AK's Journal

Mmm i think thats probably the best course of action. I was genuinly gutted when it dawned on me I wasn't going to get my 4 plate squat, but i'd guess the next 16 odd weeks of bringing my posterior chain up for the remainder of the year without any spinal stress will do it the world of good.

I'm hoping my kinaesthetic awareness when squatting will be much better too; theres so much emphasis on keeping a neutral arch with sumo's/GM's that its become second nature now, something that wasn't always present with squats!

I had to give up deadlifting for 2 years once due to bad back. My best lift at the time was 205kg using straps. It's now 272.5kg with 3 white lights at an international meet.

It's the long game for the win pal, so chin up and remember your doing a great job currently!

2 years, fkin hell what did you do?

Definately agree with you r/e long term health though, both times i've thrown it out i've tried to rush back and ended up crocking myself for even longer. Funny how one minute when you're training you feel invincible and the next minute you're hobbling around like a pensioner!

Tweaked it squating. Didn't pay heed and pulled it proper deadlifting later on in the week. Even when it healed it would still play up deadlifting and lay me up for a day or two. That went on for two years. Had to give up deadlifting pretty much. Luckly it healed itself eventually.

Re-did it benching in '05 but but not to the same degree. It still rears it's head ever other year or so!

Back Width/Shoulders

Chins

BWx10
BWx8
BWx6

Pulldowns

70kgx10
63kgx10

Close Grip Seated Row

63kgx10
56kgx12
56kgx12

Smith Overhead Press

35kgx12
35kgx10
30kgx8

DB Laterals

7.5kgx12
7.5kgx12
7.5kgx12

Cable Laterals

5kgx10
5kgx10

Face Pull/Rear Fly Superset

28kgx12/9kgx12
28kgx12/9kgx12


And thats all for the week

Really felt the effects of 4 days preceding training today, though that may be because i slept like crap, i don't know. Back work was generally good but the shoulder work was a bit off - still horrendously sore from Wednesday! Was intending on doing hang cleans instead of cable laterals, but both bars were in use....

Not sure if i'll take 2 or 3 days off now to recuperate, will see how i feel on monday and go from there.

In non training related stuff how are you keeping over the hols? Musn't be too long before you start you MSc? Remind me where's that at?

It's a bloody age yet Kenders - the course doesn't start until February 2010 so i've got another 6 odd months of twiddling my thumbs! Still looking for some sort of employment; applied for a job as a rehab assistant at a hospital not too far from me which would be bloody awesome to get as it'd provide an income and double up as some real hands on experience in working with physios.

If that falls through then i'll still be on the dole just to bring in some sort of money whilst i look for some work, the employment situation here is dire, i don't think any of my mates have managed to secure any work yet.

Quads/Calves

FST-7 Leg Extensions

60kgx10x7 - 30 seconds between sets

Leg Press

Was going to do FST here, but someone was on the machine for a bloody age, disrupting pretty much the remainder of my session

180kgx15
180kgx15
180kgx15 > 150kgx15

DB Lunges

22.5kgx ~12 paces
22.5kgx ~12 paces

Leg Press Calf Raise

175kgx50

Seated Calf Raise

42.5kgx50

Felt like a pretty average session, but TBH it was probably better than i perceived it to be. Some definate CNS hangover from last weeks training, 5 days on the trot is certainly not for me!

The extension and pressing work was half decent, but the lunges tipped me over the edge. The second set were OK up until the last length of lunges, had to do one, take a rest for a few seconds, do the next one, etc, absolute killer, heart rate was through the roof.

Times like this really make me want to squat again, but my better judgement is telling me to leave it until 2010

Ak_88

Some definate CNS hangover from last weeks training, 5 days on the trot is certainly not for me! 

 
pussy

Sorry i'm not on special creatine like you are

cut the volume and you'll cut the CNS hammering!

but i know you dont like that being done to your precious volume lolol

LOL, i just cannae do it! To be fair each session takes about an hour to get through which is pretty nice - except if i'm doing calves in which case it runs over a bit.

Trying something different this week though - 2 on 1 off, so the split's up to 8 days per cycle but with an extra 24 hours rest, hopefully it'll be better!

Back Thickness/Biceps

Barbell Row

85kgx12
85kgx12
80kgx12

Wide Grip Cable Row

77kgx10
70kgx10
63kgx12

Makeshift Tbar Row

50kgx12
55kgx10
50kgx10

Seated Alternate DB Curls

15kgx12
15kgx12

DB Preacher

15kgx10
15kgx8

Standing Ez Bar Curl

27.5kgx10
25kgx10

Much better session today than yesterday's one - less sluggishness about it. Everything thumbless again and less grip issues, few increases but nothing major, not too fussed. Will probably drop the cable row weight a bit next week as it feels too heavy to get a decent contraction out of my back.

Chest/Triceps

Flat BB Bench

92.5kgx8
90kgx8
85kgx6+2

Decline DB

32.5kgx12
32.5kgx7 (F)
27.5kgx10

Cable Crossovers

15kgx10
12.5kgx12
10kgx15

BB Floor Press

60kgx12
65kgx6
60kgx9

Dips

BWx6
BWx5

Pushdowns

FST-7 - 28kgx10x7, 24kgx10x1

Top session

Benching was much, much stronger than last week, at least another rep in the first set so 95kg is on the cards for next week as long as i can find a decent spotter again.

Decline work was good too - i'm being conservative with the range of movement to make sure i don't aggravate my shoulder, but it felt OK today.

Tricep work from now on is generally going to be more functional, since squatting is off the cards for the remainder of the year i'm going for a 2 plate bench for a full working set instead, getting off my chest ain't the issue, it's locking it out!

Forgive the intrusion, i cant help but notice a distinct lack of any high intensity energy work. Do you do any cardio?

Nope, quite frankly i can't be arsed with cardio right now

I wouldn't exactly call my training sessions low intensity either.

From my own experience i would say this is why youre getting podgey.

I would cut down the volume, up the intensity and get in some high intensity cardio. Youll see your body comp change with no real diet manipulations as well as various other positive benefits.

TBH i put adding fat down to just eating too much at times, i never had any issues with rapid weight gain when i was training with IB and the sessions were slightly longer - as my activity levels were probably more inline with my intake.

To me the sessions don't look particularly volume heavy, ~15 sets takes me about an hour from the first working one to leaving the gym floor, and for me cardio is boring as hell

Not trying to completely bin what you're saying, i just think it's an intake issue rather than intensity or volume.  I'm quite happy to add some flab if it means i continue to get stronger week by week.

Youre more than entitled to disagree with me, but i dont see how 15 sets should take you an hour. That to me is not intensity, thats taking it easy even if your rest times between sets are 2-3 minutes.

I eat loads, i also do quite a bit of high intensity cardio. 10 minutes of intervals and im done, or swimming, or even other activities that can be cardio based like weight based circuits or GPP work with a sandbag.

For me personally and based on my own experience, increased VO2 max and fitness plays a positive role in body comp, nutrient usage as well as recovery times for me. All this increases me strength week on week

Ive added some flab to my bulk, but i still have some form of abs and i still fit into my 32" waist jeans with room to spare, despite putting on over a stone since 9 odd weeks ago.

15 sets give or take lasts an hour because thats how long it takes me, i rest until i feel ready to do the next set. Sometimes that'll be 2 minutes, sometimes it'll be 5 minutes, i'm not gonna rush into another set if it means i end up failing prematurely.

I've no problem agreeing with you that fitness will increase the above factors, but since November my training has come on leaps and bounds because of the advice IB gave me.

I'm at the heaviest and strongest i've ever been, yes my condition is off but for me it's not an issue currently - so im terms of factoring in fitness work or changing how my works go, i don't need to at the moment. If it aint broke, don't fix it!

When i get unhappy with my body composition, i'll do something about it, but at the moment the gains i'm getting outweigh the need to worry about how much fat im gaining - i know how easy it is to get caught out by your own mind games, so at the moment i'm putting it on the back burner.