James' Journal *New pic page 7*

Thought I'd start a journal for added motivation. Current weight is 11.8st and I want to loose the gut
and pack on some mass.

Diet is not 100% but a million times better than it was.

This is my current routine but I'll be changing it next week.

Monday
Bent over BB rows - 5x5 40kg
Deadlift - 5x5 70kg
BB curl - 5x5 25kg

Wednesday
Bench press - 5x5 45kg
Close grip bench press - 5x5 35kg
Shoulder press - 5x5 35kg

Friday
Back squat - 5x5 45kg
Stiff legged deadlift - 5x5 45kg

Current pic

Managed to increase my bench but failed fast in the 3rd set. Also had to drop my shoulder press by 5kg which was disappointing.

Bench press 45kg x8
Bench press 50kg x7
Bench press 50kg x4

Skulls 20kg x8
Skulls 20kg x8
Skulls 20kg x8

Shoulder press 30kg x8
Shoulder press 30kg x7
Shoulder press 30kg x8

Good luck mate. Nice ink!

JOURNAL
 
"I went on to lift 128 kg for 1 rep with extremely poor form but I was lucky enough to survive" - Rob Reynolds

Cheers mate!

good luck bud
 
 
are you doing any cardio??
 
 
 
all the best
 
 
Joe

http://www.ugm.org.uk/

the tren of forums
 

Thanks mate, not doing any at the moment but need to. I was cycling 20-30 miles a week when it was warmer but it just fizzled out.

Had a good workout today, managed to up the weight and squeeze out a few more reps which I was pleased about.

Tried to increase the weight on skulls but I had no chance, getting all the reps at 20kg was a real effort, no idea why
there was no improvement there.

Bench press 50kg x8 (+5kg)
Bench press 50kg x8 (+1)
Bench press 50kg x8 (+4)

Skulls 20kg x8
Skulls 20kg x8
Skulls 20kg x8

Shoulder press 35kg x8 (+5kg)
Shoulder press 35kg x8 (+1)
Shoulder press 35kg x6 (-2)

This pic was taken straight after training, looking a little better but I think the camera angle helped.

Got a bit frustrated today as I don't feel I'm moving enough weight and made the mistake of upping my squat by 10kg and almost failed on the 4th rep. Not a great feeling thinking you're going to have to bailout of a squat in your living room, idiot

Squat 55kg x4
Squat 45kg x8
Squat 45kg x8

SLDL 45kg x8
SLDL 45kg x8
SLDL 45kg x8

Crunch's x40

My Journal

Ah we all have days like that sometimes, don't get disheartened mate. How long have you been training for?

JOURNAL
 
"I went on to lift 128 kg for 1 rep with extremely poor form but I was lucky enough to survive" - Rob Reynolds

Youve got a pertty solid base to build upon there mate, not too fat and not looking too bad right now.

As i repleid in my own journal, keep working hard at it with your training and nutrition, and as CK said how long have you been training for?

Cheers lads, I've trained on and off since I was a teenager but this is a come back after more than 5 years off. This is my 4th week back on the weights leading up to that was a month of press ups and crunch's.

My Journal

Good luck mate.
I can certainly a difference compared to the first pic! and it's been what? 10 days? The cam angle prob helped a little (and maybe the shaved chest LOL) but, when you've not been traning for so long, you can soon see a difference, so nice one, that will def spur you on!

NATURAL SPORTS NUTRITION REP
Ready Made Meals For Bodybuilders & Athletes!!

Thanks mate, the first pic was taken a bit before I posted it so theres just over 3 weeks between shots.

My Journal

Alright mate, thought i'd pop in since you looked at mine. You've got a decent base to start from, and everyone starts somewhere. When i first started benching i started on about 30kg that was in about feb 2008. Ya just gotta stick at it, and work hard. I never really done much cardio, so i try to keep my diet decent, but its not the best. The best thing i did was get a proper routine sorted and move to a gym where a few people know what they're onnabout.
You mentioned a sh1t day up there ^^ fair enough, we all have them annoying as they are. But for me it makes me want to work even harder next time i hit the gym.
Anyway, keep it up!

Thanks mate, its easy when you're looking at other peoples journals to forget how long they've been training.

Have to say I'm loving lifting again and can't wait for the next session each week, just think I need to be more patient and realistic.

My Journal

I decided to see what my 1RM dead lift is and got a PB of 115kg.

I know this isn't a huge weight but I'm quite pleased and it gives me a marker for next time. How often would you deviate from the normal routine and attempt 1RM's?

Deadlift 45kg x8
Deadlift 75kg x1
Deadlift 95kg x1
Deadlift 115kg x1 (PB)

Barbell Rows 45kg x8 (+5kg)
Barbell Rows 45kg x8
Barbell Rows 45kg x5 (-3)

EZ Curl 22.5kg x8 (+2.5kg)
EZ Curl 22.5kg x5 (-3)
EZ Curl 22.5kg x8

Shrugs 55kg x8
Shrugs 55kg x8
Shrugs 55kg x8

My Journal

great stuff mate keep it up, 45kg bb row thats waaay better then me lol.
 
 
 
Joe

http://www.ugm.org.uk/

the tren of forums
 

Cheers buddy, I'm sure you'll see the weight shoot up now you've got your diet and routine sorted.

My Journal

All over the shop tonight, increased weights then dropped reps and weight. That aside still felt like a great session. Really enjoying SP250!

Bench press 55kg x5 (+5kg)
Bench press 50kg x8
Bench press 50kg x5 (-3)

Shoulder press 35kg x8
Shoulder press 30kg x8 (-5kg)
Shoulder press 30kg x5 (-1)

Skulls 22.5kg x8 (+2.5kg)
Skulls 20kg x5 (-3)
Skulls 20kg x5 (-3)

Bench dips 10kg x8
Bench dips 10kg x8
Bench dips 10kg x8

My Journal

Great session tonight, managed to complete a full set of squats at the weight I failed at last week, also added 15kg to my SLDL!!

Added calf raises to this session, weight was easy enough but balance was difficult.

Squat 45kg x8
Squat 50kg x8
Squat 55kg x8 (+4)

SLDL 55kg x8 (+10kg)
SLDL 60kg x8 (+5kg)
SLDL 60kg x8

Calf raises 45kg x8
Calf raises 55kg x8 (+10kg)
Calf raises 60kg x8 (+5kg)

My Journal

Hey well done on all the increases mate. Looks like you're really putting in the effort, and it's obviously paying off for ya too.
 
Calf raises are a def a good addition,  it is squats and deads that will build them up no doubt, but adding these in will certainly help to bring them out too.

How do you find training shoulders after chest?

NATURAL SPORTS NUTRITION REP
Ready Made Meals For Bodybuilders & Athletes!!

Cheers buddy, feels great to post a really good session

To be honest I find shoulders after chest bloody hard work and as you can see from my journal my shoulder press is suffering. I was only thinking today my delts don't seem to be improving and this is probably why.

What do you think?

My Journal

Yeah, I had the same problem when I tried training them both together some time ago. I find that bench pressing really hit the front delts hard, and the only way that I managed to increase on DB shouler presses, was to give shoulders their own session.

You can group them together with tri's/bi's as well, just depends on how you want your routine to be and more importantly, if you can fit an extra session into your life or not. 

If you do give them their own night though, make sure they are at the opposite end to your chest session.

NATURAL SPORTS NUTRITION REP
Ready Made Meals For Bodybuilders & Athletes!!

Fitting in another session will be no problem as I workout at home, I'll review my routine and post it up in here, would you mind looking over it to see if there are any mistakes?

My Journal

How does this look, feel free to rip it apart as I really want to get it right. Not sure if I'm missing something or the orders not correct.

Monday
Bench press
Incline bench
Fly's
BB curls

Tuesday
Squat
SLDL
Calf raises

Thursday
Shoulder press
Skulls
Bench dips
Shrugs

Friday
BB Row's
Deadlift
Pull up's

My Journal

Are you training at home or in a gym J?

Journal

Youtube Channel

At home mate

My Journal

Routine looks pretty solid mate. I would just make the following changes.

Monday  - Could add some lower chest work i.e Decline press, or wide grip dips. Also I would add some dumbbell curls as well as BB. Just 2 sets of each would do.
Bench press
Incline bench
Fly's
BB curls -

Tuesday - You've got the main ones here with sqaut and SLDL. You cant do leg press as your at home, so I would add some dumbell lunges in either after squats or SLDL.
Squat
SLDL
Calf raises

Thursday - I would add some side delt exercises in i.e. db side latteral raises, and rear delt raises. I also do front raises too. Add them all AFTER the DB presses.
Shoulder press
Skulls
Bench dips
Shrugs

Friday - These are the 3 best builders for back IMO. All I would do here is do your deadlifts FIRST, pull ups 2ND, and BB Rows 3RD. Could do with another back exercise in here as you are not grouping it with any other muscle. I would some type of low row. I'm not what this is callled, but as you train at home you can slightly incline your bench, sit FACING the bench (so you are effectively laid with your chest against the bench) and 'row' with 2 DB's (you wont need them heavy). I used to this, it's a good exercise.
BB Row's
Deadlift
Pull up's

This is just what I would tweak, hope it helps.
How many sets/reps are you doing on majority of exercises mate?
 

NATURAL SPORTS NUTRITION REP
Ready Made Meals For Bodybuilders & Athletes!!

Thanks mate I'll make the changes, I'll be doing 3x8 unless you think I should change this?

My Journal

No 3 x 8 will fine I reckon mate. It's always good to change things around slightl every couple of months though... wether that be rep range, volume/intensity, or just changing up your routine up a little.

Just find what works best for you. Personally, I find that using a low volume and high intensity training works best for me.

NATURAL SPORTS NUTRITION REP
Ready Made Meals For Bodybuilders & Athletes!!

James M

Added calf raises to this session, weight was easy enough but balance was difficult.

I do them on a Smith machine mate, it balances the bar for you and takes away any risk, which means you can just focus on the movement and absolutely obliterate your calves. Try it out!

JOURNAL
 
"I went on to lift 128 kg for 1 rep with extremely poor form but I was lucky enough to survive" - Rob Reynolds

Sounds like a much better way of doing them but I workout at home.

My Journal

Good to see you going with this. Just remember to keep everything simple. As long as you are getting some compund stuff in and keep increasing the weight then you will see great improvements!  Good luck. :)

Hello my friend, I see you're back again.

Thanks mate, can't wait to get cracking tomorrow!

My Journal

I'm f**ked lol

Can barely lift my arms to type.

Got a couple of questions, when quoting lifts with db's do you use the combined weight or per db?

When doing flyes I got a massive forearm pump to the point it was almost painful, form looked and felt good as far as I could tell. is this normal?
 
I was trying my sample of NOX Pump tonight which did seem very effective so maybe it was just that?

Bench press 55kg x8 (+3)
Bench press 55kg x5 (-3)
Bench press 55kg x5

DB Incline press 16kg x8
DB Incline press 16kg x8
DB Incline press 16kg x8

Flye 11kg x8
Flye 11kg x8
Flye 11kg x7

BB Curl 25kg x8 (+2.5kg)
BB Curl 25kg x8
BB Curl 25kg x4 (-4)

DB Curl 16kg x8
DB Curl 16kg x4
DB Curl 16kg x6

My Journal

James M


when quoting lifts with db's do you use the combined weight or per db?

I just do it per DB mate, I think it seems to be the norm!

When doing flyes I got a massive forearm pump to the point it was almost painful, form looked and felt good as far as I could tell. is this normal?

I sometimes feel a bit of a burn in the joint between bicep and forearm, but it shouldn't be that noticeable let alone painful. The exercise is supposed to isolate the pecs after all. Maybe your arms aren't bent enough? I know you're not meant to have much of an angle, but I think you should have a slight bend at your elbow and this takes the emphasis off your forearms/biceps. Also you could try doing them with an Incline on the bench as I find this takes some of the emphasis off my arms (I don't really understand why, but it does!)

JOURNAL
 
"I went on to lift 128 kg for 1 rep with extremely poor form but I was lucky enough to survive" - Rob Reynolds

Thats cool I quoted per DB

I did have a slight bend but not too much, will see how the next session goes and incline the bench as suggested.

My Journal

Nice little journal. Like your rountine and the changes skullcrusher suggested.

My Training Journal

Thanks buddy, this is the 3rd routine in 4 or 5 weeks but I really like how this one looks.

My Journal

I think you should stick to this for a while and see how you do.

My Training Journal