AK's Journal

TBH I'm not especially experienced in that side of it. However, as a start teh 5/3/2 wekk rotation that T0NY got me doing is feeling good. Combined with some suitable complementary exercise (floor press, inc, dec, etc) and I would expect +ve results. Iain or T0NY may offer better tho

Try a relatively slow and simple build up, e.g.

Week 1: 110kg, 5 triples
Week 2: 115kg, 3 triples
Week 3: Max Triple
Week 4: 115kg, 5 doubles
Week 5: 120kg, 3 doubles
Week 6: Max Double
Week 7: Max Single

Adjust weight accordingly of course.

You booked a ticket for the Hercules mate?

I know that a fair few people from my gym and UK-M are meeting at Nandos right near the venue at 12.00 befor it starts for some food. Then go out for drinks and more food after the show i think.

Let me know if your still coming down and il PM you my mob. number.

Balls i totally forgot about that!

I'll try and get one ordered over the weekend mate and let you know the outcome.

Still about 100 tickets avaliable mate, so let me know.

Awesome - i'll get back to you the other side of the weekend man.

Ak_88


Cheers Iain - i've earmarked 140 for 1 next year, but i've been told it could be achievable this year! We'll have to see

Mmm some good advice so far. I you want any chance of 140 by the end of the year then you'd need to bench soley for strength as has been suggested. You can still do BB work on the assistance stuff so should be no probs on that score.
 
You do need to accistomed youself to hitting singles. 100x8 will not get you 140. I'll be honest I don't see you lifting 140 this year. But it's an excellent goal for next year.
 
Low reps, more sets, speed, power and technique!

Cheers Iain - i'll put it on the backburner for next year then if it's going to end up being too much of a rush to do it properly

Quads/Calves

Staggered Leg Press

Per leg as master/slave

160kgx12
150kgx12
140kgx12

Front Squats

50kgx10
55kgx8
60kgx8

Walking Lunges

25kgx~16
25kgx~16

Feeling rather sick by now

Leg Press Calf Raise

135kgx10x10 - 30 seconds rest between sets.

Core work and some stretching to finish.

Good session. Fancied a change from leg extensions and fronties seemed a viable option, first time i've ever done any sort of squats following something else i think. Whether it was because i was warmer or the flexibility stuff i've been doing has started to work, i managed to use a narrower stance and hit good depth. Didn't have to drive outwards with my hips as much with this stance too.

Knees were more than likely over my toes but TBH i seem to do that all the time and i've never had an issue with it. Paused at the bottom too to try and reinforce to myself how to maintain the arch coming out of the hole.

May play about with this session a bit next week again, perhaps superset the Fronties with extensions

how do you rate lunges?

Love/hate thing doing them. They are great, but soul destroying.

Walking lunges are much better than static ones too. IMO they need to be > 8 reps per leg though, the last 4 paces per leg will make you want to die.

static variations are a great bullsh1t exercise that I throw in sometimes after real training. they would be better if the goal is to actually strengthen the prime movers.

with lunges I think it's far too much energy balancing rather than moving weight.

on the other hand, sets are completed quicker...

and your strength has come on wonders, from this time last year at least. some very decent weights/sessions here. nice stuff..

how much are you weighing now?

Yeah - theres definately a lot more coordination required with them and once i'm worn out i tend to wobble a bit, but hopefully it'll aid my core strength and stability a bit, they also leave me positively dead, so something must be working right.

Weights at ~217lbs i think now, somewhat blubbery but i felt the softly softly approach wasn't getting me anywhere, having learnt from IB i just needed to cut the crap and get to where i wanted to be. I'm throwing in some AM cardio on non-leg days to see if it helps, but ultimately i'm not fussed about my condition for now. My main focus is just adding weight to the bar and on the scales, with that some decent mass will surely come.

Back Thickness/Biceps

Makeshift Tbar Row

75kgx12
70kgx10
60kgx12

Wide Grip Cable Row

77kgx12
70kgx12
66kgx12

Barbell Row

80kgx10
75kgx10

Lower back was niggling by this point so stopped there, lats were dead anyway.

DB Preacher

17.5kgx10
15kgx10

Incline Supinated DB Curls

12.5kgx10
12.5kgx10

Standing Ez Bar Curl

30kgx10
25kgx12

Good session today. T-bars are taking a lot out of me, but going up week by week so not a problem. As mentioned above, lower back was niggling a bit, whether this is from a poor nights sleep or doing the fronts yesterday i don't know, but i'll keep an eye on it.

Arm work also seemed a bit tougher today, not sure why, but still got a good pump.

I think lunges are great if your training for a sport. Probably less so for BB style training. A finsher at best.

Meant to be quite good for the glute-ham tie in if memory serves correct, that said generally i use them as a finisher.

Besides, more glute work with a back as fcked as mine can't be all bad

Chest/Triceps

Flat BB Bench

102.5kgx6+1
95kgx6+1
85kgx7

Decline DB

37.5kgx6
32.5kgx8
32.5kgx8

Cable Crossovers

17.5kgx9
15kgx12
12.5kgx12

Smith Floor Press

70kgx8
65kgx8
60kgx8
50kgx10

Dips

BWx5+3 negatives
BWx4+4 negatives

Pushdowns

35kgx12
38kgx10
35kgx10

Hip and ham stretching to finish.

Good session today. Rep numbers were down a bit on the bench but i wasn't expecting to get a full 8 out as we're now in unchartered waters for the bench work. Tri's as per usual seemed to be the weakest link for the pressing work, but by the time i was done with all the chest stuff it felt absolutely smoked, moreso than usual

Feet are still a tad sore but seemed to get better as the session went on today - makes me think/hope it's just deconditioning from no cardio for quite some time. Will try doing some AM cardio on saturday again since tommorow is hams and glutes.

On the plus side - lower back has been very well behaved the last few days and my right shoulder seems to have vanquished all signs of previous problems, ain't prehab work grand

I think lunges are great if your training for a sport. Probably less so for BB style training. A finsher at best

I was trying to be diplomatic, but what Iain said sounds better

lunges are sh1t

Well i like 'em, and theres precious little other quad work on offer to me at the moment, so they'll be staying

sh1tier than that first sentence 

I see lots of girls doing lunges

Nice bench work mate..... floor press in a smith, hmmmm, not thought of that, how do you find it?