daz's offseason journal fresh from the brits and stars. stars pics pg 308!

Hi daz, glad you are back at it and seem to be at full steam.

Further to our recent discussion about waist size and deadlifts, was just wondering what your views were on ab training. Do you go usually go for training abs with weight or more bodyweight high rep work?

ReRaise


Hi daz, glad you are back at it and seem to be at full steam.

Further to our recent discussion about waist size and deadlifts, was just wondering what your views were on ab training. Do you go usually go for training abs with weight or more bodyweight high rep work?

hi mate! yeah full steam ahead now!  thank god!
 
few years ago i was doing really heavy ab work, trying to get some deeper cuts, but my abs grew fairly quickly, but didnt get any 'deeper' so it was making my stomach look bigger !  so i now stick to high rep bodyweight stuff, and fairly simple, like crunches.
 
what they look like is pretty much genetic, so i do abs more now to help back stability and avoid problems with it
 

awesome chest session, with tris, and also second calf session of the week.

DB incline press
20kg  x 20
47.5kg x 18   yeeeehhharrrrr! lol
47.5kg x 11
47.5kg x 9
40kg x 9
30kg x 11

db flys
20kgx 12 
20kgx12
20kgx12

pullovers
30kgx12
30kgx12
30kgx12

dips
BW x 25
BW x 25

tricep pushdowns.
70kg x 6
50kg x 10
50kg x 10
25kg x 23
25kg x 17

calf raises, single leg, trying heavy low reps twice a week and not killing them like i was doing
50kg x 6
50kg x 5
35kg x 9

nice work buddy...18 reps at that weight's no easy task at all matey!
was gonna ask about the high rep stuff too but it has been answered already so i'll just stick with the NICE WORK :-)

18 reps?!
i'm going to start callign you marathon man

Incredible Bulk


18 reps?!
i'm going to start callign you marathon man

haha reckon i would have got 20 if i hadnt had to carry them to the bench and get them up first.  sometimes get one of the lads to pass me one! lol
 
to be fair, i would really love to up the weight, reckon 55 at least would still see 12 reps, but 47.5kg db's are the heaviest we have :-(
 
tell you what though, doms in the chest today is something else! especially in the upper chest, which is good, as thats why i was doing them incline!

Mr.M


nice work buddy...18 reps at that weight's no easy task at all matey!
was gonna ask about the high rep stuff too but it has been answered already so i'll just stick with the NICE WORK :-)

cheers mate!  would like to up the weight really, but the DBs im useing are the heaviest we have!

back and biceps tonight! another great session, loving training as always!

w pull downs.
3 sets, 12 reps, 25kg

wide grip pull downs
50kgx 20
70kgx15
100kg x 15
100kgx12
100kgx11

stiff arm pushdowns.
50kgx 10
40kgx12
40kgx11
20kgx 20

v bar rows (on lat pull down machine)
80kgx12
80kgx11
80kgx11
60kgx16

db preacher curls
25kg x 8
30kg x 6
25kg x 7
20kg x 10

Nice one

I also get sciatic nerve pain when doing legs mainly in my left side, it can hold me back alot sometimes so i do  leg Ex, lunges and a few other light machines in the gym for legs.

Daz

right pain in the arse aint it!  lol

Yep as well as the kids,car, pets, work,house work,xmas,junk mail.

LOL Daz

You forgot that "other man job" putting the bins out!!!

Yes and the bins!! Micky , and and and and and were am i going to stop ,(DIY ) yes let them try it that as well.

But i am stuck on one thing ,the wife is still trying to get me pregant and she cannot even do THAT!!
 
But i will never let her stop trying .
Daz

So you do high rep and lower weight to avoid injury?  Sounds pretty much like me now.  Prefer the pump you get on lower weights as well...

shoulders and bis tonight, loving it!

shoulder press

30kgx30
50kgx30
70kgx15
90kgx20  yeee harrrr! lol 
90kgx13
90kgx11

rear delts in ped deck.
20kgx20
50kgx9
45kgx8
45kgx9 

second heavy week on rear delts, back to higher reps next week. 

lat raises, supersetted with steering wheel thing.
15kgx12 reps lat raises, followed by 15 kg wheel, 10 rotations.  3 sets

shrugs
47.5kgx24
47.5kgx20  


preacher curls
15kgx20
30kgx9 
27.5kgx8
20kgx15 

shoulders have been well and truly killed, condition seems to have improved a bit the last 2 weeks, alot more veins in the shoulders.  Cuts are looking pretty deep as well, reckon when i diet down next year there will be alot deeper cuts than on stage this year, in fact there should be some pretty awesome definition between the 3 heads of the delts, only mine seem to be split into 4. . .  lol 
 
 
struggling with appetite at the moment, IE i have none :-(  so, have swapped the diet round a little.  i eat the protein first (200g chicken or 250g steak or mince)  which is a struggle, then i try to eat as much carbs as i can, which isnt much.
 
so at the moment, my diet is similar to my early precomp cutting diet in terms of carbs, but much heavier on protein and fats.  carbs are about half what they were untill my appetite disappeared, so daily totals now are about-  protein 450-500g, carbs 250-300g, fats 150-200g
PAPAL-, yeah i prefer high reps, if i push the weight and lower the reps i get injured pretty much within weeks of doing it.  Though reps on some things are a bit higer than i would like due to gym limits.  Trying a few things with bis and calfs though, im training them 2x per week,  but rather then killing them, im just doing a few heavy sets on one exercise, and leaving it at that.

sounds like everything is back on track dazc i,ve been strugglin with my appettie a little but it soon comes back, some really good lifts 90kg 20reps, do you find you still grow well doing high reps or does it do both growth and help keep lean. whats your weight at the moment any progress pics going soon or keeping it under wraps through the winter.

titch84


sounds like everything is back on track dazc i,ve been strugglin with my appettie a little but it soon comes back, some really good lifts 90kg 20reps, do you find you still grow well doing high reps or does it do both growth and help keep lean. whats your weight at the moment any progress pics going soon or keeping it under wraps through the winter.

weight is 14st 2 at the moment, but i 'think' condition has improved slightly, so i think progress is slow, but there is some muscle added and a little bit of fat lost.  shoulders are looking good when im training.  If i thought pictures would show any difference i would post some, but i dont think theres been enough change to make it worth while at the moment
 
ive spent alot of time thinking about the reps/weight thing.  you read the info on stuff like DC training, and you would think it was the only way to grow.   But im not as strong as i was a few years ago, but i know for a fact i have alot more lean muscle, so the whole have to get stronger to get bigger thing is a bit overrated, in terms of 1RM lifts.  im still 'stronger' in terms of reps i can do.
 
honestly i dont think it really matters, if you blast the muscle you tear it!  the only difference i see with the higher reps is less injuries, and as consistency is the most important thing, then thats got to be the way forward for me at least!

You sound like me re going heavy. 

I find that esp with chest based work when using a BB. DB's are fine but I find BB work knackers my bad shoulder and then I weaken (hence in the last few weeks my bench has gone from 145kg to high reps low weight at 100-120kg in general - its my right shoulder movement impinging the bench movement - its severely weaker at the left shoulder a the mo).  I'm prolly gonna go back to smith incline presses - less pressure on my RC and more on the chest.

Good work tho - you look a lot bigger than 14.5 stone which means something is going right!

exactly the same mate! i did flat bb bench a few weeks ago, and im still paying the price for it in my right shoulder!  Id go far as to say that i dont think i will be doing heavy BB bench for a very very long time, if i ever do it again heavy.

im getting really good workouts from incline DB's,  though it would be nice if the gym had some a bit heavier than 47.5, as 18 reps is getting a bit much! lol  but as long as i can keep adding reps, then im getting stronger!