AK's Journal

Right well, enough fannying about with wanting to write up a journal, here goes nothing.

Measurements

Top of calf (inch below knee) 16"

Upper arm tensed 15"

Upper Leg (just below buttocks) 25"

Chest 40"

Waist 33" (Not bad really, expected it to be more!)

Chest/Arm movements might be a bit out of sync to normal as they were taken about 1.5 hours after a chest/bi's workout, will remeasure these tommorow evening.

Weight: 196lbs

Height: 6"2

Age: 18

Background

• 8 months into a bulk, gone from 167lbs or so to 196lbs, continuing to bulk until spring time followed by a cut for the summer, length of the cut is dependant on my bf% at the time.
• Aiming to pack on as much clean mass as possible in this time, along with the unfortunate water/fat accumulation too
• Following Toxictoffee's bulking diet as closely as possible. Due to different lecture schedules each week at uni meal times are sometimes inconsistent, but on the whole it's normally ok.

Training

I'll be using the following 4 day split, influence comes partly from JohnOvManchester's 'Got Arms?' routine as well as the generics of a 4 day split;

Monday: Off

Tuesday: Chest/Biceps/Forearms (Volume heavy, but the last 2 exercises don't really take much out of me )

Flat DB Bench - 3x6
Incline DB Bench - 3x6
Chest Dips - 3x6
Standing EZ Bar Curls - 3x6-8
Alternate Sitting Hammer Curls - 3x6-8
Concentration Curls - 3x6-8
Wrist Flexor Curl - 3x10
Wrist Extensor Curl 3x10

Wednesday: Legs/Abs

Squats - 4x6
SLDL - 4x6
Rightyho style smith calf raises - 4x25
Decline Crunches - 2x12
DB Side Bends - 2x12
Hanging Leg Raises - 2x10

Thursday: Off

Friday: Shoulders/Triceps

Standing BB Military Press - 4x6
Superset Rear Delt Raise/Lateral Raise - 4x6
Skullcrushers - 3x6-8
Overhead DB Extension - 3x6-8
Upright Tricep Dips - 3x6-8

Saturday: Off

Sunday: Back/Traps

Deadlifts - 4x6
DB Bent over Rows - 4x6
Wide Grip Chins - 4x6
Shrugs - 2x6

Thats about it really, onward and upward!

Session 1 - Chest/Biceps/Forearms


Flat DB Bench Press

25kgx6
30kgx6
30kgx6

Incline DB Bench Press

20kgx6,
25kgx6
25kgx6

Chest Dips

BWx6
BWx6
BWx6

Time to get out the dipping belt on these

Standing EZ Bar Curls

20kgx6
22.5kgx6
25kgx6

Alternate Seated Hammer Curls

10kgx6
10kgx6
12.5kgx6

Concentration Curls

15kgx8
15kgx7
17.5kgx6

Wrist Flexor Curls

5" Oly Bar, assuming it weighs 14kg

14kgx10
16.5kgx10
19kgx10

Wrist Extensor Curls

14kgx8
16.5kgx8
16.5kgx8



Good session overall, only needed a spot for the last Flat bench rep, felt better than last week, so time to up the weight on the first set

congrats on starting a journal mate.

looks like youve got things quite well planned out.

one thing i would say though is that you do too many sets on bi's imo. youre doing the same amount of sets for a small muscle group such as bi's as you are for a medium/large size muscle group such as chest. then following with forearms too.

i would reduce the bi's work myself, as id be concerned regarding overtraining them.

i did notice that you said you are following a "got arms" routine so maybe the above workout is part of the plan, in which case, do as you feel and suggested by the routine.

good luck with things.

regards

Thanks for the reply Sydmus

It does seem like a lot of bicep work, i'll admit that. But i figured i'll give it a go for 6 weeks, measure exactly what size my arms are now, and again at New Year, see what the improvement is. Obviously i'll get indirect work from back/chest days but we'll see how this pans out.

Session 2 - Legs/Abs

Squats

80kgx6
90kgx6
97.5kgx6
105kgx6

Stiff Legged Deadlift

60kgx6
70kgx6
80kgx6
90kgx6

Standing Smith Calf Raises

40kgx25
60kgx25
70kgx25
75kgx25

Absolute killer, some mighty burn going on for the last 5 reps at 75kg

Decline Crunches

BW+5kg x12
BW+5kg x12
BW+10kg x11

Dumbell Side Bends

25kgx12
27.5kgx12

Hanging Leg Raises

BWx10
BWx10



Another good session, last set on the squats felt good, last rep was a real challenge, loved it

nice to see you got a journal up and running mate

what are Rightyho style smith calf raises?

ORIGINAL: sydmus

congrats on starting a journal mate.

looks like youve got things quite well planned out.

one thing i would say though is that you do too many sets on bi's imo. youre doing the same amount of sets for a small muscle group such as bi's as you are for a medium/large size muscle group such as chest. then following with forearms too.

i would reduce the bi's work myself, as id be concerned regarding overtraining them.

i did notice that you said you are following a "got arms" routine so maybe the above workout is part of the plan, in which case, do as you feel and suggested by the routine.

good luck with things.

regards

hi mate
the overtraining term is over used IMO
it's more like under recuperation or under sleeping or under eating - take time off, rest and eat is the answer to this

Good luck matey, routine looks heavy on volume!

How's the diet looking?

ORIGINAL: BeginnerBoy

nice to see you got a journal up and running mate

what are Rightyho style smith calf raises?

High reps, 25 currently, may go up at another time depending on how the gains pan out

ORIGINAL: Knighty

Good luck matey, routine looks heavy on volume!

How's the diet looking?

Diet as said is Toxictoffee's bulking diet here; http://www.muscletalk.co.uk/article-mass-gaining.aspx

Admittedly some days are quite tough to march on through, particularly chest/legs, but i'm making sure that i get at least 8-9 hours sleep on the back of this training session and getting plenty of food in at all times, so hopefully this will facilitate some nice gains over the coming months.

Thanks again for the replies

Session 3 - Shoulders/Triceps


Standing Barbell Military Press

30kgx6
35kgx6
37.5kgx6
40kgx5

Lateral Raises

7.5kgx8
7.5kgx7
10kgx6
10kgx6

Lying Rear Delt Fly

5kgx8
7.5kgx7
7.5kgx7
10kgx6

Skullcrushers

25kgx6
27.5kgx6
30kgx6

Overhead Tricep Extensions

Had a problem with these as they were the first time i'd tried them. My flexibility wouldn't allow me to get the dumbell behind my head properly, so i had to switch these to a lying version using a similar movement.

7.5kgx8
10kgx6
12.5kgx5

Tricep Dips

BWx6
BWx5
BWX3

Fairly good session. A little annoyed with the Military Press as i got more reps out last week, but thats what you get for going out on the piss the night before a training session. Happy with the tricep part of the session though, really struggled on the last set which was fun

Session 4 - Back/Traps


Deadlifts

90kgx6
100kgx6
110kgx6
120kgx6

Used straps for the last set here. Been stuck on 115 for a while and wanted to get to the next '0'. Got a few looks too with the amount on the bar

Wide Grip Chins

BWx6
BWx6
BWx6
BWx6

Decided to switch these with rows for a bit as they've been poor as of lately. Though now i'll be doing this in future, hopefully with added weight next week

Bent over Dumbell Rows

25kgx6
27.5kgx6
30kgx6
30kgx6

Last set was quite tough, though i guess that comes with having this as the third exercise instead of second.

Shrugs

60kgx6
80kgx6
90kgx6


Another good session, very pleased with the deadlift despite using straps as they were nice controlled reps. Everything went as planned and no problems here today.

Solid lifting mate, keep at it!!

Session 5 - Chest/Biceps


Flat DB Bench Press

25kgx6
30kgx6
30kgx6

In retrospect i could've gone heavier on these. the Last set was pretty comfortable, feeling a bit sluggish at the beginning of the session i decided against it.

Incline DB Bench Press

25kgx6,
25kgx6
30kgx6

VERY chuffed with that last set

Chest Dips

BW (90kg)+1.25kg x6
BW (90kg)+2.5kgx6
BW(90kg)+3.75x6

Was fairly easy, though being my first weighted dips i wanted to ease myself into it. Next week i'll add another 2.5kg to each set.

Standing EZ Bar Curls

Forgot to factor in the 5kg from the bar last week, so the lifts have jumped up a bit more than usual.

27.5kgx6
30kgx6
32.5kgx5

Alternate Seated Hammer Curls

10kgx6
12.5kgx7
12.5kgx7

Concentration Curls

15kgx8
15kgx7
17.5kgx6

Decided to drop the wrist exercises for now. Feeling as if i'm getting adequate work from some of the bicep movements, as well as indirect work on other days too.

Great session again, very happy with the incline/dips result. Will definately go for the 32.5's next week on the flat bench

See you done more then you thought you would on the dips good going, really good Chest and Tri builder

ORIGINAL: Cheshire Cat

See you done more then you thought you would on the dips good going, really good Chest and Tri builder

Yeah, the only thing with this one at my gym it's its part of a multigym thing which looks like it's been there longer than i've been eating solid food , theres no adjustable bars so it's a case of really leaning forward and flaring my arms out to maximise emphasis on my chest.

All good though

Session 6 - Legs/Abs

Squats

80kgx6
90kgx6
100kgx6
107.5kgx6

2.5kg up from last week, spotter didn't really have to do anything either

Stiff Legged Deadlift

60kgx6
70kgx6
80kgx6
90kgx6

Shame these didn't go up, same as last week

Standing Smith Calf Raises

40kgx25
60kgx25
70kgx25
80kgx25

Extreme burn on the last 5 reps, i hate you Rightyo for introducing this method of calf raises

Decline Crunches

BW+5kg x12
BW+5kg x12
BW+10kg x12

Extra rep on last week, hell yeah!

Dumbell Side Bends

25kgx12
27.5kgx12

Hanging Leg Raises

BWx10
BWx10

Problems with these again, the pull up station is a pile of sh!te so my grip kept going on these

While i had some good points here i could've done better. Eating was pretty poor throughout the day due to lecture schedule and it didn't help i ran out of whey last night, fckin parcelforce.

Oh well, not to be dwindled on, had a good one yesterday and will make sure i've a good one on Friday.

Session 7 - Shoulders/Triceps


Standing Barbell Military Press

30kgx6
35kgx6
40kgx6
40kgx6

All reps completed, went up for the 3rd set, happy.

Lateral Raises

7.5kgx8
10kgx8
10kgx8
10kgx8

All reps completed again. Think form was a little off though, got some crazy pump in my traps

Lying Rear Delt Fly

7.5kgx8
10kgx8
10kgx8
10kgx8

Skullcrushers

27.5kgx6
30kgx6
32.5kgx6

Overhead Tricep Extensions

Gave these another go and seemed to get the form better. Left arm was a bit wobbly which was odd compared to the right. Probably down to being right handed though?

7.5kgx8
10kgx8
10kgx8

Tricep Dips

BWx6
BWx6
BWX5

Nice session here. Was pretty much verging on/at failure with the tricep exercises, and shoulder ones took a lot out of me as well

You tried doing your overhead extensions like this:



I find I feel more stable when doing it with two hands like that, only problem is the grip and you need a good spotter if going heavy!

ORIGINAL: Cheshire Cat

You tried doing your overhead extensions like this:



I find I feel more stable when doing it with two hands like that, only problem is the grip and you need a good spotter if going heavy!

Nah haven't tried that mate. I'm giving JohnOvManchester's routine a go, and Overhead DB extension is single handed to develop indepedant strength. I think it's just a case of persevering with it for a bit that's all

Session 8 - Back/Traps


Deadlifts

95kgx6
105kgx6
115kgx6
120kgx6

No straps for the last set, form problem sorted out this week, hopefully my knees won't bruise up come this evening

Wide Grip Chins

BWx6
BWx6
BWx5
BWx6

Found these a little harder than last week, may be down to a crap nights sleep, dunno really.

Bent over Dumbell Rows

25kgx6
27.5kgx6
30kgx6
32.5kgx6

Shrugs

60kgx6
80kgx6
100kgx6


Good session, glad i sorted out the deadlift problem. Roll on session #9