as bared out by the results. not great admittidly but leaves room for progress
Found I had a couple of mins left at the end
so did 1 set of 14kg 1arm shoulder press for 30 secs got 19 on right arm and 16 on the left but added another 3 to even it out
Also 1 set of pull ups got 5 ish solid reps. gonna make a big effort on these on back day.
Relatively good day overall glad I hit the 5 on the OH press and CGBP, bring on the rest of the week,
squats tomorrow.
Squat Day
Went with the smaller amount of food preworkout again (although full fat instead of semi)and again had a great session. This is obviously the way forward at the moment.
Squats - 90kg 5 5 5 5
95kg 5
Fancied a change today though so I went with back squats down to a box. 90kg felt easy upped it to 95kg on the last set and got solid reps. Might do these again next time (95kg for all though)
RDL’s - 75kg
5 5 5
Solid again probably underestimating myself a little here will shift it to 80kg next time.
Bulgarian splir - 20kg DBs
L 10 10 6+4
R 10 10 10
Wobbled all over the place on the left side on the last set to begin with, could have got 10 if I got it right. gonna do the 22kgs next time.
Hack Squat machine - 120
50 reps
Just for giggles, although 120 was a little easy will do more next time
Static Paloff - 80lb
3x30secs / side
Was hard might try putting it up next time we’ll see
Good day overall, was refreshing going back to just back squats for a change might consider alternating in future. Roll on tomorrow.
Wednesday - Back session
Not gonna go into too much detail here as the session was a little bit of a mish mash of loads of back exercises.
Suffice to say:
Pull ups I still suck at - think I got 7.5 on the first set unsure, admittedly as I had to do it on the assist station which has no bar going across so I couldn’t quite tell if I got full range. Got to the bar after and reps dropped quickly…really struggle with the last part of the motion.
DB rows - 40 kg 3x6 on each arm
Felt solid on these.
Rest of session was a mixture of supinated pull downs, cable rows, face pulls and 1 set of chins to finish.
Side note 1 : Legs and glutes are sore from yesterday…sitting is uncomfortable…
Side note 2 : it was 25 degrees in the gym at 6.45 this morning, they need to sort the damn aircon I got a sweat on doing my my shoulder mobility work…
Site note 3 : cant believe I going for a beach workout tomorrow, chest, arms and abs. Well a little ego training doesnt do much harm once in a while.
Thursday - Chest day
Didnt think I was gonna have a good session but it turned out pretty well.
DB Press - 40kg DBs
6 5 4
No increase on the first set but picked up an extra rep on the second so I’d call it an improvement
Dip - 26kg
5 5 5
Forgot my dipping belt so had to use a DB between the feet. Think I was more vertical so it felt stronger. Will try 26.25 next time with belt.
Seated incline cable fly
10@ 50lb 8@ 60lb 8@ 60lb
Not done these for ages, was a tough exercise and definitly felt more isolation in the chest.
Skull crusher - 35kg
6 6 6
Pretty good, nothing much to report
Cable Curl - various
was all over the place with these, used straight bar, rope another station. Straight bar curls kill my forearms probably wont use a straight bar again.
Ab Rollout 9 8 8
Push ups 13 11 12
Good ab work and just did a few push ups to finish off.
Good session overall, now after the 4 day blast I have 4 days off for the 3 peak walking challenge roll on 5am tomorrow. will update with how it went on monday.
Friday/Saturday/Sunday/Monday
Three peaks challenge over the weekend
Ben Nevis saturday
Scafell and Snowdon Sunday
Total distance 22-23 miles of hill hiking and most of that time with 2 back packs which was probably an extra 10-15kg. Was amazing, very happy, all six in the team hiked them all…very proud of everyone.
Very little sleep and mostly protein bars, beef jerky, fruit and nuts over the weekend not great on the diet but needed to eat loads to keep the energy up.
Tuesday - Deadlift day
Needed more sleep to recover from the weekend but wanted to get back into the routine so I wasnt expecting a great session. Also have started the anabolic diet today…11 days of very little carbs should be very interesting.
Rack pulls - 140kg
set up on some supports firstly below the knee and then about knee level got set of five with each not bad. A little hard to activate the glutes must still be a little tired from the weekend will practice a little more next week.
Pull throughs - 47.5kg
5 5 5
Felt better with these hamstrings felt more loaded. Really want to do GHR’s instead but strugglin to get a decent set up.
Pull ups 1 set got 4 full ones. Felt a little weak here, hands are a little sore.
Reverse lunge from box - 18kg
10 10 10
very hard but progress nonetheless might try 20kgs next week.
face pulls
Really need to look at these again…must find that video.
pull ups/chin ups
just body weight though Id get a few practice sets in did not go to failure at all.
Not a great day but understandable, will rest up properly and get back to it.
Wednesday - Press day
Still feeling a little tired and weak so didnt attempt to push any records. Went Waterbury style for 25 reps on each exercise.
OH press - 55kg
7 6 5 4 3 = 25 reps
Pretty solid result considering, gonna get back to pushing records next week though
Chins
10kg 6 6
12kg 5 4 4
25reps
Switched Curls for chins, just fancied them instead might do them more often.
CGBP
70kg 7
75kg 4 5 4 5
nothing really to report here sets 2 and 4 screwed up on so missed the reps will get back to 80kg or 82.5kg depending on energy levels
Alt Hammer 20kg 12 10 8 10 10 - 50reps
Pushdown 40kg 5 5 5 6 4 - 25reps
Got the reps in and RP’d the last sets, should be back on form next week
1 arm press - 20kg 10 9 11
Side plank + 4kg DB 3 x 30secs/side
RP’d the last two sets matched previous on press and did better on plank probably best result of the day
Well still weak from the weekend and starting the anabolic diet probably didnt help, things can only get better.
Thursday - Off day
got plenty of sleep but still started to flag in the evening hopefully the metabolic switch will happen soon
Booked laser eye surgery for the 5th of August the week after I finish the maintenance phase on the anabolic diet and am gonna have to take 12-14 days off lifting…not looking forward to that
will drop the calories below 3000 and stick to low carb until the 15th-16th weekend, carb up and then hopefully be back in the gym on the monday.
Might need to up my training frequency and volume for the week before and leading upto the day so I can supercompensate…we’ll see
Friday - Squat day
more energy this morning, maybe the switch is starting to happen?
Back squat to parallel box
95kg - 5 5 5 5
100kg - 3 2
Good sets initially a little slow out of the hole but made depth every time, might try and take a video next time just to ensure technique is correct. Will go to 100kg then probably work on getting deeper.
RDL’s
80kg 5 5 5
Good solid sets really concentrated on the hips and as far as I can tell very little lower back involvement
Bulgarian Splits - 22kg DBs
10 8 9
Was a little wobbly on the second set and even had to put my foot down at one point but made it up in the third. Will keep this weight next week.
Squats - 60kg
10 20
Poor weight but thought Id finish myself off, almost fell over on the last rep of the twenty…had to lay down after…no abs or pull ups possible today
Not records per say but progress on last time. Energy levels okay and no real cravings for carbs, but feeling very flat cant wait for the carb up next weekend.