Week 5 Day 2 - Unstoppable

28/04/15 Day 30 – Chest & Abs

Today saw the 2^nd day in the German Volume Training (GVT) routine, a brutal, high intensity session that left me with a two hour long pump and some solid results. I am so amazed to see how fast my strength is growing through the past 4 weeks of training, I couldn't be happier with my progress and if you too are following this programme I am sure you will be feeling the same right about now. So lets get this started.

Dumbbell Bench Press – 10 Sets x 10 Reps (60 sec rest)

Incline Dumbbell Fly – 5 Sets x 10 Reps (90 sec rest)

Decline Dumbbell Press – 5 Sets x 10 Reps (90 sec rest)

Weighted Sit Ups – 10 Sets x 10 Rep (60 sec rest)

Cardio – Interval Training 15mins Total

Another hardcore session to add to the list, with the rest so short on the first and last exercise be prepared to test your muscles to the MAX, but this doesn't mean you can chose a weight that is easy for the sets and reps, remember to test yourself. Starting with some nice loosening mobility work I wanted to make sure I was 110% ready for these sets. I jumped onto the bench for the Dumbbell Bench Press, laser tight focus, dumbbells gripped tight and I began. Working through the first few sets were pretty each, I was using a weight I would normally use for 10 reps in 3 or 4 sets, so I knew this was going to get tough, this however didn't mean I just gave up. I made sure I was hitting good range and tempo with every set, making sure every rep would count towards me achieving my goal. Yes there were times I wanted to give up, times where I thought that the pain was to over whelming to continue, but I never give up, I never give in. Fight, fight and fight some more, through every single damn rep until I was finished. I had the drop the weight on the last 2 sets to hold true to good form, but I am happy with what I achieved. Remember – you are strong, but first you must convince yourself you are, when you do this, you become unstoppable.

Moving from a compound movement to a isolation movement in the form of Incline Dumbbell Flys was tough! When you pre fatigue the muscle to the extent GVT does it really takes its toll on the muscles and fast. So I wanted my focus on this exercise to be slow, controlled and all about finding the stretch across my chest as I lowered the dumbbells into position. When I found that stretch I held it for 1 second then squeezed all the way up to the top, using the image of a piece of string extending from inside of my biceps, pulling my arms together, for me it helps engage the muscle, which if you have read any of these blogs you will know it's a concept I am incredibly fond of.

The last chest exercise was Decline Dumbbell Press. As the rest is longer with these last two exercises you can afford to go a little heavier then usual, but listen to you body, see what you are capable of. Trying to make sure the forearms track up and down like a smith machine, this exercise can sometimes be a bit tricky, you don't realise quite how small the range of motion is. Try to drop the dumbbells to the nipples (ladies, just under the breast will do fine) and then squeeze up toward the starting position, bringing the biceps close together as you ascend to get a secondary contraction in the medial (middle) portion of the pecks.

To round off the weights it was time to hit up some Weighted Sit Ups, hardcore style. When you are working for 10 reps on a weighted ab exercise you can actually afford to go real damn heavy. If you are looking to just tighten the waistline I would try avoiding lots of weighted ab work as it will be building muscle, which may give you a thicker look and be counter productive to your goals. For me a 25kg plate was perfect, rolling the abdominals up until the shoulders were completely off the ground allowed a full, tight and sickening contraction all through the upper portion on the abs, with the short rest you will really be testing your mental strength here, its hard but you can do it!

Its another busy day of writing up programmes for clients today, followed by an evening working at the gym. What are you guys all doing today? What ever it is, I hope you enjoy it as much as I do writing these!

Happy Lifting,

Matt