AK's Journal

Nice session, mate. Yeah, those rollers are pretty firm huh!?

Have you had any further news on the Uni gym facilities then?

Resting is for pussies

Limits, like fear, are often just an illusion: MJ 12/9/09
My journal

Nah i've not looked into it properly yet - i'll probably take a walk down there on sunday as it's only 20 mins or so from my house (if google maps is correct!) and see what it's like, timing my nutrition accordingly of course

TBH i don't feel like i need any time off really - CNS wise i've not burnt out for a long time as the extra 48 hours rest per training week is a godsend for me, the only thing i get is the odd joint niggle from time to time but that sorts itself out if i back off from heavy reps for a week.

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Ever since I've avoided regular failure work I've not felt the need for much in the way of a break either. The odd light week maybe but not time off.

Limits, like fear, are often just an illusion: MJ 12/9/09
My journal

Back to life with this bad boy!

Haven't trained since thursday so i've been climbing the walls since saturday when i moved up to Norwich. Checked out the uni gym, utter, utter shat. No squat rack, feather-weight DB's = no chance of training there.

Found another one which is only about 20 mins away which is awesome! Hack squat, T-bar, power cage, decline bench amongst other goodies. The only thing it doesn't have is a gym dog!

Chest/Biceps

Dips

BW+15kgx10
BW+15kgx8
BW+5kgx8

Decline BB Bench

80kgx10
80kgx8
70kgx12


Cable Crossovers

30kgx12
25kgx12
20kgx15


EZ Curl

35kgx8
25kgx10
25kgx8

Cable Curl

30kgx12
30kgx10
25kgx12

Pretty good session today. Felt a bit sluggish after no real exercise since thursday so i'm hoping i'll regain my sharpness in a day or two. Little change in some exercises today as i'm in the breaking in period for the new gym, will have my full routine sussed out by next week i reckon. Just happy to be back in the gym and training

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dips first  ?

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Felt like i needed a change for a bit - BB benching first seemed to annihilate my delts and tri's more than chest.

What would you do oh wise one?

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learn to bench properly...

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Previously i was setting myself up in quite a 'PL' position - tight throughout and strong arch with properly set shoulders, bar down just below my nips. Made for some nice bench progression but didn't feel as much chest as i'd perhaps like.

Cnut.

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google ''benching press for chest'' by lyle mcdonald

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So basically it comes down to little more than almost trying to push your grip inwards as you press the weight to get more pec firing?

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The joys of a new gym.... always knocks you out of rythym for a week or 2, no doubt,but once you are at 'one' with the new gear it's all good again.

Limits, like fear, are often just an illusion: MJ 12/9/09
My journal

Yup, once i've DL'ed and Squatted i'll consider myself truly broken in LOL. I'm just glad to be back in a gym where theres proper trainers!

Journal

Youtube Channel

Glutes/Hamstrings/Calves

Deadlift

170kgx5
175kgx5
180kgx6* - Vid here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RK2bL2KINbU

Lying Hamstring Curls

3 plates x12
4 plates x12
3 plates x12

Glute-Ham Raises

BWx12
BWx12
BWx12

Calf Raise Circuit

Standing calf raises - 90kgx10, 60kgx12, 60kgx12, 30kgx12 - All separated by 10 unweighted platform reps & 10 bouncy ones.

Core work, stretching & foam roll to finish.

Well i wasn't expecting this much strength on last weeks session which was nearly 2 weeks ago! When i was setting up the bar it seemed to sit an inch, maybe a little more, lower than when i was at FF. Also - i'm not 100% if the bar i was using was 6ft or 7, so the weight may be out by a few KG's, i'll double check tommorow when i'm in.

Consequently i didn't seem to be able to roll the bar out and set myself up nice and tight as the video shows. IMO my hips are a tad high to start but if my arms are at full extension and straight then what can i do? Not sure if this changed the centre of gravity etc as a result, but it seemed to fly up a lot easier than anticipated, all things considered!

On the whole a pretty good session, although i don't seem to be able to use the seated calf machine as i'm too tall! Guess i'll have to improvise on calf training a bit.

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**** the bed, great reppage.

Hips looked fine to me?

Stonehenge
 
Where the banshees live and they do live well

Lol, cheers Iain!

I think i feel like i'm looking for a cop-out for some reason, maybe because i've reached a milestone lift and i've smoked it and it shouldn't seem so easy! I don't know whether the lower bar suits my mechanics better or the plates were not actually 20's but it's annoying as fcuk right now

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Those reps looked piss easy, you can definately put more on that bar

Limits, like fear, are often just an illusion: MJ 12/9/09
My journal

Thats why i'm wondering if it actually was 180! If it wasn't truly that then my guess is either the 20's i was using used to be bumper plates and/or the bar's not a 7 footer.

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have you read jim wendler 5/3/1 e-book? best thing ive read re training in a long time. put your email addy up and ill attach it in an email

'i split with my gf because it made me feel sick when i saw her eat hi gi carbs'
- swordfish

Send it to ski_1988@hotmail .com or A.Kraszewski @uea.ac.uk obviously without the spaces, cheers mate.

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Shoulders/Tri's

Push Press

70kgx4 - 5th off the chest but went skewiff at lockout, dumped it.
60kgx6
60kgx6
60kgx6

DB/Cable Lateral Superset

10kgx10/10kgx10
7.5kgx10/10kgx8
7.5kgx10/5kgx10

Seated DB Press

20kgx10
20kgx7

DB Floor Press

27.5kgx10
27.5kgx8
25kgx10

Dips

BW+10kgx10
BW+7.5kgx7
BWx7

Pushdowns

50kgx15
50kgx10
45kgx12

Stretching to finish.

Pretty good one today. Back felt OK during the warmups for PP'ing but then a bit off during the first set. Found a neoprene belt in the communal gym bits box (did i mention i love this gym? ) and it alleviated all pain, definately a keeper for the time being. Numbers were a bit down but it's been a fair while since i've done these.

Happy with the remainder of the other stuff, strength is still maintaining/going up on all fronts and i'm steadily dropping weight, although i've not done any cardio in a week now

Found out the bars all appear to be 7 footers but i avoided the potentially dodgy plates and will do so on saturday, not having myself hit a PB squat only to find out it weren't!!

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Did the weight feel more true today then?
 
Tidy little session tho, settling in nicely then now eh?

Limits, like fear, are often just an illusion: MJ 12/9/09
My journal

Yeah it felt a lot better today - i stuck to using 20's that were the 'normal' diameter. 70 was a struggle on the PP'ing and it's only a few KG's out of where i was previously, so it adds up that i'll be down a bit after not doing them for a while.

I think some of the plates yday might've previously been Oly bumper plates or something with rubber casings on them, either way i'll be avoiding them until i'm sure of their actual weight LOL.

Feel all settled in now, from Saturday to Monday i was climbing the walls to train but once i got it out the system i felt a lot more chilled out!

Journal

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Quads/Calves

Mobility work, foam rolling.

Back Squat

135kgx10 - Vid to follow once my pc picks up my phone.
130kgx10
120kgx10


Staggered Leg Press

150kgx15
150kgx12

Hack Squat

80kgx10
80kgx10
80kgx10

Seated Calf Raise

45kgx20
45kgx15

James' 3 minute calf workout

Peg 13, 10, 7, separated by 10 unweighted reps and 10 bouncy ones each.

Stretching and core work to finish.

Good lord, my quads are dead

Squats in the cage were OK today, will try the rack next week though as i couldn't get my feet forward enough for the initial set up and getting the bar back in was a bit awkward. Lost a few inches of depth (looks about parallel to me) on the the first set as i think i messed up my walkout and setup a bit, got it right on the last 2 sets and got nice and deep. 140 next week though

SLP's were OK but i forgot how badly Hack squats exploit my mechanical sticky points, absolutey destroyed me, loved it

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Nice squats. Look forward to the vid.

Stonehenge
 
Where the banshees live and they do live well

Here you go - apologies for the sh1te lighting! Still processing so give it a few mins if it's not working.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0MpVvADnbGQ

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Back

Chins

BWx11
BWx7.5
BWx6.5

T-Bar Row

60kgx10
50kgx10
50kgx10

Cable Row

11 plates x10
10 plates x10
10 plates x10

Isolateral Machine Row

Per side

30kgx12
30kgx10
20kgx15

Facepull/Rear Fly

50kgx12/7.5kgx12
50kgx12/12.5kgx6 (some knobber decided to nick one of the 7.5's i was using )
50kgx12/7.5kgx12

Stretching and a bit of foam rolling to finish.

Good session today, nice change on a few things to keep this session fresh which tends to go a bit stale from time to time. Was debating doing rack pulls, although i'm unsure if this and deads 4 days later is going to be too much.

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squats looked solid enough, dude

Limits, like fear, are often just an illusion: MJ 12/9/09
My journal

Yeah i was happy enough with them, just needed maybe an inch or two more width in my stance to let me drop into the hole and open my hips up - no worries though that'll come next week.

My quads are still nuked though, we were looking at assessing mobility today in one of our practicals and my RoM at the hip was terrible! I think i managed to get my thigh a few inches off the floor when i was in the prone position before i started shaking LOL. Shame that hack squat machines are so rare to come across really, amazing bit of kit!

Journal

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Chest/Biceps

Dips

BW+20kgx8+2 (rest pause)
BW+15kgx6+2
BW+10kgx6+2+1

Decline BB Bench

90kgx8
80kgx8
70kgx11

Cable Crossovers/DB Flies

35kgx10/17.5kgx6 - Too heavy on both accounts
25kgx10/12.5kgx8
20kgx15/12.5kgx8


EZ Curl/Seated DB Curl

30kgx10/10kgx10
25kgx12/10kgx10

Cable Curl

30kgx12
30kgx10 > 25kgx12 > 15kgx15

Stretching to finish.

Good enough session today - tri's were the clear weak link in locking out the dips/decline bench, but got a nice chest pump throughout. May play about with the exercise order next time too, perhaps bring flat work back into the fold.

Shoulder a bit tender in places today, but more due to yesterdays uni practical which involved a lot of deep prodding around the shoulder joint. The silver lining is i was told i had great lower traps and rhomboids, and a lot of thick muscle around my scapulae, hello ego boost

Journal

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LOL you can't beat a visit to a physio etc when they start saying about how heavily muscled you are etc,like you say, proper ego massaging that.

Decent enough session tho dude. some good weights shifted

Limits, like fear, are often just an illusion: MJ 12/9/09
My journal

The guy i was working with was having a right nightmare trying to find all the landmarks underneath my lats, too much muscle he says, i was grinning like a cheshire cat LOL.

Hopefully my tri's will spur on a bit with dipping twice a week, getting just above parallel with my elbows and it's becoming quite a laboured lockout towards the end of the set.

Hell, maybe even my chest will grow from it

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never

Pretty tidy squating... nice!

Stonehenge
 
Where the banshees live and they do live well

Cheers Iain!

Glutes/Hamstrings/Calves

Mobility, foam rolly stuff

Deadlift

180kgx5
185kgx5 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJiYa5w5aRo
180kgx5

Standing Hamstring Curls/Seated Calf Raise

4 plates x15/50kgx12
4 plates x15/50kgx12
4 plates x12/50kgx12

Lying Hamstring Curls

4 plates x10
4 plates x10

Glute-Ham Raises

BWx15
BWx15

Calf Raise Circuit

Peg 14, 12, 9 x10, usual other stuff

Core work, stretching & foam roll to finish.

Lovely session. Wasn't expecting a great deal as we had a houseparty last night (i was sober with today in mind ) and thus the night's sleep wasn't great.

185 was hard work, but the last set really smoked me - i'll have a go at 190 next week but i'm feeling like i'm reaching the end of being able to stick 5kg on each week

Journal

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Another nice deadlift session.

Stonehenge
 
Where the banshees live and they do live well

Yeah, that looked a very solid 5 reps to me, definately more in that. I've got a 5 rep day tomorrow (that's the plan anyhoo), no idea what I'm meant to be doing, I'll find out when I open my pad in the gym I guess

Limits, like fear, are often just an illusion: MJ 12/9/09
My journal

Cheers guys.

I think i'll bring my belt back into the fold soon as my back is beginning to feel the brunt of these weights. I can imagine it'll help a fair bit with squatting, although i've never used a belt for DL'ing - any experience on where the support's given through the lift?

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Belt gives less support/help etc in a deadlift. Some wear it a bit higher than in a squat. Just remember to push against it and keep tight.

Stonehenge
 
Where the banshees live and they do live well

And a regular 'sports shop' belt will probably help even less. I've not used one for several years now but I'd imagine if you are going to go that route then get a proper PLing belt that you CAN use

Limits, like fear, are often just an illusion: MJ 12/9/09
My journal

I've got a dual prong one that i bought back in the summer - that fcuker was giving me bruises then and i'm sure i'll be getting plenty now

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