AK's Journal

I've seen the hams & glutes of one of the guys doing the juniors of this weekends finals (well in pictures ) and he puts it down to twice weekly lunges!

I actually prefer doing it in a smith to what i was doing previously - which involved carefully balancing the bar on the end of a bench and pulling it from there into the starting position. I figured once it got heavier it was going to put my shoulder under undue strain so moved into the smith and i find it much smoother.

Other than getting pinned under it last weekend when i failed LOL

Glutes/Hamstrings/Calves

Sumo Deadlifts

120kgx5
120kgx5
120kgx5

Good Mornings

60kgx8
60kgx8
50kgx10

Seated Hamstring Curls

80kgx12
80kgx10

Glute-Ham Raises

BWx15
BWx12

Seated Calf Raise

52.5kgx10x10 - 30s between sets

Core work and stretching to finish.

Pretty good session today. I think ive finally nailed the form for Sumos, they were smooth all the way through and powered up with some serious glute clenching

GM's i think i'm going to change out next week, they're beginning to feel a bit too stressful on my lower back without giving a good hamstring stretch now. Instead i'll do the other exercises first and then have some 12-15 rep RDL or SLDL's to finish with.

Flexibility seems to be coming on quite nicely now in my hips and hams too, might need some new exercises too as i'm running out of range of motion

Back Width/Shoulders

Seated Row

77kgx12
70kgx12
63kgx12

Underhand Pulldowns

Done on a plate-loaded machine today rather than a Lat pulldown, the movement arc is much more suited to underhand PD's than a cable machine.

80kgx10
80kgx10
70kgx10

Chins

BWx7
BWx6
BWx7

Barbell Push-Press

60kgx5
50kgx7
50kgx6

DB Laterals

12.5kgx10
10kgx12

Face Pull/Rear Fly

31kgx12/8kgx12
31kgx12/8kgx12

Bit hit and miss today. Felt very laboured throughout and pretty much lost interest by the time i'd finished with the OHP work. Think i'm going back to training weekdays - 2 on 1 off 2 on 2 off. The split'll take a bit longer, but i'm sure theres no harm in giving each body part and extra 2 days rest as the split progresses.

Am I right in thinking your looking to compete in the not-so distant future?
What your current condition like? Are you making insane progress seeing as though your bumming round all day?

I say we need pictures!

Other than that, good work, yours is one of the most consistant logs I read, you don't often skip sessions do you?

Hey mate. Not too distant future would be vastly optimistic Mainly though that comes down to uni committments over the next 2 years, injury issues forced me to rethink things a bit, as well as needing a lot, lot more size to be anywhere near competitive! If i were to put a timescale on it i'd say late 20's now, but thats based on how i can train at the moment.

I'll get some pics up over the next week or 2, but stats wise i'm about 217lbs - arms are about 15.7", quads just short of 25" (half way up), chest just shy of 44". Waist? Hmmm nah we'll leave that out

Current condition isn't great, but TBH at the moment i'm not fussed by it - moreso concentrating on adding strength in the gym and adding weight on the scales, with which lean tissue (and inevitably fat) shold come. It went downhill a bit too fast when i came back from uni as my diet was the same, but minus all the little things i used to do like walking to town, lectures etc.

Having fannied about with cutting and bulking over the last 3 years i've just decided to put my image worries on the back burner for now and gain some real mass, lean or otherwise, and cut down later. That said, i've started doing morning cardio to try and maintain/improve it a bit whilst not compromising my progression with weights.

Nah i don't skip sessions - training in the gym is one of my great enjoyments no matter what i'm doing. If i'm put in a situation where i need to skip a session or feel particularly crap i'll just move everything back 24 hours to fit it in rather than leave it out for a week.

Weight/chest/arm/even waist measurements are pretty much the same as mine. Strength levels aren't a world apart other than your squat is a fair bit better.

Will you be competing o'naturelle or, ahem, joining the bigger boys?

I wish i could still squat though! Thats one of the main reasons i put competition aspirations aside for now, no point having big legs if it means being crocked for the other 6 days of the week! I'm still learning what i respond best to r/e exercises, diet and so on, once i get a better idea of whats ideal i can crack on at full speed.

Natty for me all the way. I've nothing against those in untested comps, i think they look absolutely awesome, but for me i can't ignore the potential sides with gear use. I know theres no conclusive research and you can probably cycle quite safely, but having a mother as a nurse, i've had it drummed hard into my head how bad steroids are. I can toss her opinion aside as typical media hype, but theres always that niggling thing at the back of my mind.

http://www.laweekly.com/2005-07-28/news/sympathy-for-the-devil/

Is it your back that gives you jip when squatting? Or was it your knee?
How do you cope with front squats?

I'm in a similiar position to you now, I find not deadlifting awkward now, especially as I'm probably going to start splitting up bodyparts again... Will just be a mass of t-bar rows, db rows and chins. Oh, and shrugs!

I'm also limited with my overhead work as I have a low ceiling... Not ideal but ill manage!

Lower back or  hip thats been giving me grief. Originally 'went out' in early new year, packed in any free weight stuff that didn't feel right. Probably about 3-4 months recovery before i started bringing little bits and bobs back in. Managed a few months squatting - hit a PB of 130x10 and subsequently blew a gasket somewhere.

That was the proverbial straw for me, since then i've gone on a blitz to strengthen the hell out of my core and posterior chain muscles to give my lower back and hips more stability.

I did some fronties last week and they seemed OK, will be doing them again tommorow i think and see how i fare.

Deadlifts are overrated though, sumos are the way to go

I've yet to be convinced on the sumo's! But hey, if they work...
130x10 is excellent mate, think I could manage about 5 at the moment on a good day.
Though I'm at the stage now where I can freely eat a **** load but have stopped rugby this season and my gut seems to be expanding! I'm tempted to just give up on increasing my lifts for the time being (not the best environments really!) and try and pack on some muscle and go for volume. Simple splits, simple exercises, and see what happens! I'm about 95-97kg but certainly dont look or feel that heavy. I wouldnt mind a belly if I had the muscle to go along with it. Watch this space!

LOL - thats my thinking as well. The factor that theres been very few weeks in say the last 2 months where my strength has not increased in some manner (be it reps or poundage) over 2-3 sessions. As long as this continues i'm happy to add weight in whatever form it comes in.

IMO too many (myself previously included) who become hung up on whether they're gaining muscle, what arbitrary % their bodyfat is, etc.

Unless you're heavily muscled and/or are a competitive BB'er, you should be training movements, not muscles. Although strength and size aren't always synonymous, you put strength on your 8-12RM bench and your chest is going to grow!

Yeah good point. To be honest, I've always been more focused on keeping the weight going up, while not neccessarily following a strength routine. Now I don't really play any sport I should really try and do something abit more efficient. Heh, I've never actually been particulary fussed about my bodyfat%, I like my drink and chocolate far too much to get that fussy. But i would be happy if i could shed even a small amount of fat off my hips/lower back area.

Out of interest, what grip do you use for your bench then? When I first started my ring finger would be on the lines of the bar, now my pinky is about 1cm in from the line. It helps me lift more, and doesn't feel as torturous on my shoulders! Does it make much difference to chest development?

And lastly.... are 15rep squats all they're cracked up to be?

EDIT - Lastly lastly, whats the reasoning with the splits you've chosen? Training back width and thickness on two different days, were you not growing before?

Thanks for letting me pick your brain by the way.

Previously i've gone for index finger on the second ring of an Oly bar and gone as close as little finger on the same ring. Had a play about a while ago to see if it felt any different in terms of pec contraction, and it didn't Recently i've been using my middle finger on that ring and it feels nice and stable on my shoulders and i'm shifting some decent weight so i'm happy in that respect.

I think unless you're using a mega wide grip (like just short of the edges of the bench rack) then it won't make enough difference on your chest activity to tell, without putting your shoulders in a compromising position.

15's are great for squats - i found them more taxing than 20's. The weight is enough to make sure form doesn't dip enough, but also leaves you blowing out your arse by the end of them. For pure leg building though i much preferred hack squats - no issue of core/lower back strength endurance stopping you prematurely, all on the legs and the tendency to bounce out of the hole seems much lower.

I was doing OK on a single back day, but i found towards the end everything was starting to drag a bit. Having to do 3 sets for 4 heavy compound movements left the end of the session very laboured. The way i'm training back ATM it seems quite good as i can do 9 sets with a good intensity throughout.

The terms thickness and width are pretty arbitrary though - it's probably better termed pulldown/chin movements and row days.

Or even horizontal and vertical pulling perhaps as described by J.Defranco himself!

Cheers for the answers bud.

Quads/Calves

Staggered Leg Press

Per leg as master/slave

165kgx12
155kgx12
150kgx12

Front Squats & Leg Extensions Superset

60kgx10/25kgx10

Sick burp here, quite a mouthful

60kgx8/25kgx10

Walking Lunges

25kgx~16

Ready to chunder here, no more.

Leg Press Calf Raise

130kgx10x10 - 30 seconds rest between sets.

Core work and some stretching to finish.

Not a bad session considering i'm feeling pretty crap today. Haven't slept properly in my 2 days off so cardio was sacked off, and as a result my back tightened up a bit and i feel a little burnt out.

There was more in the front squats, but given how my back felt i decided it best not to be heroic.

Back Thickness/Biceps

Forgot my notepad so this is from memory

Makeshift Tbar Row

80kgx11
75kgx11
70kgx10
60kgx12

Wide Grip Cable Row

70kgx12
66kgx12
63kgx12
59kgx12

Barbell/DB Shrug Superset

90kgx12/30kgx12
90kgx10/30kgx10
80kgx12/30kgx12

DB Preacher

17.5kgx12
15kgx10

Incline Supinated DB Curls

12.5kgx10
12.5kgx10

Cable Curl

17.5kgx12
17.5kgx12

Good session today - much more energy than Tuesday's efforts. Little change in the setup as last week my lower back was cained after doing the Tbars. Traps look like they're lagging behind where i thought they'd do OK with all the other back work, so for the time being i'll be doing the above instead of last week's stuff.

All in all a good session - very good pump throughout, although the BB shrugs seemed to put a bit too much strain on my lower back, may try these seated next week and see how it goes.

Interesting that you do the 1 max weight/rep set then drop down for following sets...
 
I'm the opposite on traps, barely trained them all year..... I'd be happier if my chest was the area that responded like this rather than my traps however

Yeah - it's the method IB taught me and i think it's done me a lot better than working up.

I think his logic behind it was why do say 50kg for 8 first if you can do 60/70 first, it's almost like you're depriving yourself of intensity doing it succesively rather than dropping down each set.

I know i wouldn't be able to bench as much if i worked upwards because my tri's take such a caining, probably similar for other big movements.

My chest is exactly the same, but as long as i'm adding poundage i'm hoping it'll grow, at least thats what the optimist in me says