skinny guy journal

[gav]

i'm back after a week off, but my shoulder injury's still niggling so i won't be benching much this week

legs and calves

squats (free)
50kg * 7
---
75kg * 4
75kg * 4
75kg * 4
75kg * 1 (2nd rep, i couldn't get back up; luckily i was using a squat rack)

2sets leg exts
4sets stiff leg deads
4sets calves

 

[cablecow15]

im 6,3 and 145

im working to gain 30 pounds in mucle
(yea its hopless

 

[gav]

Originally posted by cablecow15
im 6,3 and 145

im working to gain 30 pounds in mucle
(yea its hopless

what kind of attitude's that? rome wasn't built in a day

chest and triceps today

finally trained my chest pretty well today. my shoulder was niggling but i did some towel stretches before and after each set and lifted moderately

incline bench (db)

16kg * 10
16kg * 10
22kg * 6
22kg * 7
22kg * 7
22kg * 6

bb bench
60kg * 1 (too heavy for my shoulder)

dips
10reps
9reps
8reps

flies
10kg * 8
12kg * 7
12kg * 5

7sets triceps - narrow grip on the cable pushdowns (did a wide grip last week which nearly killed me)

need some advice: my mate was saying it's best to "isolate" the chest before lifting heavily by doing flies first, then moving onto bench press, but i was under the impression that doing flies at the end as a stretching exercise was best. he also said this about shoulder pressing (doing lateral raises first). anyone?

 

[Lifeforce]

I think you are worrying a little too much.. there are almost no rights and wrongs in lifting, that's the beauty of it. If you find something which gives you results stick with it until your grave or until you don't get results.

 

[gav]

well according to the guy at the gym today, doing isolation exercises before compound movements is just an alternative to doing compounds before isolations, so i think i'll change the order around every month.
---

shoulder and abs today
weight: climbed from 66kg to 68.5kg within 4 days (probably mostly water weight, but it's still good)

lateral raises
6kg *8
8kg * 8
10kg * 7
12kg * 6
10kg * 8

db shoulder press
14kg * 10
20kg * 6
26kg * 5 (fvck yes)
26kg * 4
26kg * 3

machine shoulder press
57kg * 6
62kg * 6
64kg * 6

abs
3 sets cable leg lifts (arms parallel to the ground)
3 sets decline situps

my shoulder has recovered so much from the start of this week; every day i've been at the gym i've been doing shoudler stretching exercises between each set (holding a bar with my arms about a foot and a half apart and raising it straight over my head, arms straight).

i told my mate to try it, he couldn't even do it with a metre-wide grip

----
next week, i'm stepping things up, because i don't like to see my gains going every weekend for me to start again.
i'm cutting down my four day split into 3 days and doubling that each week so that i'm training 6 days a week, one day rest, or maybe 3 days, 1 day rest, 3 days, 1 day rest (8days in a training week)

plus overtraining doesn't really enter my vocab; at least not just now, i'm pumped full of energy and want to try new things as opposed to sticking to the "way it should be done"; i've never tried anything else

 

[Warboss Alex]

Originally posted by gav
need some advice: my mate was saying it's best to "isolate" the chest before lifting heavily by doing flies first, then moving onto bench press, but i was under the impression that doing flies at the end as a stretching exercise was best. he also said this about shoulder pressing (doing lateral raises first). anyone?

Personally I'm of the opinion that no matter how many fancy tricks you try/use, once you've doubled the weight of your big bore chest exercises (whether by benching first, benching last, benching at 3am on a wednesday morning in a leap year wearing a pink tutu and a kissmequick hat), then you'll've doubled the muscular size of your chest as well - for that reason, if you find that doing an isolation before a compound works for you (i.e. it lets you make bigger weight/rep jumps in the compound move) then feel free, otherwise the isolation is nothing more than a warmup (and I'd rather warmup in the exercise in question).
(I've heard this theory before a while ago, but at the time what I was doing was working fine for me (shedloads of food) so I didn't bother trying it)

I do agree with stretching afterwards though; alternative chest stretches are with a flat db press (arch your back slightly, go down into the strictest, deepest position you can) or on a dipping station (in the lowest point of a chest dip exercise, i.e. torso leaning forward), try to hold this for a minute or so.

 

[Warboss Alex]

plus overtraining doesn't really enter my vocab; at least not just now, i'm pumped full of energy and want to try new things as opposed to sticking to the "way it should be done"; i've never tried anything else

If something is working for you (you're increasing your weights/reps/both) then stick with it until it avails you not; otherwise chopping and changing constantly will get you nowhere. If you've really hit a wall then review your diet/workouts and try something else.

As for the overtraining thing.. if you mean that you're not worrying about it then that's a very immature attitude I must say, overtraining (whether through poor diet or wrong training or both) is what makes sure you don't gain a thing. I hope I've got you wrong on this, you seemed more sensible than that mate..

 

[gav]

Originally posted by Warboss Alex
As for the overtraining thing.. if you mean that you're not worrying about it then that's a very immature attitude I must say, overtraining (whether through poor diet or wrong training or both) is what makes sure you don't gain a thing. I hope I've got you wrong on this, you seemed more sensible than that mate..

course not mate; i just took a week off after my last 8 week cycle because two injuries sprung up on me. i mean that i'm going to give this new 2-week-in-one thing a bash despite people telling me that that in itself is overtraining - i've never even tried it and if i'm not trying new stuff, i'll never know what works for me.

and ye, i'm already reviewing my diet, this week i've been recording how much i've eaten. clearly i need to work on eating more and more to expand my stomach (if that's possible) cuz just now i can only eat like 10 meals a day properly, as opposed to 6 or 7 large meals a day, which are more likely to make me sick. apparently eating the protein first enables you to eat more; that's what i've been trying, but eating potatoes by themselves after the chicken is just wrong imo

what do you think about stretching after every workout? or even before the workouts? i usually just do warmup sets rather than stretches before and i rarely ever stretch after workouts. any advantages there?

 

[gav]

legs and shoulders

squats (smith)
50kg * 6
70kg * 3
---
80kg * 6
85kg * 5
90kg * 4
90kg * 3

leg exts
84kg * 10
91kg * 10

stiff leg deads
75kg * 8, 8, 7, 6

seated calve raises
55kg * 8, 8, 6, 5

db shoulder press
22kg * 8
26kg * 3 (failure) then 22kg * 4
22kg * 7

machine shoulder press
64kg * 6
60kg * 6
60kg * 6

db lat raises
12kg * 7, 7, 7

2moro: back, biceps
tuesday: chest, tris, abs
wednesday - day off/legs + shoulders ?? no sure yet
thursday - back, biceps
friday - chest, triceps

 

[Warboss Alex]

Originally posted by gav
what do you think about stretching after every workout? or even before the workouts? i usually just do warmup sets rather than stretches before and i rarely ever stretch after workouts. any advantages there?

Warmup sets are much safer and more sensible than pre-workset stretches, but stretching after your workset(s) helps break down the muscle even more and improves recovery greatly, as well as limiting soreness. Try some extreme DC stretches, they hurt like hell but will change the shape of your body for the better..

You seem to be doing a lot of worksets on squats, go all out for one 4-6 real heavy set then drop to 70% or so of the weight for a 20-rep widowmaker.. IMO that's all you need for quads! (note, you shouldn't be able to do any more exercises after this so save this one for last)

 

[gav]

Originally posted by Warboss Alex
Warmup sets are much safer and more sensible than pre-workset stretches, but stretching after your workset(s) helps break down the muscle even more and improves recovery greatly, as well as limiting soreness. Try some extreme DC stretches, they hurt like hell but will change the shape of your body for the better..

post-stretching sounds like its worth a shot then; my old trainer used to get me doing that.

what are dc stretches? decline chest?

 

[Warboss Alex]

http://www.intensemuscle.com/showthread.php?t=9527

ENJOY! :crackup:

 

[gav]

back and biceps

deads
110kg * 4
110kg * 4
110kg * 4

wide grip pullups
bw * 9, 6, 6

cable rows
114kg (max) * 8
119kg * 7, 7

bb curls
30kg * 6, 6, 5

cable rope hammer curls (twisting the rope out at the end)
46kg * 6, 6, 5

 

[gav]

chest/tris/abs

first set of db inclines and my left shoulder wasn't up to it; injury's still there, but i did DC's towel stretches in between each set and got through it; hopefully it'll clear up soon so i can get back to my maxes

db incline
22kg * 8
26kg * 7
28kg * 6
28kg * 5

smith flat bench
60kg * 8
60kg * 8
65kg * 8

db flies
14kg * 8
14kg * 6
8kg * 8

dips
bw * 9
bw * 9
bw * 8

cable pushdowns (rope; close grip, elbows tight in)
50kg * 6
50kg * 6
50kg * 6

bentover overhead cable press
50kg * 6
50kg * 6
50kg * 6

one arm db overheads
10kg * 5
10kg * 5

2 sets cable leg raises
2 sets ab machine
2 sets side incline situps + 5kg

post-workout stretches:
chest - db incline
triceps - overhead db
shoulders - towel stretches right through the workout

tomorrow:
just legs; 10 sets legs, 8 sets calves
maybe shoulders if they're up for it

thursday: back/biceps
friday: chest/abs
sat: off
sunday: legs & shoulders
...

warboss:
i used to do that for my legs; except it would be 3 sets flat out, 4 reps, then a 20 rep widowmaker, usually 50kg. gonna give that a bash tomorrow actually

 

[gav]

legs and calves

45' leg press (legs all the way back)
100kg * 10
100kg * 8
130kg * 6
135kg * 4

leg extensions (machine)
91kg * 10
91kg * 8

stiff leg deads
65kg * 8,7,6,6

standing calf raises
90kg * 12, 12, 12, 10, 10, 8

seated calf raises
50kg * 8, 8, 8

felt like a proper calf workout today; legs were ok so it's gonna be legs twice a week from now on

 

[Lifeforce]

Good workouts... I guess this is the second leg workout and that's why you don't do squats. =) A tip is not to go all the way back with the legs on the leg press. It will hurt the lower back if you go too deep.

 

[gav]

Originally posted by Lifeforce
Good workouts... I guess this is the second leg workout and that's why you don't do squats. =) A tip is not to go all the way back with the legs on the leg press. It will hurt the lower back if you go too deep.

lol no, the smith machine was taken and my back wasn't really up to doing free squats

my back doesn't hurt on the leg press so i'll go back as far as possible; damn gluts were hurting like hell during it tho

---
back and biceps

deads
40kg * 10
90kg * 3
--
110kg * 6
115kg * 4 (close to my freeweight record i think)
115kg * 3

wide grip pullups
bw * 10 (new record),
bw * 6,
bw * 6

bent over bb rows
40kg * 8
50kg * 8
50kg * 6

bb curls
30kg * 7, 6, 6

cable rope hammer curls (keeping elbows in tight)
55kg * 7, 6, 5

db curls (mainly for stretching at the top - better stretching exercises for the biceps anyone?)
16kg * 6
16kg * 6

 

[Lifeforce]

Damn you have almost caught me man Don't tell me you do smith deadlifts!?

 

[gav]

Originally posted by Lifeforce
Damn you have almost caught me man Don't tell me you do smith deadlifts!?

caught you with what mate? used to do smith deadlifts, weren't too bad, but i can really get my legs into free ones at the start. oh right, na these are all freeweight deadlifts in my journal now!

if i'm capable of doing 2 workouts a week from now on I will. i've put on 3 kg (don't care if it's solely water weight) in one week and my chest is looking really defined, shoulders are great, everything's ripped

going as tyler durden to this halloween night in the club; muscle t-shirt on, leather jacket, tyler specs; gonna get raped probably

 

[Warboss Alex]

Smith deadlifts have never felt right to me ..

Smith rows, fine, smith squats okay, but I really can't do smith deadlifts. Dunno why.

Still good lifts though mates, keep it up.