[quote]LiftingStrumpet wrote:
Nice training template you have going. I’ve never been to a bodybuilding show, but your writeup is about what I expected those shows to be like![/quote]
Yeah I half knew what I was letting myself in for, especially from the WBFF!
I spoke to a judge from another federation today at the gym and he said that others are very different and I should also look into the UKBFF for something more down to earth. Unfortunately I just missed their last show of the season, so will have to wait until next year, but just looking at the show photos online it seems a totally different ballgame.
Romanian Deads 50kg 10, 10, 10, 10 s/s Single leg squat jumps 15, 15, 15, 15.
Barbell Hip Thrusts 55kg s/s Glute-focus Hyperextensions 15, 15, 15
Got really faint and dizzy at the end missed out final set as I was close to vomiting, could feel it coming on during the deadlifts but carried on pushing. Think it was my attempt at a pre-wrokout - had some coffee and some simple carbs which doesn’t seem to suit me at all, have had problems with carbs pre-workout before but wanted to try again to give me an extra boost for legs - wrong, I seem to function better on fat and protein pre-workout so will stick with that!
1 mile run - 7mins 17secs…shaved a full 10 secs of my previous best time and for the first time since I started this run it didn’t feel horrendous towards the end - happy dayz.
Chest & Shoulders:
Incline bench
20kg 12
30kg 10
35kg 6, 6, 6, 5
Dips - 8, 8, 7, 7, 7 (these are finally starting to feel stronger and more controlled)
10 mins super fast jump rope (lots of double unders and high knees)
40mins incline walk.
Gym-time is creeping up every session which is fine at the moment as I have the capacity for it - so making the most of it while I can.
And as I suspected I train much betterer on just fats and protein beforehand. Tried just salmon and eggs and a coffee before this 2 hour session and felt energised and not shaky at all like I do when I take in carbs. This should theoretically help with fat burning also - we shall see…
20 mins of jump rope and ab circuits - 30secs on 10 secs off which just gives enough time to transition from one exercise to the next alternating between different jump rope techniques and various ab exercises.
Then an hour or so of drills for handstands and pistol squats with yoga mixed in.
Today - Back & Abs
1 mile run - 7mins 31 secs - slowed up again, tired.
10 mins of fast jump rope and 40 mins of incline walk.
The deadlifts in this session should have been rack pulls but there’s no way of doing them at my gym. The one rack only has one fixed arm position which is set too high. This position also happens to be too high for my squatting which I need to move back out of the rack of in order to get down low enough which means I never push my squat weight either
Thursday - Back
Assisted Pullups
Deadlift - Rackpulls where I can
T-Bar Row
Front Supine Pulldown
Straight Arm Pull down
Rows - various
Play day - bodyweight / gymnastic drillz n’skillz & ab work.
Dropping the morning run as it started to exacerbate an old knee injury - I thought just 1 mile a day would be ok, but knee no happy
So, instead it’s cardio after each lifting session - 10mins or so of fast rope work and then incline treadmill walking for 40 mins, and I’m going to start doing at least 2 of the sessions first thing in the morning, fasted to get into an intermittent fasting regime - which is something that has always suited me well in the past for body recomp.
I tried this with Chest & Shoulders today and it felt good - just some BCAAs and black coffee beforehand.
I’ll be fasting on a 16:8 ratio (16 hours fast - 8 hour eating window) 3-4 days a week.
Played with the idea of doing a serious carb-cycling protocol like Lyle McDonalds Ultimate Diet 2.0 - but don’t want to do something so intrusive on normal life this early in my training - maybe something for next year.
Still grinding out the same program, adding either reps / sets / gradual weight increase each time I lift. In a nice rhythm with it all - plus jump rope is getting nice n’speedy and more complex in moves
Fat is slowly coming down also with the addition of cardio and the intermittent fasts a few times a week.
Must be all working, I’ve been asked to front a new fitness app - start shooting footage / stills for it next week - will see if I can get any sneak preview shots!
Felt like I need a little change up but don’t want a set routine until the new year. So for December I’ll be free-styling my training, body part breakdowns will be similar but I’ll be using exercises I want to do on the day, feeling out as I go along but with a set focus. So today…
Still lifting, just been too busy to log.
Am just feeling my way through each session in December and it’s been fun. Have naturally fallen into 2 lower body and 2 upper body sessions a week this way.
This week has been…
Monday - Lower body
Barbell Hip Thrusts
60kg 15, 15, 15, 12, 12, 12, 12, 12.
last 4 sets superset with hyperback extensions for 20, 20, 20, 20
What else…err… Food has been more relaxed and I’m allowing for the some blow-outs over the course of December as so many nights to attend. Have enjoyed some awesome meals out in London (spoilt for amazing restaurants here) and have another planned for tomorrow night.
But have a week of filming next week on the new Mission Impossible film, so keeping things in check ready for Mr Cruise!
Had my costume fitting today, very excited for this one…
So much has happened, the year already flying by.
Training’s continued in the same consistent vein and has just recently kicked up a notch as I’ve decided to prep for a comp this summer and am on board with a fantastic coach.
No time for regular on-line activity due to intense work + training loads, but will try and pop my head in on here from time to time to see what everyone’s up to and update a little on mine.
Have attached a pic to show a little of what I managed to achieve over an intense 4 month period, will be focusing on more lean gains over the upcoming weeks and then a diet down.
All whilst filming full-time on a great movie project all over the UK for the first 6 months of 2015.
Am happier than I’ve ever been with life, and I put a lot of that down to training and it’s glorious knock-on effects!
Congratulations on everything, and impressive work shown in that photo.
Mind explaining how you trained over the past couple months to get those results? My girlfriend has been struggling a bit with her glutes, although she’s done great everywhere else, so I’m interested in what you’re doing that’s working for you.
[quote]LoRez wrote:
Congratulations on everything, and impressive work shown in that photo.
Mind explaining how you trained over the past couple months to get those results? My girlfriend has been struggling a bit with her glutes, although she’s done great everywhere else, so I’m interested in what you’re doing that’s working for you.[/quote]
Hey LoRez, thanks for the comments. I built up to training glutes 2-3 times a week, with dedicated Glute-only days. Heavy Barbell Hip Thrusts (Bret Contreras signature move) and single leg cable kick-backs were my go-to exercises - volume and weight high. Dani Shugart wrote a great article on this kinda training…
[quote]Powerpuff wrote:
Beautiful! You certainly brought up your backside.
Best of luck with your prep! I’ll look forward to following your progress.
Oh, and gorgeous picture up there in the gown.[/quote]
Thanks Powerpuff! I had a quick peek at your journal, will definitely be back to read more thoroughly at a later date… I also trained professionally as a dancer - Cecchetti ballet, contemporary and jazz. But retired very early due to an ACL injury. But it has all been a great precursor to all sorts of other training, including weights!
[quote]LiftingStrumpet wrote:
Nice to see you stopping in. It looks like your lean gain phase has been a great success![/quote]
Thanks Strumpet… Loved every moment of lean gain phase, I think dieting-down for stage phase might not be so enjoyable. But I’m ready and raring to go for it!
