AK's Journal

Thats pretty the approach i had up until August of last year, just kept putting it off but it wasn't until i was literally hobbling all over the house that i realised enough was enough. Ego hit yes, but also the right decision made.

Todays training;

Chest/Tri's

Flat DB

37.5kgx10
32.5kgx10
32.5kgx8+2 (rest pause)

Decline BB

80kgx9
70kgx11
60kgx10+4+1 (RP again)

Incline Smith

30kgx8+2
20kgx10+2
20kgx10+2

Cable Crossovers

30kgx12
25kgx12
20kgx15

DB Flies

10kgx10
10kgx10

Overhead Cable Extensions

45kgx15
40kgx15
40kgx15
40kgx12

Single Arm Pushdowns

15kgx10
10kgx12
10kgx12

Foam roll and stretch to close.

Different approach to today again. I'm finding Flat BB tiresome in that it destroys my delt's & tri's without really getting much pec work out of it. So today a change of tact for a while to see how i respond. Was working on 60-120s rest between most sets aiming for 10+ reps throughout.

DB work felt much more chesty than BB and no real cuff issues to speak of, next week i'll probably take a bit longer to warm up my shoulders though. Tri's only held me back on the first set of declines, everything else seemed to be ok, chest was full of blood after that was all done

Tri work was just no frills basic stuff today, elbow coped fine with the pressing work so i was in no rush to throw in heavy dips or anything else, again got a nice pump and will incorporate stuff back in as i feel necessary.

Back/Calves

Deadlift

200kgx3 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNXVCMnKmO0
180kgx5
170kgx7-8 - Lost count here

Chins

BWx10
BWx6
BWx5

T-Bar Row

60kgx10
55kgx10
50kgx10

Cable Row

12 plates x8
11 plates x10
10 plates x10

Pullover Machine

60kgx10
60kgx10

Shrug Machine

16 plates x15
17 plates x15
14 plates x20

James 3-Minute Calf Routine

2x15 Standing calf raises at 70kg to start then
Plate 15,12,18 x10, usual other stuff.

Stretching and foam rolling to finish.

Lovely session. DL's were solid but going for a fourth rep at 200 probably would've been very ugly and not great for me, so best left there. Will go at 200 again next week and if i get 4-5 i'll be happy enough

Other work was good too, kept the rest periods between 60 and 120 seconds throughout, generated a nice pump and sweat.

Nice going, mate. I'd have tried reps on 200 myself if I hadn't been housebound with this darn throat infection (can't see vids at home so I'll reserve comment on whether you could have done more or not). And I'm all for the timed/limited rest periods.

Good going, are we going to have a race to break 230+? (PS I will be cheating )

Form was much better than last week i felt - i've noticed recently though that i'm finding it much harder to keep my legs in the lift for longer, but theres little noticeable lower back strain, just what feels like a lot of erector spinae tension. Hopefully training hams away from quads again will help stick a bit more strength into them.

I'm staying away from the big singles whilst i'm still dieting down LOL, triples are probably the lowest i'll go for a while. My aim for 2010 was to get to 5 plates but TBH i could have that in a month or two if i really wanted it i reckon. It may move closer to 240/50 depending on how things continue to move along.

Nice deadlift.

Do 220 then set your sights on 500lbs aka 227.5kg

Cheers Iain! Thats the plan, just keep going on as i can and if i'm within touching distance of 500lbs by summer time i'll be a happy bunny!

You should take 220 soon week or two tops. Then decide if you need to cycle back down the load or whether you can keep it pretty high and push on to another pb in a month or so etc?

I was debating cycling back down for a bit and bringing my reps up for a while actually as the first set (i.e max effort) is really starting to hit me hard.

I think i'll give 200x5 a go next week then hit some singles the week after, maybe deload for a week or two and build back up so i don't overpush the envelope. What d'you reckon?

It all depends how you feel.

Why not just take 220 next week if your feeling good warming up? Then back down week after. You seem good for 220 now so all being well get it done then plan the next phase. It'd feel unfinished after you've worked up so well without having a pb shot?

Good idea - gives me a good excuse to carb up too on friday!

Working up to it, something like;

60
100
140
180
200
220.

Keeping it simple, double/triple at 140 then just singles from there?

Summit like that. Def singles of 180-200 and poss 160. But however you normally warm up for a big set

Today i did 60, 110, 150, 180, then 200 - felt OK although you might be right in sticking another one in between 140 and 180.

I would.

When I warm up I normally get to 120 and do 20 jumps from there until I am at the weight. Unless its an odd number aka 210 then I'll take one 30kg jump lower down.

Or you could do a TONY- 100, 200, 300 :) lol

I think 300 might be just out of reach for now, maybe in a few weeks

Hams/Delts/Bi's

Lying Ham Curl

5 plates x12
4 plates x12
3 plates x15

RDL

100kgx8
90kgx10
90kgx10

Seated DB Press

30kgx6
25kgx8
20kgx10

DB Laterals/Cable Laterals

10kgx10/10kgx10
7.5kgx10/10kgx10
7.5kgx10/5kgx12

Cable Curl

45kgx12
35kgx12
30kgx10 > 20kgx10

Concentration Curls

10kgx8
10kgx8

Face Pull/Rear Fly

60kgx12/12.5kgx10
50kgx12/12.5kgx8

Stretching, core work and foam roll to finish.

Happy with todays work, hams were a touch sore from yesterdays DL'ing but were fine once i got going. Delt stuff was OK, down a smidge but to be expected with 6 sets preceding it.

Rest periods down again to 60-120 seconds, took just under an hour from start to finish (core and stretching stuff excluded).

Yeah, go for it, mate. As iain says, see how the building up goes and then decide when you near the top.

60mins with EVERYTHING, that's a quick session

Yup Was a gooden! Didn't worry too much about a massive warm-up though, just got stuck in after 3 sets of light hammy curls and a bit of dynamic stretching.

Hams are fecked today though!

Quads/Calves

Mobility work, foam rolling.

Front Squat

80kgx10
80kgx10
70kgx8 - Superset into Back squats for 12

Leg Press

180kgx15
180kgx15
180kgx15

Hack Squat

80kgx10
70kgx12
70kgx10

Lunges

15kgx24 paces

Seated Calf

45kgx15
45kgx15
45kgx15

James' 3 minute calf workout

Peg 15, 10, 6, assorted other stuff as usual.

Stretching and core work to finish.

Top session today, best one in a while for quads 90-180s or so rest between sets, 60 for calves, absolutely battered, took about an hour from first working set to last calf work set, sweat dripping off me

Fronties were SO much nicer to do than the recent backsquats! I was amazed at how much closer i could have my stance too and felt a damn lot more core bracing etc coming out of the hole. First set was a good 10, so definately onto 85kg next week.

Leg pressing was a bit gimp, the sled just doesn't suit me really so i'll probably stick extensions back in next time.

Going to a house party tonight so having a well earned pint or two, probably sweat it out in tommorow's session, call it an impromptu carb up

Good work, mate, nice fronting and the weight will shoot up as you get your groove.

Eveyone's doing this 3 min calf workout, might have to give it a whirl,... especially at the shock of putting my shorts on today

The pumps you get with it are by far and away better than anything else i've done before, it also feels a bit different to other work - feels like the lower part's getting hit more than towards the knee.

Worth a go i thought, nothing else is making them grow!

So whats this 3min calf workout?

(he says with a heavy voice)