Bench Day

Trained with my first client of the day, dear god i`d only been up a couple of hours, but the evening slots were chocka n i dont like training after work, ideally 4.30 is my fave but shopping had to be done 🙁

ive always had a deep seated fear of not having enough cash to pay for shopping and today it finally happened lol..

not sure how it happened i didnt buy much and every other time ive been i`m thinking fcuk yeah! saved 30 quid this time (i`m  a total convert)

a nice lady behind me actually asked if she could pay the difference presumably thinking it was less than a quid but nope closer to a tenner so i thanked her and said no thanks.. nice gesture in this day and age tho..

aaanyhooo

bench press 5x6x7x92.5kg plus a couple of backdown sets.

was only aiming for 5`s and surprised myself with a pb set and a pb for all 3 sets if taken as 6x6x6 as the only other time ive done the weight i was on 5`s thruout..

then close grip db press with 27kg thick handled bells 3 sets and then 2 sets of pushdowns.

client i trained with responded by the cleanest sets he`s done for the second week running training with me..

knocking out a few practice reps at an easy weight shows a client shit.. hard working sets putting into practice every thing i whinge on about every week is something else 🙂

backs feeling pretty good today generally altho a little achey now, but hopefully next workout will be a leg related one probly involving that hateful fecking sissy squat device and then maybe after that i can get back to some trap bar and some sldl too.

tentative woohoo for the back tho!

A good Chiropractor is worth his weight in gold

Well last week i trained 3x in 6 days to coincide with a visit to the chiro, sundays workout was a washout and i went to the chiro again today. I wont be training till tomorrow now so thats pretty much a week off, which is a bugger.

On the plus side getting in 2 visits to the chiro in a week and being ready to train on the 7th day is pretty good. i`m not sure what the new chap did, but my back feels suspiciously good, so much so my recliner has been impossible to get out of and ive done jack shit the last 2 days. i really dont want to jinx it but my back feels tentatively great, which is very suspicious lol.

A good Chiropractor is worth his weight in gold!

Had a very good stretch today to compensate for not training when i kinda coulda, just got to wake myself up out of this lethargy which tbh started after my carb crash (fcuking hypochondriacs hey JC lol)

Feeling so knacked after 3 workouts in 6 days is a big reminder its too frequent as i only ever end up training less frequently the next week.

At times tho i have to pick when i train more than i used to and if possible time certain workouts for days off or fairly easy days.

I have an issue with my shoulder which causes an imbalance (most people have asymmetrical shoulders as it goes) and the chiro gave me some helpful suggestions, basically involving doing pressups. my scapulae doesnt sit flat and as a result my right shoulder droops forward and somehow sits high too i think lol

Its made my shoulder very tight, altho tbh both are pretty tight and a side triceps pose showing my right hand side is almost impossible and makes it difficult to get a decent front on picture, but i am as are some of my top boys realising that rehabbing and prevention is more important than weight on the bar at times.

Balance! you gotta have balance in so many aspects of life and ya body, when theres imbalance, things go tits up in the end..

Acquiring balance, or moderation, now that can be a lifetimes work.

Carb Crash

Umm well as the title of the post suggests, todays workout went a little tits up 🙁

i`d had one meal before training which altho i trained at 4.30 , n what with the clocks going forward, i arose at 2.00pm today lol (soz mum)
so 1 meal shoulda been enuff just.. 50g of oats, 2 shots of protein, smallish nana n some coconut milk powder for some fats (i`m out of peanut butter) not a huge shake i`d admit, but..

Fcking,bstrd sissy squats today 🙂 20 reps warm up then 3×30 reps holding a 20kg weight plate.. then the crash hit.

tried waiting it out and then had a few bites of nana, thats all it usually takes, tried 3x10x a miserable 100kg on sldl, second set resisting the urge to chuck every rep, n then decided to call it a day after the third.

ive had carb crashes on much bigger meals then going for a walk afters. if i miss a meal  in the evenings i can feel sick n queazy pretty easy. mike of the “walsham massive” who trains with me gets it too and that can be when he`s on 5000 cals a day. i`m not prediabetic and my gp wasnt hugely interested but i might have to press him a bit more if it reoccurs more frequently.

still i think i will make sure i get 2 meals in before training as usual in future, breakfast of champions you cant beat it 🙂

Give the people what they want?

Surprised a client today who`s trained with me for a year by being alive enuff to train with him for the first time lol, he`s my usual first of the day and i like to train when ive been up a while.

thank gawd i start my work day at 12pm 🙂 i love my job!

its a funny thing, EVERYONE of my clients who trains with me has a better workout.. some are lucky enuff to be blessed with my company more than others. he`s my oldest client at 50 something and can out lift all other clients or will be on all exercises very soon, but keeping his form under control for every single rep and have full adrenaline flowing proves tricky.

he`s getting there tho and was in awe (lol) of how efficient my reps are.. which is good cos all the slight adjustments i make to clients form must do theyre heads in and its always nice to be shown exactly why i`m the form freak i am.

you not only decrease the risk of injury but maximise the amount of reps your capable of.. kinda obvious i know but most dont do it. you can take apart every bullet point on a description of exercise form and break it down so each aspect of the lift is an art form.

anyhoo

bench press 6x6x5x90kg followed by a couple of back down sets at 70% working weight ish.

then as ive been using more frequency recently triceps pushdowns for 5 sets and workout done.

went to the chiro today so wont be training for 3 days, hence the early workout. i`m being very prudent with my frequency and careful, i overtrain very easily, people who dont think overtraining doesnt exist are either genetic freaks or havent a clue about theyre bodies.

train flatout for every workout and you risk overtraining, cycle your poundages and or intensity and you can extend training periods, but inevitably more rest days are needed as intensity increases.

if your training was a hill, the peak is where you`d want your training to be be.

most people imo are training when theyre beyond that peak and veering towards catabolism, obviously i try to hit the peak as others do but for me, i`m happy to be just before my peak preferring to be in an anabolic window rather than risking catabolism.

as i wind up the weights i`m using i should be closer and closer to the peak every week and it becomes obvious very quickly if i overtrain cos i lose strength and recovery is delayed. you have to be very honest with yourself.

its easy to man up and force yourself on.

been there, done that, ive trained 6x a week, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1.. i know what frequency works and know the more frequency used the less people can make it work for them.

dont copy that big bloke down the gym, theres probly 99 other people who it doesnt work for to his 1.

ive lost count of how many times ive been asked..
Cal youre looking well, how often do you train?

2x a week bud.

Ahhh ok i train 3x a week, will you write me a routine..

do i then write something i think is wrong? or do i give them a 3 day split i use but know they wont like or do?

do i modify my routine to please them? people only do what they want to hear..

my interpretations of routines need groundwork no one wants to do that lol

day 1 of my 3 day split is stiff leg deads, calves and bi`s 3 sets each.. done right it annihilates you, done wrong it takes 30 mins and is a piece of piss..

takes time to not deadlift like a bitch…

Give the people what they want?

Gas Hill Gasp

As i`m not training legs directly other than calves i`m dabbling with a little more volume and frequency, still seeking weight progression tho.

calves 50kg on tru squat 5×10 3×8

seated wide grip pulldowns done lightish 5x15kg 30kg going for feel,stretches and contractions, but it wasnt really hard training like calves was.

biceps done as above 5 sets done light at 15kg failure every set bout a mins rest each time.

Took some clients to Gas Hill Norwich for a laugh, one is joining the army and i`m prepping her, another i was impressed just for getting to the top and the other ran the second fastest time recorded on STRAVA, only missing the record by a second.

With a little more prep i`m sure the records not only beatable but by quite a few seconds and set a new standard. we just turned up and got on with it with no real planning. altho nervousness was reported lol

looked bloody painful and for once i`m glad i can say ooooh i cant do that, me back wont like it lol..

I then hooked them up to my car and got them pulling me round the Homebase carpark… WTTTSSSSSSSH!

Talk is cheap, expect results.

My crazy ultrarunning clients website 🙂 http://www.ultradistance.co.uk/

Building high calves.

Well plans to train on saturday went to shit, my back was still as stiff as a paedo in a playground 🙁

it wasnt much better today, but i decided to not bother WORRYING about whether upper legs got trained and prioritized my calves today properly.

i didnt train specifically any differently, i often do calves first, but this time calves were THE focus of the workout, when i do squats or deads i put at least 50%+ of my entire energy for a workout into training them.

you have 100% energy to divide up into a workout or a week of training, you can only dilute your efforts so much.. if you train 6 days a week you will lack the intensity you can generate training 2-3, youre also stronger when you rest more.

once you have a good productive routine its your frequency imo which dictates your growth, well getting the frequency right. you need more rest when you hit pb`s cos your lifting heavier, but most will still have the same amount of rest as when lifting lighter. i find everyone can increase theyre pb`s for longer by increasing rest or dropping intensity on other exercises. of course some people are exceptions to the rule, but for most people copying the exceptions wont get you very far. take an extra days rest when weights are hard and heavy or intense, i double dare you motherfcukers 🙂

aaanyhoo..

5 sets 70kg on my tru squat for calves, n tbh my thighs are aching even now hours later, bloody backs stiff to tho.

bench press 6x90kg, 6x80kg then 70 then 60 and repswent up after that, did some at the bottom pause reps on my back down set, seems to hit my shoulders more than chest tho, theyre sore now.

thick handled db shoulder press 9x9x?x19kg plus handles.

6 dips, 2 sets of skull crushers, 2 sets of pushdowns

thats the first pic ive taken of my calf for a long time and its better than i thought 🙂

the thing with building high calves is if you get them up to a size that should be in balance with your thighs because of the shape they`ll still look small, so unless you can get whats probably your worst muscle thats the hardest to grow in the whole body bigger than it needs to be on paper, they`ll never look great.

i only aspire to respectable calves, they`ll never be great. they have improved the past few years by basically taking them more seriously. i wont be deviating from brutal relentless progression in weight, just as i would any other muscle group.

calves you either got them or you havent lol.. lucky lucky bsrtds!

for most muscle groups i can estimate weights i`d like to think if i can lift them the corresponding body parts should be aesthetically big enuff. then and only then will i try out giant sets and the like, and intriguing rep schemes my good matey mr.quinn likes to use 🙂 but for calves i havent a clue but probly double what im doing now.

onward and upward..

Sissy Squat

I usually train 2x a week, but at times will manage 3 days for a couple of weeks, then work the 3 day split over 8-9 days as i overtrain easily, then revert back to a 2 day split then when i fancy it try 3 again..

sposed to train thursday, but my back was really stiff even tho ive trained legs in this condition many times i took an extra day off..

next day i skipped legs and did calves, back and biceps.

i am learning slowly, tomorrow is legs and by being patient i should get less back flare up.. its fcuking sissy squat day and i hate that fcuking piece of equipment with a vengeance, it really exposes how poor my endurance is.

my new plan other than keeping up walking greater distances is starting “Pak Mei” Kung Fu for increased cardio, seems one of my clients is an actual grandmaster 🙂

my back was sore after the first try but tbh there isnt a lot of twisting and it should be something i can acclimatize too if i`m prudent. i am so limited with my cardio options due to my fusion its not funny anymore.

walking is good but it doesnt really get your lungs going and thats what i need.

so when youre offered an opportunity like this that doesnt come round very often, you take it with both hands.

so thank you again Grandmaster Sexay!

UK legal prohormone list

I just thought it was a good link.

Last weeks workout went as follows..

sissy squat machine 3×30 holding a 20kg plate

sldl started doing single partials at 170kg, then kicked m self up the arse and knocked out 8 or 9 continous reps, meant to do 20 reps but probly more like 18, after the “wake up call” i was buggered and quit while i was ahead.

was good tho.

3×6 slow full length chins

then 2 sets to F at 40kg on a laying pulldown set up i have. ive used winch pulleys and they literally suck any momentum out of a pull, even tho i dont aim to have any in the first place.

lol theyre rated to 3000lbs pulling so almost too heavy duty, but at least the cables never gonna break again 🙂

4 or 5 sets of calves on the tru squat 10x60kg

todays workout was a pressing one and went like this.

same exercises and order as last week except i pyramided the weights down for a change

bench press 5x90kg 6x60kg, 7x 70kg, n not sure of the last set but around 10, less rest than usual, bout 2 mins lol

shoulder press with thick handled db`s 8x7x6x18.5kg as long as i`m doing 6`s at 20kg db`s i`ll be happy. thats the weight of the plates alone, i did add in the handles last week, but dont usually and its confusing to add total weight now.

2 sets of skullcrushers, 2 sets of triceps pushdowns

calves again 5x10x60kg

i`m usually more particular about all my numbers for sets n reps but as i`m in maintenance i`m not so fussed.

first couple of workouts ive enjoyed for a long time.

seeing a mates pictures recently and also telling myself to start enjoying training rather than focusing on size has really helped.

I>My ego, eventually… for a while…

BIG shout out to Big Denzil, Spaglemon, Dave “The shetland pony” Quinn, The Coach & his long suffering brother Bri, Stone Cold and of course Plod 🙂

I`ve been putting all my presses onto 1 day for a while now and like how i now i only hit my shoulders hard 1 x aweek, leaving less crossover between workouts, ive never felt the need to just do 2 bodyparts per workout.

bench press 8x8x6x80kg bout 3 mins rest per set, then a set at 50kg pausing the weight on my chest for 2-5 secs per rep, then another set to failure.

thick handled db press 10x8x7?x20kg per bell, bout the same rest periods.

thick handled close grip db press 14x? fcuk i`d be guessing lol, too knacked by that point too care about counting.
then 3 sets of rope pulldowns.

it went ok, felt more “like it” than i have for a while.

i`m not really planning on increasing weights much to leave for more rest recovery and energy for legs as they build up. i dont mind not progressing, but it doesnt feel like i`m desperately trying to maintain the reps.

1 thing i have learned is, that you cant specialize on all body parts at the same time.