CK's Journal - The Road To Achieving a 1-Star Rating

Nice improvement on the pics

The description of the pec dec is correct.

Here is a pic of my desired physique. Long term goal (2 years perhaps):



I reckon I'm pretty close already....

Just finished off a tub of Green Magnitude creatine. I started it straight after I finished a tub of Gaspari SizeOn, so if I was to compare one to the other I'd have to say that I noticed effects quicker with the SizeOn, but obviously I had better gains while using Green Mag for the simple reason that I was using it for 80 days and the SizeOn for only 30 days, and you will make better gains over 80 days than you will over 30 days regardless of what creatine you're using! The only complaint I'd have about the Green Mag is that it tastes absolutely disgusting. It was ok for the first week or two, but ever since then it has been an absolute chore trying to get the stuff down my throat. So SizeOn definitely wins the taste competition! In terms of price/value for money, however, Green Mag wins out by a country mile.

As for what product to use next, I have two massive tubs of creatine mono with dextrose (Optimum Nutrition) that I got for free from my supp guy, which should last me for a few months at least! It also tastes amazing (being Optimum Nutrition), fruit punch flavour, it's unreal!

In other news, I haven't been to the gym since Monday because I've been up to my eyes this week: I'm working nights (well, evenings really) at this new promotions job which is fine but this week my parents happened to need a lot of help moving office so I've been spending most days lifting boxes around, lot's of fun! Pull day tomorrow though

Nice review mate. What flavour of green mag did you get, both are nice imo, i found size on was a chore to down after 2 or so weeks but had no problems at all with green mag. With size on you need a good 700ml liquid while with green mag you only need 250/300ml i think, so thats prob why.

Hey up man, nice to see how well you've been doing, great progress :-)

Cheers for the feedback Stevie, things are going well thanks, hope your training is going well too!

Iceman - I used the Lemon flavour. I thought it was rotten! Having said that I generally hate anything lemon flavoured! What other flavour of Green Mag is there??

Pull

Deadlift
100kg x 10
105kg x 10 (+5kg)
105kg x 8

DB Bent-Over Rows
36kg x 10 (+2kg)
36kg x 10
36kg x 9

Wide-Grip Lat Pulldowns
140lb x 10
140lb x 8 (-2)
140lb x 7

EZ Curls
30kg x 10 (-2kg)
30kg x 8
30kg x 8

Good old session. Went up in weight on the Deads and the Rows, which meant I was down on reps in the Pulldowns and Curls. Regardless, it was a fantastic workout. After the Pulldowns I felt the biggest pump in my biceps that I've ever had, even before I did any curls. My only concern is that my grip seems to be failing a bit on the Deads and the Rows, so I might go out and buy some chalk or something to help with this, I don't really want to use straps because this would surely hinder forearm development from these exercises.

Push

DB Bench Press
34kg x 8 (+2kg)
34kg x 6
34kg x 5

Incline Bench
60kg x 9 (+5kg)
60kg x 5
60kg x 5

DB Shoulder Press
18kg x 8 (-1)
18kg x 6 (-2)
18kg x 6 (-1)

DB Front Raises
9kg x 10
9kg x 10
9kg x 10

Flyes
12kg x 10
12kg x 10
12kg x 8

Tri Pushdowns
140lb x 10 (+2)
140lb x 8
140lb x 8

Good session. Worked out with a mate and he pushed me to go up in weight on the Bench, so I did. Low-ish reps on the DB Press and the Incline, but I don't mind, after a couple more sessions I should be hitting the 8-10 rep range

Pull

Deadlift
102.5kg x 10 (-2.5kg)
102.5kg x 10
102.5kg x 9

DB Rows
36kg x 10
36kg x 10
36kg x 10 (+1)

Pulldowns
140lb x 10
140lb x 9 (+1)
140lb x 8 (+1)

EZ Curls
27kg x 10
27kg x 8
27kg x 10

Decided to bring the weight down by 2.5kg from last week just to perfect my form and also because I've stopped using a Belt. Good session all round

Nice lifts with sound progression matey :D

Cheers mate good to see you popping in!

Push

DB Press
34kg x 9 (+2)
34kg x 6
34kg x 5

Incline DB (incline bench had too long a queue)
28kg x 9
28kg x 7
28kg x 6

Military Press
40kg x 10
40kg x 6
40kg x 6

Flyes
12kg x 10
12kg x 10
12kg x 10

Tricep Pushdowns
140lb x 10
140lb x 7 (-1)
140lb x 6 (-2)

Good job on the dbell presses mate. What happened the tri pushdowns bud lol?

Hah dunno mate tbh, I reckon it was prob cos I switched to Military press with a bar instead of DB shoulder press and the weight I was using was slightly heavier so it fatigued my tri's more? Who knows really!

Also I got an extra rep on each set of that DB Press but I didn't count it because it was slightly assisted by my mate (ie. I actually got 10 reps on the first set except on the tenth rep my mate assisted me up a bit), prob being harsh on myself not counting them but whatever!

Pull

Deadlift
60kg x 10
102.5kg x 10
102.5kg x 10
140kg x 1 (PB)

DB Rows
36kg x 10
36kg x 10
36kg x 10

Pulldowns
140lb x 10
140lb x 10 (+1)
140lb x 10 (+2)

EZ Curls
27kg - 15s
27kg x 10
27kg x 10
27kg x 9

Note on the Deadlift PB: Really happy to pull 140, it felt cool getting 3 plates each side off the ground! On top of that I definitely think I could've gotten more for the following reasons:

-I wasn't using a belt
-I wasn't using any straps or even chalk, it was completely raw
-I didn't warm up to it properly, I just did 3 sets of 10 and then went for the 1RM as a sort of spur of the moment thing egged on by my mate.

So overall, very happy

Well done on the PB mate, very impressive. Nice progression on other lifts too.

Nice PB mate 4 plates a side soon!

Congrats on the deadlift matey

Cheers lads!

I was just having a think about my goals. I always said that I was just going to keep bulking til Feb or March 2010, but now I've decided to set myself strength goals as well. So basically I am going to keep bulking until I hit these strength goals, which I am guessing will more or less coincide with Feb or March anyway.

Goals for early 2010

DB Press - Get the 40kg DB's up for reps

Deadlift - Pull 180

Front Squat - 60kg for reps

I think all of these are fairly doable. I've got the 34's up comfortably for reps at the moment on the DB Press, and I'm Front Squatting 40kg AFTER my Back Squats, so these two shouldn't be too difficult. The Deadlift will be harder, but if I look at my progress so far: I only started Deadlifting around May, and so in 5 months I've gotten my max up to 140, so if my progress increases exponentially (depending how long these newbie gains plan on lasting), I have another 5/6 months to add 40kg to it.

Light weight baby!

Its good to set goals mate, good goals too, imagine a 180 dead!

I'd say it's well doable mate! What's your max dead mate?