GodsGiftToFatBirds' Training Journal

[GodsGiftToFatBirds]

i'd say take out the front raises if you're gonna do the arnolds.

Why's that?

And what other shoulder exercise would you replace it with and why?

Today's workout was legs. I ate too soon before training though, which made me feel physically sick after both the 1st and 2nd exercise. Result was that i took 10 mins rather than my normal 5 to recover in between the 1st and 2nd exercises and between the 2nd and 3rd exercises. Still a good session though:


Barbell Hack Squat 3*10 69.5kg (2)
NT: 72kg


DB Lunges w/long strides 3*12 33kg EH (2)
NT: 34.5kg


Leg Curl 3*8 Level 6
NT: Repeat but use mirror to check am straightening my legs fully, cos i'm not sure that i was quite


Lying Leg Curl 3*10 Level 7
NT: Level 8


By the way, i forgot to mention, my weight was still 74kg when i checked it on Wednesday. Wasn't really surprised that it hadn't gone up cos i'd missed one of my weights sessions that week as well as not maintaining my eating schedule for about 3 days out the week. Back on it again now though, i'm aiming to hit 75kg on my next weigh-in.

 

[semag]

arnolds and front raises hit the same spot. I'd say do arnolds and bent over rear raises instead.

 

[GodsGiftToFatBirds]

Ok this is my update for the last few days.
Hasn't been the best in that i've had to reschedule my sessions this week for Monday, Thursday (today), Saturday rather than Mon, Wed, Fri due to having a football match yesterday.
But I've been eating well all the same and Monday's session was another good one, although I had to miss out my normal chin up exercises cos i'm in a new flat and i'm not able to get my bar up till my dad brings it this weekend:


Mon (back and biceps)

Deadlift 1*4 97kg 2*4 132kg
NT: 133kg

Concentration Curls 3*6 24.5kg
NT: 25kg

Bent Over Barbell Rows 3*6 57kg
Managed 6,5,2
NT: Repeat

21's (just for this week cos of not having chin up bar)
3*21 15kg
NT: Close grip pull ups but if ever do 21's again, go for 16kg

Upright DB rows 3*6 17kg EH
NT: Consider other exercise, I'm not sure how useful this one is, if stick with it tho, go for 18kg

Hammer Curls 3*8 22kg EH Alt
NT: 23kg


This afternoon's session will be chest, shoulders and triceps, i'll post it this evening so long as i've got time before work

 

[GodsGiftToFatBirds]

Ok this is the update for the last few days.

Unfortunately I got a dead leg playing football so i've had to leave out my legs session for this week, I did chest, shoulders and triceps on Thursday and abs yesterday (Saturday).

This was Thursday's session, for this one i kept in both Front DB Raise and Arnold DB Press although i'm intending to find a subsitute exercise for Front Raise by next week:

DB Incline Bench 3*6 31kg (2)
NT: 32kg

Tricep Extension 3*8 15.5kg (2)
NT: 3*6 17kg

Front DB Raise 3*7 17kg EH Alt (2)
NT: Find alternative exercise

Incline Flys 2*8 17kg EH 1*8 19.5kg EH (2)
NT: 3*8 19.5kg

Weighted Dips w/12kg 3*8 (2)
NT: 14.5kg

Arnold DB Press 3*8 17kg EH Together (2)
Managed 7,6,6
NT: Repeat


And this was my abs session yesterday (with 2 mins in between exercises):

1) 3*10 Weighted Incline Crunches w/15kg (1)

2) 3*30 Twisting Crunches (1)

3) 3*30 Bicycles (1)

Repeat 1) and 2)

Then:

4) 3*10 Crunches (1) My abs were so ****ed by this time that it was actually a challenge just to do normal crunches!

By the way, my weekly weigh in showed that I've got up to 74.5kg - gained 1.5kg since i started 3 weeks ago

I'm trying to go more hardcore on the eating now, was reading an article on some female bodybuilder saying she has 6 egg whites for breakfast, reckon i wanna be piling as much protein as possible into my meals, even if it means summat as extreme as 4 eggs and 2 pints of milk, that kind of thing.

 

[GodsGiftToFatBirds]

I've started going more hardcore on my eating the last couple of days, went into town yesterday and bought new whey and creatine (I'm nearly out of both of them anyway) plus some carb powder and an electric whisk thing for mixing shakes.
I've been mixing this new one with 2 scoops whey, 1 scoop whey powder, 1 banana and 1 yoghurt, its about 700 calories and 40g of protein, and is great for convenience for taking to work and stuff.
I've also decided to pile as much protein as physically possible into my immediate post-workout meal - after my session yesterday, i had my whey, 2 and a half pints of milk, 2 eggs and a portion of chicken, which is around 125 grams of protein.

Anyway, my session yesterday was as follows:

Biceps and Back:

Deadlift 1*4 97kg 2*4 133kg (2)
NT: 134.5kg

Concentration Curls 3*6 25kg (2)
NT: (1)

Bent-over Barbell Rows 3*6 57kg (2)
NT: 59.5kg

Close Grip Pull Ups w/underhang grip w/17kg 3*6 (2)
NT: Use 18kg

Upright DB Rows 3*6 18kg (2)
NT: 19.5kg

Hammer Curls 3*8 23kg (2)
NT: 3*6 w/24.5kg

Wide grip Pull Ups w/overhang grip 3*6 (2)
NT: (1.5)

Any thoughts/opinions/comments?

 

[GodsGiftToFatBirds]

Alright its late and I wanna get home (just finished work) so just gonna quickly post yesterdays and todays workouts:

Tue - Abs

1) Weighed Incline Crunches 3*10 w/20kg (1)

2) Twisting Crunches w/5kg 3*12 (1)

3) Bicycles 3*30 (1)

Repeat 1) and 2) then:

4) Crunches 3*10 (0.5)


Wed - Chest, Shoulders & Triceps

DB Incline Bench 3*6 32kg (2)
NT: 33kg

Standing Military Press 3*8 47kg (2)
Managed 8,8,7
NT: Repeat

Tricep Extension 3*6 17kg (2)
NT: 3*8

Incline Flys 3*8 19.5kg
NT: 22kg

Arnold DB Press 3*8 17kg EH
Managed 8,8,6
NT: Repeat

Weighted Dips w/14.5kg 3*8 (2)
NT: 17kg


Only comment I'd make from those 2 workouts was that i felt military press was a real good addition to my workout - only thing is that i couldn't help wondering if it was using the exact same muscles as the arnolds?
Someone clarify this for me please.

 

[semag]

yes, my suggestion?? alternate. Each time, do arnolds one week and then military the next... don't do both the same workout.

 

[GodsGiftToFatBirds]

Lol, well anyone's suggestion, doesn't seem to be many other people responding at the moment tho!!
Thing i'd query with what you suggest Semag, is that isn't military press supposed to be THE main exercise for shoulders?
By the same token, you wouldn't only use bench press or squats on alternate weeks.
What does anyone think? - come on, lets have a few more people responding on this thread!


Anyway, todays' session was legs, 1st 2 exercises were a killer, i was feeling physically sick and my head pounding for about 10 minutes after the 2nd exercise, suppose thats the idea though!!

Barbell Hack Squat 3*10 72kg
NT: 74.5kg

DB Lunges (long stride) 3*12 34.5kg EH
NT: Repeat (problem i've got with this exercise is that i feel any more weight would make my grip fail, rather than my legs)

Leg Curl 3*6 Level 6
NT: 3*8

Lying Leg Curl 3*8 Level 8
NT: 3*10



Btw, I was 75kg at my weekly weigh in (yesterday).
So my weights progressed as follows since i started this programme:
Start: 73kg
1 week: 74kg
2 weeks: 74kg
3 weeks: 74.5kg
4 weeks: 75kg

Going kinda slowly but 2kg in 4 weeks int too bad i suppose, the weights i'm lifting have all gone up too so i'm happy with my progress so far.

 

[semag]

Originally posted by GodsGiftToFatBirds
Lol, well anyone's suggestion, doesn't seem to be many other people responding at the moment tho!!
Thing i'd query with what you suggest Semag, is that isn't military press supposed to be THE main exercise for shoulders?
By the same token, you wouldn't only use bench press or squats on alternate weeks.
What does anyone think? - come on, lets have a few more people responding on this thread!

I'm not sure what you mean with the question about bench or squats.

Military press is a compound exercise for shoulders. A good one, yes. However, I'd say that DB military press, standing military press, seated smith military press, and arnolds are all separate variations, just as good.

Do you think that flat barbell bench is THE main chest exercise?? Is that all i do every week for chest?? Hell no.

Do I do flat, decline and incline bench every week for chest?? hell no, way too much work.

I'll do flat one week, incline db the next week, and decline the next week... maybe flat db the week after that... just mix it up and keep the variations coming.

Think of it this way... if you think that "military press is THE major shoulder exercise," well.... what if it leaves out the development of some stabalizer muscle, and you go to do DB military sometime and your shoulder pops out. Nooo good.

Yes, Squats are THE exercise for the legs, but i'll hit a widowmaker for them on legpress, or a hack squat.

Yes, deadlift is crucial. Doesn't stop me from doing BB rows, or rack chins....

.... get my drift yet?

 

[Warboss Alex]

No-one's responding because Semag gave you the perfect answer. Rotating through exercises as he suggests mean you won't stagnate on them quickly. If you did military press for a month, five weeks, maybe six, you'd have to change it, but by doing it once every third week you'll plateau in three times the time.

Military press is not the ONLY decent exercise for shoulders. I do military press, behind neck press, db shoulder press, smith front press and smith behind neck press; not all at the same time obviously. If you can shoulder press with 40kg dumbbells you'll have bloody big delts regardless of whether you do military press or not.

Also after a while it gets difficult/dangerous to actually do military press. When you're pressing 100kg+ then you need (imo) a power rack and 1-2 good spotters; if these aren't available then you'll take to the smith machine won't you? And in the same vein as above, when you can put 150kg on the smith and do a front shoulder press for 15 reps then you won't be worrying about your shoulder size.

All exercises are good as long as you can progress with them. Some are better than ours (e.g. squats as opposed to leg extensions) BUT if you get stuck on squats but can progress on leg press for example, that's what you're gonna do, until you get enough strength and size from pressing to get back into the squat rack and by far surpass the weight that stumped you.

The more decent exercises you have in your arsenal the better, but you won't be able to do all of them week in, week out and still make progress.

 

[GodsGiftToFatBirds]

Yeh thanks for the replies, what you say does make sense reading through it, for this week I decided to leave out the Arnolds and make standing military press and bent over rear raises my 2 shoulder exercises.
I've had to re-arrange this week's training cos my legs were too sore to do deadlifts yesterday, so I decided to make chest, shoulders and triceps Monday's workout and leave back and biceps till later in the week.

This was Monday's session:

DB Incline Bench 3*6 33kg (2)
NT: Switch back to flat DB bench, I'm keen to see if i can surpass my previous best flat bench performance of 3*6 w/35kg, from early August before I hit my slump

Standing Military Press 3*8 47kg (2)
Managed 8,6,5 - pretty disappointing considering I did 8,7,7 last week, may well be because last week, I had about 15 mins rest in between DB Bench and doing militaries with 47s as I spent time feeling the exercise out with lower weights, this week I had my normal 5 mins
NT: Arnolds next week, week after: Repeat

Tricep Extension 3*8 17kg (2)
Managed 8,8,8 on RH, 8,8,5 on LH
NT: Repeat

Incline Flys 3*6 22kg
NT: 3*8

Bent Over Rear Raises 3*8 7kg EH
NT: 3*6 8kg EH

Weighted Dips w/17kg 3*8
NT: 22kg


Today's session was abs:

1)Weighted Incline Crunches 3*10 w/20kg (1)
(2)
2)Twisting Crunches w/10kg 3*20 (1)
(2)
3)Bicycles 3*30 (1) going back to start position on each rep - I wasn't doing this before and it makes it a LOT tougher

Repeat 1) and 2), then:

4) Crunches 3*10 (0.5)


Final comment is that I'm back on the creatine this week- already done 1 week loading, 3 weeks maintaining and 1 week off, is it necessary to re-load (ie take the same amount that I was taking in my first loading week) or should I be maintaining?

 

[GodsGiftToFatBirds]

Ok I haven't posted for a few days but thats because i had to re-schedule my week for Monday, Friday and Sunday (less than ideal i know, i got a knock from football and couldn't train for a couple of days).

Anyway, this is what I did on Friday (biceps and back):

Deadlift 1*4 107kg
2*4 134.5kg (2)
NT: 137kg - I'm feeling really good on the deads at the moment so I'm gonna push the weight up more quickly now than i have been doing

Concentration Curls 3*6 25kg (1)
NT: 27kg with (2)

Bent over barbell rows 3*6 59.5kg (2)
Managed 5,6,5 (WTF!!)
NT: Repeat

Close grip pull ups w/underhang grip w/18kg 3*6 (2)
Managed 6,6,5 (was desperately close to the 6th rep)

Upright DB rows 3*6 19.5kg (2)
NT: 3*8

Hammer Curls 3*6 24.5kg (2)
NT: 3*7

Wide grip pull ups w/overhang grip 3*6 (1.5)
Managed 6,6,5
NT: Repeat



And this was Sunday's session (Legs):

Barbell Hack Squat 3*10 74.5kg (2)
NT: 77kg

DB Lunges (long strides) 3*12 34.5kg EH (2)
NT: Repeat - I'm not increasing the weight at the moment cos it gets harder every time anyway from having done bigger weights on the hack squats beforehand

Leg Curl 3*8 Level 6 (2)
NT: Repeat

Lying Leg Curl 3*10 Level 8 - didn't quite complete last couple reps tho
NT: Repeat

 

[GodsGiftToFatBirds]

Ok and this is todays workout (this weeks prob gonna be Tue, Thu, Sat)

Chest, Shoulders and Triceps:

DB Bench 3*6 35kg (2) - this was the 1st time i'd done flat bench since starting this schedule and this matched my previous best performance on flat bench, in fact slightly bettered it, as i had 3 mins recovery when i did 3*6 on 35s before
NT: 34kg on incline bench (i'm going to alternate weekly between flat and incline), then 3*8 w/35kg next time i do flat bench

Arnold DB Press 3*8 17kg EH Together (2)
NT: Military Press next week, then 3*8 w/18kg next time i do Arnolds

Tricep Extension 3*8 17kg (2)
NT: 3*8 18kg

Incline Flys 3*8 22kg (2)
NT: Consider other chest exercise, i feel i've been doing flys for too long now

Bent over Rear Delt Raise 3*6 8kg
NT: 3*8

Weighted Dips w/22kg 3*8
Managed 7,7,5
NT: Attempt 3*7, (I'd set my sights too high with this one)

Any opinions/comments/advice?
In particular with my new idea of alternating flat and incline bench weekly?

 

[semag]

Originally posted by GodsGiftToFatBirds
Any opinions/comments/advice?
In particular with my new idea of alternating flat and incline bench weekly?

try it, see if it works. Remember to keep your weights and try to beat them, if so.. .eh, stick w/ it

 

[Warboss Alex]

Originally posted by GodsGiftToFatBirds
Any opinions/comments/advice?
In particular with my new idea of alternating flat and incline bench weekly?

I like the exercise rotation.

I don't like the volume.

 

[GodsGiftToFatBirds]

I don't like the volume.

How do you mean exactly?
Are you saying its too much or too little?
And then how would you recommend adjusting it?

 

[Warboss Alex]

Less exercises, less sets. Drop the flyes and rear delt raises, just do the chest press and chest dips, once exercise apiece for shoulders and triceps is plenty.

Given your experience I'd say two sets with the reps in the 10-12 range (maybe higher for the dips and tri extensions).

 

[GodsGiftToFatBirds]

You'll have to explain what you say better i'm afraid mate, i'm not gonna just do summat cos someone says do this and do that.

I'm quite surprised with what you recommend in that last post tbh. My training's strongly based on the Diesel Bulking Guide, which is why I've got the number of exercises I have (they're all based on the limitations he suggests for the number of sets you should train a bodypart on per week) and the number of reps I use (he suggests using heavy weights that you can't do more than 8 reps with).
What is it that makes you say I should be doing things differently to this?
And why is it that my level of experience (I'm not sure if you're suggesting i've got a lot of experience or that i've got not much) means that i should be doing 2 sets rather than 3?


Today's workout was back and biceps, it was cut short cos i was called into work earlier than expected so i only had time for 4 of the exercises, but at least i got the main ones in, and i was training well, especially with the deadlifts, i was pleased with the performance on them.

Back and Biceps:

Deadlift 1*4 107kg
2*4 137kg (2)
NT: 139.5kg

Concentration Curls 3*6 27kg (2)
NT: 3*8

Bent over barbell rows 3*6 59.5kg (2)
NT: 3*7

Close grip pull ups w/underhang grip w/18kg 3*6
NT: 19.5kg



Oh and btw, i checked my weight today, its 75.5kg.

Meaning that my week by week progress looks like this:

Start: 73kg
1 week: 74kg
2 weeks: 74kg
3 weeks: 74.5kg
4 weeks: 75kg
5 weeks: 75kg
6 weeks: 75.5kg

 

[Warboss Alex]

Eh, I don't like DIESEL's guide, sorry, that's just me.

I was complimenting you on your experience; an experienced guy can get out of two sets what a newbie would need three sets to achieve.. hence the really experienced (or just plain psycho) guys needing just one straight set (or a restpause/dropset) to destroy the muscle in question. (I get the impression you've a little experience at least)

What makes me say what I do is that I'm not at all fond of volume workouts, they're great for DOMS but not necessarily for growth .. that said, if your training weights are progressing steadily, stick with what you're doing.

And I still can't understand how people can do deadlifts first in a workout and then have the energy to do rows and/or pullups .. sheesh, I must be a wimp, deadlifts make me wanna throw up.

 

[GodsGiftToFatBirds]

Thanks for the explanation.

What's your take on the DC programme btw? I read the link posted by Metal Fortress on this board and noticed that it also suggested low volume sessions, although a more extreme version than what you suggested. I couldn't help noticing that it's been getting some cracking write ups off a lot of guys. So I'm curious to see what you (and other experienced guys on here) think of it, and whether it'd be suitable for someone like myself with nearly a year of serious weight training behind me?

I am changing tomorrow's chest/shoulders/triceps session though - I'm gonna reduce it to incline bench, military press, weighted dips and rear delt raise. It suits me to lower the volume for this week in any case cos i've got football on the Wednesday so don't wanna do too much.

On what you say about deadlifts - funnily enough, I never feel sick after doing them, but I always do after doing my hack squats followed by walking lunges.

And whats DOMS btw?


Ok yesterdays workout was legs:

Barbell Hack Squats 3*10 77kg (2)
This killed me, i literally couldn't have done another rep in the final set, it took me nearly 20 minutes to feel well enough to do my walking lunges afterwards!
NT: 78kg

DB Walking Lunges 3*12 34.5kg (2)
NT: Increase weight but go for 3 mins recovery (to allow grip to recover)

Leg Curl 3*8 Level 6 (2)
NT: Work legs individually

Lying Leg Curl 3*10 Level 8 (2)
NT: 3*8 Level 9