tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-43123293040901186322024-02-07T02:04:31.966+00:00Rising to Greatness-The Diary of an Aspiring Body Builder Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12037367428494480656noreply@blogger.comBlogger58125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4312329304090118632.post-84112862301673993012015-06-20T12:47:00.000+01:002015-06-20T12:47:55.577+01:00Before Vs After<div>
So here I am after 12 weeks of gruelling hard work behind me and plenty more to come, I feels its only right to reflect on everything that has happened in the past 12 weeks.</div>
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<br />Starting this programme I was pretty nervous, I thought I pushed myself quite hard in the gym and was relatively happy with where I was in terms of my body composition. After deciding that I was going to become a Natural Body Builder and set my sights on competing early next year I knew I had to step up my game, I needed to learn and grow at the same time.</div>
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<br /> I felt this programme has taught me <u>so much</u> in terms of how my body works, what feels good, what needs improving, where I am weaker, where I am stronger etc. By using so many different training principles I think I have been able to deduce what is best for my body, what is best to promote growth and how I need to train some more specific muscle groups in order to actually get something out of them.But enough of all of that, lets show the before and after pictures, on the left is 12 weeks ago, the right is today after waking up, completely dry weight.</div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikq2o84jEFRuvN8-e8YO-65Qd2_kVXznaAmhKa_sGp6QSNfc6mgJe9imck-TlFmc-fyFCoxptWpBFT5aKO8hRLY4-ioHPOzZtpN4WBMPXzHV7lqKLdxx27h8WI4hM2mYjAZZSF8dLyxzc/s1600/IMG_6588.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikq2o84jEFRuvN8-e8YO-65Qd2_kVXznaAmhKa_sGp6QSNfc6mgJe9imck-TlFmc-fyFCoxptWpBFT5aKO8hRLY4-ioHPOzZtpN4WBMPXzHV7lqKLdxx27h8WI4hM2mYjAZZSF8dLyxzc/s320/IMG_6588.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Relaxed Before</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQDzDnK5I3tTsukYN5mp-j8qjOWsLenEr6rZelDNBj7PsOABlqDDIIH0352JNJkCex93TzKKuR4tRaIxD3JAhH6S1ZYzKp5Dt9YUearSeLcm-iaVkV9x1AT8QU8sI3Bs9NX_NZ1CRn_Mc/s1600/DSC_7018.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQDzDnK5I3tTsukYN5mp-j8qjOWsLenEr6rZelDNBj7PsOABlqDDIIH0352JNJkCex93TzKKuR4tRaIxD3JAhH6S1ZYzKp5Dt9YUearSeLcm-iaVkV9x1AT8QU8sI3Bs9NX_NZ1CRn_Mc/s400/DSC_7018.JPG" width="225" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Relaxed After</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE-j3-cRxbq7_idwXP89l7O767PFD-bNrKFDggWWNe6PFC1hqhBl2K8EsWWYDOKVp7-o9lAVlisPsaGVTF4goeHikb5R4tQxfaL8vr4EGA1Jmx2s7k8MT36tlGY7Nc0Y96O0vB8s3C9ug/s1600/IMG_6589.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE-j3-cRxbq7_idwXP89l7O767PFD-bNrKFDggWWNe6PFC1hqhBl2K8EsWWYDOKVp7-o9lAVlisPsaGVTF4goeHikb5R4tQxfaL8vr4EGA1Jmx2s7k8MT36tlGY7Nc0Y96O0vB8s3C9ug/s320/IMG_6589.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Front Double Bicep Before</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8ScjCOSjGJzPO-F8UNfDBiR8rMVYJ4D1GoG8_h8WI7Np8v8VfKLy-sz_fQRKeumNgvh8ONqVQaB8VmhYCe4b-_VfN4WWHUMNL7Zj-R_mL3t9NikAE9hWzM9QTcVMXYrN_95G-X2zIOjo/s1600/DSC_7019.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8ScjCOSjGJzPO-F8UNfDBiR8rMVYJ4D1GoG8_h8WI7Np8v8VfKLy-sz_fQRKeumNgvh8ONqVQaB8VmhYCe4b-_VfN4WWHUMNL7Zj-R_mL3t9NikAE9hWzM9QTcVMXYrN_95G-X2zIOjo/s400/DSC_7019.JPG" width="225" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Front Double Bicep After</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOXXd2J6FeFxvlnwu8BtXhiepm43vyb2VWGZxhJqj0TKWT3z7A1f0_Qj3BHVligAQqHdXQGLLnQ-E1vV31M3jVOGOxJMnhMaLEETDxJB8FrvH_QZ158glvYLAx4kAZ7d-OTqa1-uKOHHE/s1600/IMG_6594.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOXXd2J6FeFxvlnwu8BtXhiepm43vyb2VWGZxhJqj0TKWT3z7A1f0_Qj3BHVligAQqHdXQGLLnQ-E1vV31M3jVOGOxJMnhMaLEETDxJB8FrvH_QZ158glvYLAx4kAZ7d-OTqa1-uKOHHE/s320/IMG_6594.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lat Spread Before</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4veS_O4zbyTHE4lnLhDpDf3X5yOKW0_LuuvZoo8UPIKrliuKHx4To11Fyed6aUHP_5I_8z6-z4ubdHgn-_MOjJhrnr8yXXWpeWpmcJ95j2yUv60AmRE2fwtoAC_8Gcj-es87nbrxdhwo/s1600/DSC_7024.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4veS_O4zbyTHE4lnLhDpDf3X5yOKW0_LuuvZoo8UPIKrliuKHx4To11Fyed6aUHP_5I_8z6-z4ubdHgn-_MOjJhrnr8yXXWpeWpmcJ95j2yUv60AmRE2fwtoAC_8Gcj-es87nbrxdhwo/s400/DSC_7024.JPG" width="225" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lat Spread After</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPmkIEW2PhmrnvfSFh8Xq1sxgYhUaM0s3A53Tc-rIhTRZb9PjvNq9xzLXuWgL6OnLSVEvcxc26pBdeuC85QhAIuCr_z7mZoOBN-RT6svihiyF09d3FRhyphenhyphenr9Qxz8WiZGUwnqWZWiZerZN0/s1600/IMG_6590.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPmkIEW2PhmrnvfSFh8Xq1sxgYhUaM0s3A53Tc-rIhTRZb9PjvNq9xzLXuWgL6OnLSVEvcxc26pBdeuC85QhAIuCr_z7mZoOBN-RT6svihiyF09d3FRhyphenhyphenr9Qxz8WiZGUwnqWZWiZerZN0/s320/IMG_6590.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Back Double Bicep Before</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho5Ay99xUQvFluzU6rer8J13yIrGuYdAVSh2eHp2Ytg_i7in35p58ShobkBH8l9_kVTnaXrA6sGUncA06-tJslII_yJB4Z3LehQ80nCXh6d59Yy_ZtY0vugDyCAgXNT_lr293GenEPCB4/s1600/DSC_7022.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho5Ay99xUQvFluzU6rer8J13yIrGuYdAVSh2eHp2Ytg_i7in35p58ShobkBH8l9_kVTnaXrA6sGUncA06-tJslII_yJB4Z3LehQ80nCXh6d59Yy_ZtY0vugDyCAgXNT_lr293GenEPCB4/s400/DSC_7022.JPG" width="225" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Back Double Bicep After</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE4-KewYebUXL-iXwqy9uMryKlQhvhrHLKrY6zv7AwFpG07gb6WoRWbrScuvvTLigldhYNrd3HK1LTaofAj8P8Vo3jIZk2yjeBTeXqFSarZ72zTNd843GNKtDYGCTxIReFXRTlgb_33vg/s1600/IMG_6591.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiE4-KewYebUXL-iXwqy9uMryKlQhvhrHLKrY6zv7AwFpG07gb6WoRWbrScuvvTLigldhYNrd3HK1LTaofAj8P8Vo3jIZk2yjeBTeXqFSarZ72zTNd843GNKtDYGCTxIReFXRTlgb_33vg/s320/IMG_6591.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Quadriceps Before</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXEkKPn4CB7itZ65v_bZQTwN8HyTe85E8Mgb9lR6QSJquLbLxGeWBJgCNgqPso0i2VZizfHdSBrH0CwxyhZsXesYfTuWJZVCXnK0FSkH7mffov1BCpBwpURTxOM-JhemsoP87WFqF1-Us/s1600/DSC_7027.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXEkKPn4CB7itZ65v_bZQTwN8HyTe85E8Mgb9lR6QSJquLbLxGeWBJgCNgqPso0i2VZizfHdSBrH0CwxyhZsXesYfTuWJZVCXnK0FSkH7mffov1BCpBwpURTxOM-JhemsoP87WFqF1-Us/s400/DSC_7027.JPG" width="225" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Quadriceps After</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSXKLRjfd-LwQU9xcWsoKGq9GYk5vlgm6G6bWpDP7WREGMHAblirJ7cOXgeVmXUWF3_SZAs2m9VFc5A17Ix3PJFZr3HrT4vjzR4qYRdJBZMPpSstBM8HJGT9QNuP7Ic-6e0tcVsu7NubU/s1600/IMG_6593.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSXKLRjfd-LwQU9xcWsoKGq9GYk5vlgm6G6bWpDP7WREGMHAblirJ7cOXgeVmXUWF3_SZAs2m9VFc5A17Ix3PJFZr3HrT4vjzR4qYRdJBZMPpSstBM8HJGT9QNuP7Ic-6e0tcVsu7NubU/s320/IMG_6593.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Calves Before</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYe0KqRbhbztyRVUtWxtRkU8LJrzmGUkH9TwjTyUbb196g26YrJTkePf50W7ermzj-iHpO2mavvXOHrkS-egv5WVW3mwvLVLDZRS-rqlO1BgjkAhAxNJolR8c4tXBoy-faDXkQhQNSoho/s1600/DSC_7028.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYe0KqRbhbztyRVUtWxtRkU8LJrzmGUkH9TwjTyUbb196g26YrJTkePf50W7ermzj-iHpO2mavvXOHrkS-egv5WVW3mwvLVLDZRS-rqlO1BgjkAhAxNJolR8c4tXBoy-faDXkQhQNSoho/s400/DSC_7028.JPG" width="225" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Calves After</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
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<br /><br /><br /><br />So look at the pictures the first thing I notice is that I am not as trim now as I was 12 weeks ago, which I totally understand and I know its due to my increased calorie intake over the past 12 weeks. I do feel that my muscles look a lot fuller in my after photos. My back for one I am very happy with, the width and thickness of it really shows up here, my Quadriceps and Biceps deserve and honourable mention too as they have beefed up very nicely too!<br /><br />
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Now lets look at the numbers!<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><u>Before Measurements:</u></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b style="line-height: 20.7900009155273px;">Chest</b><span style="line-height: 20.7900009155273px;">-44in</span><b style="line-height: 20.7900009155273px;">Lat Spread </b><span style="line-height: 20.7900009155273px;">-46.5in</span><b style="font-weight: bold; line-height: 20.7900009155273px;">Waist</b><span style="line-height: 20.7900009155273px;">-36in</span><b style="font-weight: bold; line-height: 20.7900009155273px;">Thigh</b><span style="line-height: 20.7900009155273px;">-</span><span style="line-height: 20.7900009155273px;">25in</span><b style="font-weight: bold; line-height: 20.7900009155273px;">Calf</b><span style="line-height: 20.7900009155273px;">-18in</span><b style="font-weight: bold; line-height: 20.7900009155273px;">Bicep</b><span style="line-height: 20.7900009155273px;">- 16in</span></span></div>
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<b><u>After Measurements:</u></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Chest</b>- 44in</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Lat Spread</b>- 47.5in</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Waist</b>- 35in</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Thigh</b>-<b> </b>26.25in</span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Calf</b>- 18.25in</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>Bicep</b>- 17in</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">So after looking at the statistics I can see I was correct in saying my Back has grown! as well as my Biceps, also by taking in my Waist it will give the illusion of bigger/wider Back and Shoulders and smaller Waistline. I am not massively impressed with my Chest, although I know my upper Pec development has come on my mid and lower development hasn't come across too much, but now I have time to work on it and develop it the way I need too for my personal look.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The past 12 Weeks have been a real pleasure! I am so incredibly happy with all the amazing support that I have been shown by my friends and family and really hope you continue to stand by me throughout my journey. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">I won't be completely stopping the Blogs, so don't worry! I will be trying to move my attention across to Vlogs, as it is nicer for me and easier viewing for you guys too, I can then better get across information in a fast effective way. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Once again thank you everyone, I have loved every minute of this and really look forward to progressing further with my training!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Happy Lifting you bloody wonderful people!</span></div>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12037367428494480656noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4312329304090118632.post-71300392840332429382015-06-17T09:44:00.000+01:002015-06-17T09:44:42.375+01:00Week 12 Day 2 - Poetry In Motion <div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>16/06/15 Day 78 –</b>
Chest & Back</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
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<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Keeping
on the theme of Uni-Lateral training today I hit up a pretty epic
chest and back session, but the twist was that I would be performing
every exercise in a super set, working a chest exercise on each side
quickly followed by a back exercise performed on each side. This
session was all about intensity and being able to push every set to
failure then moving on to the other exercise and pushing that to
failure, big pumps and big pain. Lets do it!</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
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</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Single Arm Leverage
Chest Press –</b> 10 Sets, 1 x
30,25,20,15,10,10,15,20,25,30</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<i>SuperSet</i></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Single Arm Chest
Supported Dumbbell Row</b> – 8
Sets, 1 x 25,20,15,10,10,15,20,25</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Single Arm Lat
Pulldown –</b> 5 Sets, 1 x
30,25,20,15,10</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<i>SuperSet</i></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Single Arm Cable
Flyes –</b> 5 Sets, 1 x
30,25,20,15,10</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Cardio</b>-
Interval Training 15mins Total</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
When
working two large muscle groups in an alternating fashion like today
I always make sure that I stretch out between sets, as there is just
such ridiculously high levels of blood being forced around the
muscles you will stiffen very quickly.</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Starting
with a singular set on the <b>Single Arm Leverage Chest Press</b>
gave me a short chance to absolutely smash my chest before I had to
move onto my back exercise. Making sure I really squeezed my peck as
I pushed out my first reps to really enhance the level of blood in my
chest, getting a really solid pump before I even got onto back. With
my first two sets of 30 reps, as I work each set on each side of the
body I moved to the <b>Single Arm Chest Supported Dumbbell
Row</b>, here I think the hardest
thing to do was just get well balanced, altering my foot placement so
as I could produce a great pull without introducing twisting of the
spine, which unfortunately I see a lot in the gym. When working back
and fourth with these exercises I found that I was able to jump into
the alternating exercise pretty quickly, due to not using the same
muscle groups at all in the opposing movement actually means that
your muscles are relaxing and giving you time to recover, admittedly
its still hard, I felt very tired as they are big movements using and
draining big muscle groups. I think I ate too early in the day as I
didn't feel like I have bounds of energy as I usually do for my
sessions. Getting down to the lower end of the repetition ranges on
both exercises I felt like I was hitting some big weights, I was
really really happy with how well I doing. After passing the 10
repetition mark I actually took it upon myself to up my weights on
the way back up my repetition pyramid to the 30 reps. Some how I
managed to up my weights every set on the way back up, getting to the
20 rep mark I started having to incorporate the rest pause principle
to finish my sets as my muscles were really flagging by this point,
the fact was that I managed to get every rep out so I was still
stupidly happy with my performance!</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
With
those two huge exercises done it was time to move onto the 2<sup>nd</sup>
super set of the session where I would be performing the <b>Single
Arm Lat Pulldown </b> to start. Due
to having stupidly long arms I actually had to sit on the floor to be
at the correct level for this exercise, which meant I had to hold my
bodyweight down and be incredibly controlled with <b>Single Arm Cable
Flyes </b> I again found it quite
difficult to balance myself to perform the movement, I felt as though
the core did have a big contributing factor in this movement and
think perhaps a single arm peck deck movement my have been slightly
better suited. Making sure the elbow and the wrist tracked in the
same line was probably one of the biggest focal points for me as this
takes the stress out the shoulder and places it back on the peck,
where it should be! As the reps got heavier with each exercise I
really had to tighten up my core and really get slow and controlled
with the movement, anyone can throw weights around and lift heavy,
being effect and efficient is a whole different ball game, so leave
your ego at the door and prepare to grow!</div>
my movements.
Taking an exercise I have only ever done with two hands and moving it
to just one hand made a HUGE difference to me, firstly my weights
rocketed down, much to my surprise. I also found it very hard to
force my arm out more like a wide grip lat pulldown and not let my
elbow gravitate toward my own body, when this happens it means the
movement isn't as effective and makes it hard to spread the lats on
the rising phase of the movement. With the <br />
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Working
both Chest and Back in one workout was new for me, but needless to
say I really really liked it! I didn't feel like my fatigue carried
across to the opposing exercise which meant I was really able to
continuously push hard throughout the whole workout. If you have
never tried it, then get your kit together and get yo' ass to the gym
now and DO IT!
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Happy
Lifting,</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<br />
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Matt</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9vCnFPy4W7dIQtifmSHuHqliHhm-sX55oV-jpp2lVeZiMjBx7mZUnPhynMsU6I9NCMKb3lhAiDIHp78gS_bKKMfVbpM9vOWMTrySZAuO1Gr-P96ge6b_VYP5rJcpiJio20-J9nfvWL-k/s1600/IMG_20150616_161408.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9vCnFPy4W7dIQtifmSHuHqliHhm-sX55oV-jpp2lVeZiMjBx7mZUnPhynMsU6I9NCMKb3lhAiDIHp78gS_bKKMfVbpM9vOWMTrySZAuO1Gr-P96ge6b_VYP5rJcpiJio20-J9nfvWL-k/s320/IMG_20150616_161408.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12037367428494480656noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4312329304090118632.post-46121819925429500152015-06-15T13:28:00.000+01:002015-06-15T13:28:11.037+01:00Week 12 Day 1 - Fairwell Legs (1200 Rep Leg Day)<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>15/06/15 Day 77 –</b>
Legs & Calves</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Here
it is, the beginning of the end. Week 12 is upon me and boy do I know
about it, finishing off just as hard as I started this weeks DTP
training is in the form of Uni-Lateral training, basically working
one limb in isolation, then followed by the opposing limb, going back
and forth with as little rest time as possible, whilst working up and
down pyramid, so yeah, it hurts. This style of training is fantastic
for development of the individual limbs as you are actually able to
produce more force! Enough of the preamble, lets take a look at the
session:</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Single Leg Leg Press
–</b> 10 Sets, 1 x
30,25,20,15,10,10,15,20,25,30</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Bulgarian Split
Squat –</b> 5 Sets, 1 x
30,25,20,15,10</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Close Stance Split
Squat</b> – 5 Sets, 1 x
10,15,20,25,30</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Single Leg Seated
Calf Raise –</b> 5 Sets, 1 x
30,25,20,15,10</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Single Leg Standing
Dumbbell Calf Raise</b> – 5 Sets,
1 x 10,15,20,25,30</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Cardio – </b>Interval
Training 15mins Total</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Just
looking at that session made me tired, let alone actually doing it!
Well needless to say I made sure I performed a huge warm up and
active stretch out before even attempting to start this session and
rightly so because I needed it.</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Starting
with my <b>Single Leg Leg Press</b>,
I was thrown in at the deep end. Starting my sets with the foot
towards the bottom and centre of the foot plate allowed me to
incorporate more of my Quadricep muscles, by isolating them I got to
really work them to failure on each set. The nice thing (I guess)
about this style of training is that whilst one side is working the
other can rest, meaning that even through you aren't actually resting
going up or down the pyramids you do get a small rest period in
between sets. It was pretty damn brutal pushing out so many reps on
only one leg but I really surprised myself with the amount of weight
each leg was able to carry, as I have never really trained like this
before it was a bit of a eye opener to how strong I have actually
become, which I am really happy with. Once hitting the 10 rep mark in
the middle of the exercise, I took the foot placement higher and
wider, by doing so I meant I was able to incorporate more the
Hamstring and Glute muscles now, so I could share the work load
across the whole leg. With the fatigue starting to settle in working
back up the pyramid was just as savage as coming down it! But rep
after rep I pushed on, supporting the knees and making sure
everything was tracking properly, until I finally finished my last 30
repetitions and I could move on.</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Transitioning
to a exercise like the <b>Bulgarian Split Squat</b>
mean that my core and stabiliser muscles now had to work a little
harder to support me in the exercise. By working like this I knew I
was not going to be able to lift anywhere near as heavy as the last
exercise, but that was completely fine. With a old knee injury still
reaping havoc on my balance it also gave me a little bit more of a
test, which I never shy away from! Starting with no weight at all I
worked my way down the pyramid, bumping up the weights as I went to
really fatigue the whole leg out before moving onto the <b>Close
Stance Split Squat</b>. With the
<b>Close Stance Split Squat</b>
I used the exact same weights as I did going down the pyramid to come
back up the pyramid, putting all sense of fatigue to the back of my
mind I just kept pushing harder and harder as I progressed on. After
set three I found that I had to rest pause my way to the end of the
sets, my quads were just cooked to pieces by this point, I do also
recall having to take a few minutes to go outside and take a breather
in the cold air, as I could feel my breakfast coming to revisit me,
thankfully I kept it down and was able to carry on with the sets
until I hit my 30 reps again.</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
So
all that was left now was the calves! To work these bad boys I
started on the <b>Single Leg Seated Calf Raise</b>,
this is simply because the Leg Press was being used and I needed to
improvise. I was really surprised at how well the exercised worked,
really squeezing out a deep contraction through the whole calf showed
me that I had in fact made a good choice. As per usual I was working
my way down the pyramid with the weight getting pushed up with every
passing set, I really felt shot to pieces at the end of this, but
needless to say this wasn't the end for me!</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Single Leg Standing
Dumbbell Calf Raise</b>, this was
the only thing standing in my way between finishing my last Leg Day
of this 12 week muscle builder! Grabbing hold a big ass dumbbell I
mounted a wooden block and prepared myself for the pyramid set from
hell! Rep,rep,rep went by, one leg to the next, drop the weight and
back on the block, it didn't stop I was a man possessed, nothing was
going to get in my way. With my calves pumped full of blood it felt
as though they could have exploded at any second, but with my final
repetition, I placed my dumbbell down and in a state of complete
relief gave myself a big pat on the back, waddled over to the mats
and began my cool down and stretch. So there it is 12 Weeks, 12 Leg
days, boy am I glad that's over, so much learnt and now its time to
keep the progress going!</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
If
you are stuck, feel like you aren't progressing and need a change,
contact me at: <a href="mailto:mgonlinept@gmail.com">mgonlinept@gmail.com</a>
for a 100% tailored programme, guaranteed for results!</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Happy
Lifting,</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<br />
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Matt</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizJdHczp_nsltsldqPYv8-PV8EXM6YJZpeshdP_AeHlUrUBQEAR4o32Vso5WhdH_6uV2zqmizkIZuql5GdHFf_ToCriT5ceQE1Df4EnKTHoaQApsn4OVTK7KHzJxbqHHk4uvCsTBy1gso/s1600/PSX_20150615_132045.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizJdHczp_nsltsldqPYv8-PV8EXM6YJZpeshdP_AeHlUrUBQEAR4o32Vso5WhdH_6uV2zqmizkIZuql5GdHFf_ToCriT5ceQE1Df4EnKTHoaQApsn4OVTK7KHzJxbqHHk4uvCsTBy1gso/s320/PSX_20150615_132045.jpg" width="280" /></a></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12037367428494480656noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4312329304090118632.post-55282640339006836542015-06-12T12:39:00.000+01:002015-06-12T12:39:04.171+01:00Week 11 Day 4 - How To Get A V-Taper<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>11/09/15 Day 74</b>
– Back & Biceps
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Just
from looking at today's session on paper I knew that this was going
to be a hard session, with a huge amount of sets and reps being
performed there was no way I was walking out the gym without a
serious pump. Exactly like the previous day working chest, today was
going to be structured with 3 exercises in each <a href="http://risingtogreatness.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/week-11-day-1-in-pump-we-trust.html" target="_blank">Giant Set</a>, working up
and down repetition pyramid to induce to serious fatigue and push my
muscle to their absolute maximum!</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
So
without further adieu here is today's session:</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<u>Giant
Set 1</u></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Wide Grip Lat
Pulldown</b> – 4 Sets, 1 x
25,20,15,10</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Barbell Deadlift</b>
– 4 Sets, 1 x 25,20,15,10</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Chest Supported
Dumbbell Row</b> – 4 Sets, 1 x
25,20,15,10</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<u>Giant
Set 2</u></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Chest
Supported Dumbbell Row</b>
– 4 Sets, 1 x 10,15,20,25</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Barbell
Deadlift</b>
– 4 Sets, 1 x 10,15,20,25</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Wide
Grip Lat Pulldown</b>
– 4 Sets, 1 x 10,15,20,25
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<u>Giant
Set 3</u></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Barbell
Curl</b> – 4 Sets, 1 x
25,20,15,10</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Standing
Bicep Cable Curls </b>– 4 Sets, 1
x 25,20,15,10</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>High
Pully Curls </b>– 4 Sets, 1 x
25,20,15,10</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<u>Giant
Set 4 </u>
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>High
Pulley Curls</b> – 4 Sets, 1 x
10,15,20,25</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Standing
Bicep Cable Curls</b> – 4 Sets, 1
x 10,15,20,25</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Barbell
Cur</b>l – 4 Sets, 1 x
10,15,20,25</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Starting
with my first Giant set I really wanted to make sure I pushed myself
as hard as I physically could, so taking myself out of my comfort
zone (I seem to be out of it more than in it these days), I bumped up
my weights higher than usual so my starting sets. With the <b>Wide
Grip Lat Pulldown</b> I was only
focusing on drawing my elbows down for the contraction, followed by
flaring my lats out on the way up to get a massive pump in my back.
As I made my way to the <b>Barbell Deadlift </b>I
could already feel how well my back was engaging, feeling every
muscle popping with every rep. As I have a rather weak lower back I
cant always deadlift heavy, so I wanted to make sure I could keep my
lower back as tight as possible, when deadlifting I always try to
make sure to keep my hips below my chest. By opening out the chest
and pulling my shoulder blades back I can always make sure my back is
aligned and thus focus on the muscle contraction more. Last but not
least in this gruelling Giant set was the <b>Chest Supported
Dumbbell Row</b>, using two
dumbbell for this exercise was a blast from the past, as I used to
perform this a lot in my early teens for back development. As I
worked my way down the repetition range I could feel the fatigue
settling in fast, trying to fight it as much as I could as the
weights got heavier and heavier, I slowly began using the rest pause
principle for the final two exercises. As a whole body movement the
deadlifts do tend to drain energy quite fast, so I did have to
anticipate that in with my weight calculations, so as I didn't over
exert myself too much too soon.</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Working
back up the pyramid on Giant Set 2, the exercise order once again was
altered, this allowed me to go heavier and focus attention on the
<b>Chest Supported
Dumbbell Row</b>
more now and less on the <b>Wide
Grip Lat Pulldown</b>.
Having a finishing exercise like the pulldown really did highlight
how insane drained my lats had become though this first half of the
work out, as a relatively isolated movement I could feel the massive
burning sensation under the armpits. Unfortunately there wasn't much
I could do to counter act this, apart from stretch out between sets,
so when I was working all I would focus on was getting the best
contraction out of the movement as possible, with one more week left
of this programme I wanted it all to be about effectiveness!</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
With
the lat burnt out and at bursting point I made my way on to the
Biceps. As a synergistic muscle group the biceps had already had a
bit of work through the <b>Wide
Grip Lat Pulldown </b>&
<b>Chest Supported
Dumbbell Row</b>,
but this wasn't going to stop me working them even harder! Starting
the third Giant set with the <b>Barbell
Curl</b>
followed by the <b>Standing
Bicep Cable Curls </b>and
finishing with the <b>High
Pully Curls</b>,
this was a recipe for pain and I was the head chef. Hitting the
barbell for my Curls I took a wide grip so as to hit the internal
head of the bicep and work on that peak, then moving on to the
<b>Standing Bicep
Cable Curls</b>
with a close grip to hit the outside head of the bicep which meant I
could develop the entire bicep with two exercises which was awesome
and then just to finish off I could burn out on the <b>High
Pully Curls</b>
with a medium grip and just smash out the reps.
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
With
the heaviest set done and dusted it was time to reverse the exercise
order and hit the biceps up in a completely different way, causing
more muscle confusion and getting more effect results out of the
session. Starting with the <b>High
Pully Curls</b>
I found I could go really heavy on these, but then when moving on the
<b>Standing Bicep
Cable Curls</b>
I had hardly anything left in the tank and even less when I finished
off on the standard <b>Barbell
Curls</b>.
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
All
in all I really loved this session, working in this giant set fashion
has brought to light so areas for improvement for myself which I am
very happy about, as I strongly believe that you are only as good as
your weakest link. This is even more prominent in body building,
where ever muscle is scrutinised.</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
I
hope you gals and guys are working hard and smashing the gym today!
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Happy
Lifting,</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<br />
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Matt</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmF6AB2b-1L-Ck7AJ1eQhP08-_e9euFzoPEleDll0zkyq7fLzW1rBixnb_xprjLxfqIf7jyweFHWcaqR2u4D8rRfeUvjdHwwIxLLJ-A_ouOvhQGwAfz1sYChKQCg0skkc62rbhVZe9ghI/s1600/IMG_20150611_124351.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmF6AB2b-1L-Ck7AJ1eQhP08-_e9euFzoPEleDll0zkyq7fLzW1rBixnb_xprjLxfqIf7jyweFHWcaqR2u4D8rRfeUvjdHwwIxLLJ-A_ouOvhQGwAfz1sYChKQCg0skkc62rbhVZe9ghI/s320/IMG_20150611_124351.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12037367428494480656noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4312329304090118632.post-28529104460002073382015-06-11T12:55:00.000+01:002015-06-12T09:42:18.201+01:00Week 11 Day 2 - Big Chest To Be The Best<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>09/06/15 Day 71</b>
– Chest & Triceps
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
With
yesterdays leg DOMS starting to settle in nicely it was time to hit
another big muscle group, today it was in the form of Chest! With
yesterdays high volume training you might have noticed that you have
been slightly more hungry than usual, that is completely normal. When
training legs you are invariably working one half of your entire body
in one day, which means your body is going to need lots of energy
(aka food) to repair and resynthesise all the damaged muscle tissue
in your body, so eat up and grow up! Moving on to today's session,
today was following the same pattern as legs in the sense I was
training three exercises in a Giant Set, if you didn't read <a href="http://risingtogreatness.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/week-11-day-1-in-pump-we-trust.html" target="_blank">yesterdaysession</a> then check it out now before moving on. The Giant sets are
all about volume, more reps, less rest, more stress and more gains!
So here is the session:</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<u>Giant
Set 1</u></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Dumbbell
Flat Bench Press –</b> 5 Sets, 1
x 30,25,20,15,10</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Dumbbell
Incline Flyes –</b> 5 Sets, 1 x
30,25,20,15,10</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Cable
Cross Overs –</b> 5 Sets, 1 x
30,25,20,15,10</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<u>Giant
Set 2</u></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Cable Cross Overs</b> – 5
Sets, 1 x 10,15,20,25,30</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Dumbbell Incline Flyes</b> – 5
Sets, 1 x 10,15,20,25,30</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Dumbbell Bench Press</b> – 5
Sets, 1 x 10,15,20,25,30</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<u>Giant
Set 3</u></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Tricep Pushdown (V Bar Attachment) –</b>
5 Sets, 1 x 30,25,20,15,10</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Tricep Overhead Extensions (V Bar Attachment) –</b>
5 Sets, 1 x 30,25,20,15,10</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Tricep Pushdown (Rope Attachment) –</b>
5 Sets, 1 x 30,25,20,15,10</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<u>Giant
Set 4</u></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Tricep Pushdown (Rope Attachment)</b>
– 5 Sets, 1 x 10,15,20,25,30</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Tricep Overhead Extensions (V Bar Attachment)</b>
– 5 Sets, 1 x 10,15,20,25,30</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Tricep Pushdown (V Bar Attachment)</b>
– 5 Sets, 1 x 10,15,20,25,30</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
With the warm up done and dusted
and a big session ahead, I focused all my thought on my goals for
today, which were, go heavy, go hard and don't stop for anything or
anyone!</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Starting the first Giant Set I
began working my way down the repetition pyramid, with each set
passing by the repetitions dropped down and thus the weights got
heavier and heavier, after the first two sets I could really start
feeling the blood forcing its way into my muscles. With the muscles
under such strain and tension I always made sure I was stretching in
between sets, just to <a href="http://risingtogreatness.blogspot.co.uk/2015/04/week-4-day-1-suns-out-guns.html" target="_blank">manipulate the fascia</a> around my muscles and
help with the recovery from each set. Pushing my way down the pyramid
I allowed slightly more rest time the closer I got to the final set,
leaving around a 2 minute rest between the 15 rep set and the 10. My
reasoning behind this was simple, I was already pumped up like mad,
so there was no need to try pushing heavy weights under fatigue (that
came next), so instead I went heavier then first intended and
rewarded myself with a few extra seconds to insure that I smashed the
last set as hard as I possible could.</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
After my final heavy set I altered
my sequencing, making the <b>Cable Cross Overs</b>
my first movement. This meant that I was able to focus more time and
energy on this particular movement, that had subsequently suffered in
the previous Giant Set, as I had been massively pre fatigued by the
time I made it to the cables. So with the cable weights being bumped
up I had to lower the final exercise in the new sequence, which was
the <b>Dumbbell Bench Press</b>,
just due to the fact I was going to be very fatigued before moving on
the this exercise. None the less I resisted the urge to make it easy
on myself and challenged the idea that I could keep the same weight
on the final two exercises. I was able to do this for about 2 sets,
then my muscles decided that they had had enough. With the muscles
being so worn out by the 20 repetition mark I really had to start
lowering the weight threshold quite rapidly, unfortunately for me I
ended up finishing Giant Set 2 a lot lighter than I had hoped, but
none the less I gave it my all and that is all I could ask for.</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
With the chest well and truly
smoked out it was time for me to move onto a slightly smaller group
of muscles, which was indeed the Triceps. With the triceps being used
in 2 of the previous 3 exercise I knew they were already going to be
pretty darn worn out, but “oh well” I told myself, gave myself a
few “yeah buddy['s]” and cracked on with Giant Set 3. Hitting it
off with the <b>Tricep Pushdown (V Bar Attachment)</b>
really allowed me to shift a bit more weight than expected, I was
pretty happy with that, that was until I moved onto the <b>Tricep
Overhead Extensions (V Bar Attachment)</b>,
where I came to the very fast conclusion that I needed to learn to
pace myself better. Shifting so much weight on the first exercise
made it incredibly hard to fluently knock out the reps and thus I had
to incorporate the rest pause principle from around rep 20. After
what was a pretty steep learning curve I continued my way down the
third pyramid of the day, getting heavy and harder with every set,
the hardest thing about it was the fact I knew I was dropping the
reps so I could go heavier, but my muscles were so burnt out that
going heavier was sometimes just impossible! But after smashing out
my last set, heavy as possible I gave myself a little smile as I knew
the end of the session was in sight!</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Now came the hardest part of all,
which was fitting considering it was the only thing standing between
me and my post workout protein shake. I now had to gather the
strength, both mentally and physically to work my way back up the
pyramid to the 30 repetition mark. Well,well,well, That was a bloody
hard task! Thank Arnold (he is god here) that I could get those reps
out. Many times I had to stop mid set and alter the weight it was
hard to give in, but when I was hitting failure at 8 reps on a 20 rep
set it would have been stupid of me to rest pause 12 reps, that would
add another 3 hours on to my already lengthy session! Needless to say
when I finish those last 30 reps on the <b>Tricep Pushdown (V
Bar Attachment)</b> I shed a single
tear of joy. It was done, done for another day, boy did I feel as
though I had earned my rest day, when I have no doubt I would be achy
like crazy.</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Happy Lifting,</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Matt</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhANbedvHAnOOV1Ok44MqF1yhd-cSVLK9Q8Kuuqj6PZtVp0HAiR3vVzCwMK-lqw-fekSGmkjx83y5byK0Hd2YiFB-hj1w15kfJYYERkuFdy1qSFB6_MAVu-0UODr1umWKLZalJwn3uqp4Y/s1600/IMG_20150610_141134+%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhANbedvHAnOOV1Ok44MqF1yhd-cSVLK9Q8Kuuqj6PZtVp0HAiR3vVzCwMK-lqw-fekSGmkjx83y5byK0Hd2YiFB-hj1w15kfJYYERkuFdy1qSFB6_MAVu-0UODr1umWKLZalJwn3uqp4Y/s320/IMG_20150610_141134+%25281%2529.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12037367428494480656noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4312329304090118632.post-90672076018938811552015-06-10T12:16:00.001+01:002015-06-10T12:16:24.219+01:00Week 11 Day 1 - In The Pump We Trust<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>08/06/15 Day 70</b>
– Legs</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
The
beginning of a new week means as always the beginning on a new style
of training, still working within the confines of the <a href="http://risingtogreatness.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/week-7-day-1-840-reps-later.html" target="_blank">DTP training</a>.
This week I will be training through <u>Giant Sets</u>, for those of you who
don't know what a Giant Set is here is a definition:</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
“A
series of 3 or more exercises performed in succession with no rest
break between them”.</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
This
style of training is perfect for the<u> high volume</u> nature of the DTP
training and I must say, I achieved a stupidly hardcore pump from
this leg session and put it all down to this type of training! So
here is the session:</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<u>Giant
Set 1</u></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Leg Extension</b>
– 5 Sets x 30 Reps</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Leg Press –</b>
5 Sets, 1 x 30,25,20,15,10</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Hack Squat –</b>
5 Sets, 1 x 30,25,20,15,10</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<u>Giant
Set 2</u></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Lying Hamstring Curl</b>
– 5 Sets x 30 Reps</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Leg Press –</b>
5 Sets, 1 x 10,15,20,25,30</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Hack Squat –</b>
5 Sets, 1 x 10,15,20,25,30</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
As
had no steady build up, I had to make sure that going into the
session I was really well warmed up, really well stretched out and
most importantly incredibly <u>focused</u> for what I needed to achieve.
With this style of training it isn't always easy being able to get on
to every piece of a equipment, especially in very busy gyms and peak
hour training, so remember to be thoughtful and let other people jump
in between your working sets, it keeps everyone happy and you might
even get a little rest break out of it!</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
As
I began with the first Giant set I made sure the focus was entirely
within my quads, knowing I was hitting my Hamstrings after allowed me
to work to failure on every set without fear of not being able to
complete the second half of the session. Keeping the <b>Leg
Extensions</b> constantly at 30
reps meant that I was able to actively <u>pre-fatigue</u> the quads in an
isolation movement before going on to the next two compound exercises
that would be aided by other synergistic muscles. To keep the main
focus on the Quadriceps I took my foot stance on the <b>Leg
Press </b>low and narrow, meaning
that the Glutes were not able to influence the movement, which simply
allowed me to beast the Quadriceps even more! After the <b>Leg
Press</b> came the <b>Hack
Squat</b>, this was an insane way
to finish off each set, which such a high muscular demand for the
exercise I found the first two sets I wasn't able to use anything but
my body weight as my legs had become so incredibly fatigued and
pumped up. As spoken about previously, having such high levels of
blood being forced into the muscle (such as “the pump”) allows
the body to trigger, release and transfer higher levels of <a href="http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/cathgh.htm" target="_blank">Human Growth Hormone</a> into the cells, enhancing the size and strength of the
muscles and thus allowing the body to grow. With each set that went
by my legs felt heavier and heavier, not just due to the ridiculous
levels of blood in them but due to the battering they were being put
through. As the number of reps went down the weights went up, trying
to constantly push the muscles to the brink of failure only means
that they will come back bigger and stronger. As I am currently in
the off season for my competitions I am only focused on getting some
solid lean muscle mass on my frame, so pushing to failure is a key
task in my method of madness.</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
With
the Quadriceps utterly obliterated it was time to work back up the
repetitions now, but taking the emphasis to the Hamstrings and
Glutes. Taking on the same pre-fatigue style to Hamstrings that were
used on the Quadriceps, although this time I started at the bottom of
the rep range with the <b>Leg Press </b>&
<b>Hack Squat</b> allowing
me to smash those heavy weighted sets out to start with, then
tapering down the weight whilst the repetition range increased. To
take full advantage of the Hamstrings and Glutes I changed my stances
around once again with the <b>Leg Press </b>&
<b>Hack Squat</b>, taking my
feet high up on the platform, taking my stance really wide and
pointing the toes out very slightly, this then put the emphasis on
the target muscles and did I know about it! Maybe it was due to
already being fatigued but working through the Hamstring work was
completely soul destroying, I was trying my hardest to constantly
keep working through the reps but by the time I made it to the hack
squat I was completely flagging and thus found myself rest pausing
from around 15 repetitions on every set, which only added insult to
injury in the sense that it took so much longer to finish each set.</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
With
the final set of 30 reps done and tiny tear of joy I made my way to
the mats to some my legs so TLC and have a great stretch out, with my
protein shake in hand to feed the muscles I spent a solid 15 minutes
stretching out what was left of my legs. Before the gym starting
shutting down for the day and it was time to go home. All in all it
was a wicked session and I loved it, none the less it was still
incredibly testing.</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Hope
you are having a great day where ever you are!</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Happy
Lifting,</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<br />
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Matt</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnKEVtT8Y0CjkZCEo4MvR4TgNOPXDQ20288O-WtiJrEQUtBQS4SWY2i3EzFhtDaKKS_sQAjwiYqgRXWGpk16rJvarBMWtj8uNCPrtNFO4Vr8q52mx2uvLjOvdHixBRyhXlSdJgt-gn5Js/s1600/PSX_20150610_120850.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgnKEVtT8Y0CjkZCEo4MvR4TgNOPXDQ20288O-WtiJrEQUtBQS4SWY2i3EzFhtDaKKS_sQAjwiYqgRXWGpk16rJvarBMWtj8uNCPrtNFO4Vr8q52mx2uvLjOvdHixBRyhXlSdJgt-gn5Js/s320/PSX_20150610_120850.jpg" width="187" /></a></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12037367428494480656noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4312329304090118632.post-84442388750103920382015-06-06T09:36:00.000+01:002015-06-06T09:36:08.357+01:00Week 10 Day 5 - Insaiyn Workout!<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>05/06/15 Day 67 –</b>
Shoulders</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
After
a very achy morning reflecting on the past 10 weeks I came to the
conclusion that in the past 10 weeks I have learnt more about my mind
and body then ever before, with the styles of training I have worked
through: <a href="http://risingtogreatness.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/week-1-day-1-lets-do-this.html" target="_blank">Y3T</a>/<a href="http://risingtogreatness.blogspot.co.uk/2015/04/week-4-day-1-suns-out-guns.html" target="_blank">FST-7</a>/<a href="http://risingtogreatness.blogspot.co.uk/2015/04/week-5-day-1-everyday-im-stronger.html" target="_blank">GVT</a>/<a href="http://risingtogreatness.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/week-6-day-1-hit-time.html" target="_blank">HIT</a>/<a href="http://risingtogreatness.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/week-7-day-1-840-reps-later.html" target="_blank">DTP Extreme</a> I have been able to gather
incredible amounts of knowledge about how my body responds to
different styles of training and what suits me best. But enough of
that for now, lets get into today's session!</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Machine Shoulder
Press</b> – 12 Sets, 1 x
30,25,20,15,10,5,5,10,15,20,25,30</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Reverse Fly</b>
– 6 Sets, 1 x 30,25,20,15,10,5</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Neutral Grip Reverse
Fly</b> – 6 Sets, 1 x
5,10,15,20,25,30</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Standing Dumbbell
Lateral Raises</b> – 6 Sets, 1 x
30,25,20,15,10,5</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Seated Dumbbell
Lateral Raises</b> – 6 Sets, 1 x
5,10,15,20,25,30</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Barbell Shrugs</b>
– 6 Sets, 1 x 25,15,5,5,15,25</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Cardio</b>
– Interval Training 15mins Total
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="docs-internal-guid-1dce600c-c7e3-00ab-967e-239015d14719"></a>
With my warm up done and dusted I was already feeling incredibly
focused for today's session. I knew I was in for a beasting as that
seems to be the reoccurring theme for this week's training. I had to
make sure my rotator cuffs well sufficiently oiled before I began
with any weights, as I didn't need anything holding me back from
performing at my best.
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
As the smith machine
wasn't available I started my <b>Machine Shoulder Press</b> on the
(isolated shoulder press machine) if anything I was incredibly happy
with the decision, I felt as though it allowed me to perform heavier
weights without risk of injury. Starting a session with 12 sets is
one way of getting a serious pump, by set 9 just lifting my arms up
was a luxury, so finishing the sets off was a bit of a battle. With
my drop sets done it was time to move on to the next exercise.
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
After torching the
anterior and lateral heads of the deltoids I moved on to the <b>Reverse
Fly,</b> with this grip I was able to focus my attention on the
posterior head of the delts. Working the posterior (back) head is
just as important as the other heads if not more, without full
development of the 3 heads the shoulders look uneven and
disproportionate.
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
After ascending up the
pyramid with the previous exercise I changed to the <b>Neutral Grip
Reverse Flys</b> and began my way back down the pyramid in a drop set
fashion. Trying to make sure I matched the weights from the last
exercise put a massive demand on already fatigued muscles. Once again
I found myself having to rest pause the final couple of sets to
ensure I made it to the end of my set, the posterior heads were
seriously on fire by this point and thankfully I had only the lateral
heads and traps to work.
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Now it was time to
torch my lateral heads to round off the shoulders. I started the
first pyramid set with the <b>Standing Dumbbell Lateral Raises</b>,
performing the exercise standing up meant I was able to incorporate a
bit of momentum to aid the concentric (lifting) phase of the
movement, meaning I could go a little heavier than usual as I built
up my weight across the six sets. Making sure I was lifting from the
elbows up gives me a better contraction in the shoulders, now this
may work for me and not you, so be sure to get a feel for how your
body responds to certain exercise yourself! With the heaviest set
done I knew I was halfway, now it was time for me to make my way back
down the pyramid with the <b>Seated Dumbbell Lateral Raises</b>
and I made sure I worked until I could work no more! To stay
strict I cut out as much rest time as possible, running back and
forth between the bench and the weight rack I wanted to push as much
blood and nutrients into my shoulders as physically possible.
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
With my shoulders
completely cooked it was time to move into the traps to round off
what had been an awesome session. So with a few plates on the bar I
began my <b>Barbell Shrugs</b>, drawing the shoulders up to the ears
whilst keeping the back tight so as to create a stable base to work
from. After getting some solid weights on the bar I began striping
the plates of with each set, and finishing off just as strong as I
started!
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
On reflection I loved
the session today and felt as though it had tested me more than any
shoulder session I have ever done! If you want to test your limits
and go above and beyond all self expectations contact me at:
<a href="mailto:mgonlinept@gmail.com">mgonlinept@gmail.com</a> today
for your bespoke programmes!</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Happy Lifting,</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Matt</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIMy8ppBdW2j2NddmamUv0IfpaCey7eWCAe-YI8F1-7HoYqylcuC5j11A58RIAR6hwdgNcgCVxQVEfvFFwhKQ6DqU8WNBPcwM4aMiCOZD4eEAfwcLySzTJ7EJaYX19xDpjwukRv2jlcJU/s1600/DSC_0006.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIMy8ppBdW2j2NddmamUv0IfpaCey7eWCAe-YI8F1-7HoYqylcuC5j11A58RIAR6hwdgNcgCVxQVEfvFFwhKQ6DqU8WNBPcwM4aMiCOZD4eEAfwcLySzTJ7EJaYX19xDpjwukRv2jlcJU/s320/DSC_0006.JPG" width="180" /></a></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12037367428494480656noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4312329304090118632.post-64215688973454870222015-06-04T23:19:00.001+01:002015-06-04T23:19:41.092+01:00Week 10 Day 4 - Bringing Sexy Back!<div class="western">
<b>04/06/15 Day 66 –</b>
Back & Biceps
</div>
<div class="western">
<br /><br />
</div>
<div class="western">
Pushing though
this 12 week muscle building programme with some pace now, only one
more day until week 10 is done and dusted! Following on with this
weeks previous two sessions it all about big numbers, big weights and
some big results to follow! But enough of that, lets look at the
session:</div>
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<br /><br />
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<b>Neutral Grip Pull
Ups –</b> 3 Sets, 1 x 25,15,5</div>
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<i>Superset</i></div>
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<b>Chin Up –</b>
2 Sets, 1 x 20, 10
</div>
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<b>Reverse Grip Lat
Pull Down –</b> 3 Sets, 1 x
5,10,15</div>
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<b>Close Grip Lat Pull
Down</b> – 3 Sets, 1 x 20,25,30</div>
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<b>Reverse Grip Bent
Over Barbell Row</b> – 5 Sets, 1
x 25,20,15,10,5</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Bent Over Barbell
Row</b> – 5 Sets, 1 x
5,10,15,20,25</div>
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<b>Single Arm Dumbbell
Arc Row</b> – 5 Sets, 1 x
25,20,15,10,5 per arm</div>
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<b>Single Arm Dumbbell
Row –</b> 5 Sets, 1 x
5,10,15,20,25 per arm</div>
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<b>Preach Curl </b>
– 5 Sets, 1 x 25,20,15,10,5</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Single Arm Preacher
Curl –</b> 5 Sets, 1 x
5,10,15,20,25 per arm</div>
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<br /><br />
</div>
<div class="western">
<b>Cardio</b> –
Interval Training 15mins Total</div>
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</div>
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<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="docs-internal-guid-7275b6af-c091-b298-77ca-ced10224c207"></a>
After a short warm up and stretching session I was ready to get
started with my session. With the first two exercises I went back and
forth between the two differing grips, with the <b>Neutral Grip Pull
Ups</b> I was trying to target the insertion of the lat across the
armpit, with the standard <b>Chin Up</b> I was working the belly of
the muscle more. When starting the session with such a large
compound movement I didn't want to attach any weight, as I don't feel
as though I would have been strong enough the achieve full range of
motion and thus be less effective during the movement. I found the
body weight work a bit of a struggle at times so starting off my
session like this allows me to focus all my attention and strength on
getting good reps out.
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<div class="western">
From there I moved out to the <b>Reverse Grip Lat
Pull Down </b>machine, as this was a better suited exercise to
perform increasing weighted sets. Starting with the lower reps
my main focus was to go heavy and stay strong, thinking only about
drawing the elbows down to the sides and not flexing the elbows too
much, as this is what allows me to engage the lats more effectively.
</div>
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<br /><br />
</div>
<div class="western">
Then to start targeting the upper traps I moved
onto the <b>Close Grip Lat Pull Down</b>, I used the v bar
attachment for this exercise as i find it a lot easier to draw the
scapular together and thus get a greater contraction out of the
muscles. As the this was a drop set it became increasingly difficult
as the sets went on, with the muscles already pre fatigued it made
the final sets almost impossible! With every rep the lats were
burning and I felt the biceps begin to start activating, this told me
that I needed to drop the weight and focus more on the technique.
With the last set done I was glad to be rid of the machine, until
that is I went on to the next exercise.
</div>
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<div class="western">
The <b>Reverse Grip Bent Over Barbell Row</b> was
up next, working in a pyramid fashion the results started off high
and the weight nice and low, I was trying to make sure that I was
hitting failure on each set regardless of the rep ranges. With a
stable base and strong lower back I slowly worked my way through the
sets, drawing the elbows up to my sides in order to actively engage
the lasts. Then working back down the pyramid I changed the grip
around to allow work through a different portion of the lats. Big
compound movements like these tend to drain energy quite quickly,
which why I am inclined to use pre workout formulas in order to
sustain energy and concentration throughout these long, intense
sessions.
</div>
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<br /><br />
</div>
<div class="western">
The <b>Single Arm Dumbbell Arc Row </b>was a new
one for me, as a combination of the standards Dumbbell row and a
reverse Dumbbell fly this movement was targeting the smaller rhomboid
muscles as well as the posterior Delts. Trying to keep my firm strict
I made sure to pause at the bottom of every movement, this denied me
the possibility of swinging the weight up, but instead forces the
muscles to work harder. So after hitting the smaller muscles around
the shoulder and scapular what better way to really finish myself off
then by some heavy ass <b>Single Arm Dumbbell Row</b>. The emphasis
with this exercise was all about intensity, keeping as little rest
break between sets as possible. The only rest I have myself was
getting a new weight each set, then running back to strap up and get
the reps done. This pushed masses of blood though my back and allowed
me to flush the muscles with lots of growth hormone.
</div>
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</div>
<div class="western">
With the back fully cooked it was time to move on
to working the synergistic muscles and every guys favourite, the
biceps! Starting with the preacher curl I performed a few weightless
sets on the ez bar before loading up for my working sets. With the
lighter sets I wants to try and push lots of blood into the biceps,
as I was only performing two different exercises I wanted to get the
most out of them as possible. I found the heavier sets really took
its toll on the biceps, thoroughly burning even during the rest
breaks, I put the pain to one side and made sure I finished strong!
</div>
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<br /><br />
</div>
<div class="western">
Working the biceps individually on the last
exercise (<b>Single Arm Preacher Curl </b>) really bought to light
how much stronger my right arm was in comparison to my left. I made
sure I chose a weight that tested the weaker arm, but let the
stronger arm go through the motions. By working the weaker arm more
or allows that side to develop better, as it not constantly having to
try and keep up with the stronger and more dominant arm, which will
aid my symmetry when i step on stage next year.
</div>
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<br /><br />
</div>
<div class="western">
With my body beaten and my energy levels through
the floor it was time to get a protein shake down me. I like to use
The Protein Works for my shakes, which are a simple whey powder
to aid my recovery and growth.
</div>
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<br /><br />
</div>
<div class="western">
For nutritional advice and bespoke programmes come
and have a chat with me at: mgonlinept@gmail.com and change your
future, today.
</div>
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Happy Lifting,
</div>
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<br /><br />
</div>
<div class="western">
Matt
</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDAiV_jNy1FGtjEGO73iiS81Cf_Y79TQ3aO7x6yQnOxiD4eQnXrimwVlfQjBxACTr9FYDJ_KayvyCC2uKY94PMnQ-2UInVqszW9R5kwf6pBYDPHTid_viBh1Pq6K_lLtUfNz2Upr4Vh-0/s1600/DSC_6962.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDAiV_jNy1FGtjEGO73iiS81Cf_Y79TQ3aO7x6yQnOxiD4eQnXrimwVlfQjBxACTr9FYDJ_KayvyCC2uKY94PMnQ-2UInVqszW9R5kwf6pBYDPHTid_viBh1Pq6K_lLtUfNz2Upr4Vh-0/s400/DSC_6962.JPG" width="225" /></a></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12037367428494480656noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4312329304090118632.post-73808140952680483492015-06-02T18:47:00.001+01:002015-06-02T18:47:56.683+01:00Week 10 Day 2 - Pectoral Punishment <div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>02/06/15 Day 64 –</b>
Chest & Triceps</div>
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</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Feeling
still shaky after yesterday's leg session it was time to draw my
focus in on the next task, which came in the form of chest and
triceps, looking at the session I knew it was going to be just as
tough as yesterdays session, again looking at big volume, big weights
and lots of work. So here is what the session looked like:</div>
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<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Incline Barbell
Bench Press –</b> 6 Sets, 1 x
30,25,20,15,10,5</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Flat Barbell Bench
Press – </b>6 Sets, 1 x
5,10,15,20,25,30</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Decline Dumbbell
Flyes –</b> 12 Sets,
30,25,20,15,10,5,5,10,15,20,25,30</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Incline Dumbbell
Flyes –</b> 6 Sets, 1 x
5,10,15,20,25,30
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Rope Tricep
Extension –</b> 6 Sets, 1 x
30,25,20,15,10,5</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Seated Overhead Rope
Tricep Extensions –</b> 6 Sets, 1
x 5,10,15,20,25,30</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Close Grip Press Ups
–</b> 6 Sets, 1 x
30,25,20,15,10,5</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Bench Dips</b>
– 6 Sets, 1 x 5,10,15,20,25,30</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b><br />Cardio</b>
– Interval Training 15mins Total</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
With
some much needed rotator cuff work being done and a certain buzz
about me I started the session with the <b>Incline Barbell
Bench Press</b>. Here my focus was
to stretch out the chest at the bottom of the movement and squeeze
the pecks together as I exploded out of the bottom of the movement.
My first few sets were incredible, as if I had found a power within
me that changed the whole dynamic of the exercise, but as quickly as
it came it was gone, hitting set four I smashed into a mental wall,
the pecks were now struggling to contract properly and I found myself
fighting every single rep. Finally I finished the first exercise,
swelling nicely I moved on to the <b>Flat Barbell Bench Press
</b>for the DTP drop set to follow.
With lots of smaller plates on the bar the intension was to complete
the reps stated then strip a few plates, go for the reps again and
continue the pattern until the sets were complete. Now on paper this
seems fine, but after seriously pre fatiguing the chest this became
very hard, very quickly. Pushing up through the palm of my hands I
made it a game of quits, I wouldn't put the bar down till I finished,
that meant I either crushed myself under the bar, or I pushed my
limits out of the way and finished the set.
</div>
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Now
came the pain train. Working through 12 set on <b>Decline
Dumbbell Flyes</b> was no walk in
the park, as I was working with both maximal strength and endurance I
had to really concentrate on the motion, I could have easily injured
my self If I wasn't so switched on. Feeling for the tension through
the pecs with every rep meant I could be as effective as possible
during the workout. With only a few weeks left of this programme it
is all about being as effective and efficient as possible to gain the
best results I can for my body. With the final sets draining my
energy like a punctured tire I was so happy with my determination to
keep on pushing, always looking forward to the future and thinking
about the body I am building is the motivation I need to carry on and
this is exactly what allowed me to excel in this workout.</div>
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</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Onto
the final exercise for the chest, the <b>Incline Dumbbell
Flyes</b>, this was simply a burn
out exercise. By pushing through heavy reps with a low set range
meant I was able to go a lot heavier than the previous exercise, this
meant more muscle fibre tears and promoting more HGH (human growth
hormone) to be distributed into the muscles. Boy did I have an all
mighty pump by the end of this exercise!</div>
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<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
With
the chest cooked to pieces it was time to turn the heat up a bit more
and get my triceps sizzling away and what better way to do so than
the<b> Rope Tricep Extension</b>!
One of my go to exercises during my past training routines, I was no
stranger to the burn I was about to feel. The great feeling of my
triceps growing throughout the sets kept me focused on the work at
hand, keeping the elbows tight allowed me to keep the focus on the
triceps purely. When raising to the top of the motion I made sure I
was incredibly slow and controlled, this meant I could put the
triceps under tension for a longer period of time and thus allow the
muscles to be worked more effectively.</div>
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<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
I
then found myself facing a new challenge in the form of the <b>Seated
Overhead Rope Tricep Extensions</b>.
This is a completely new exercise for me and with the added factor of
burnt out triceps that I was meant to be burning out even more its
needless to say this SUCKED (but was also awesome). Getting an
insane contraction through the whole length of tricep meant this is a
new exercise that will be put straight into my top 10 favourites for
triceps!</div>
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<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
By
this time I couldn't fully lift my arms up, my chest was swollen and
my triceps were burnt to pieces. I took myself to the matted area to
finish off my session with <b>Close Grip Press Ups</b>
& <b>Bench Dips</b>. The
press ups were impossible to complete fully, so I went to my knees
and even on the knees I couldn't fully support my body weight, which
only proved that I had worked my triceps to their breaking point. The
bench dips also had to be performed in a reduced range, with my feet
on the floor I tried to keep the focus solely on my triceps, but when
they wanted to give up I had to introduce a bit of force with the
legs to just keep pushing myself through the final sets. The rest
period between the sets were equal to the number of reps performed,
much like the principles of previous <a href="http://risingtogreatness.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/week-7-day-1-840-reps-later.html" target="_blank">DTP Extreme weeks</a>.</div>
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</div>
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Well
it fair to say I am looking forward to tomorrow's rest day, I will be
preforming some light abdominal work to keep ticking over as well as
some light cardio to keep the metabolism up, but I will be checking
in with you beautiful people on Thursday/Friday!</div>
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<br />
</div>
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Happy
Lifting,</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<br />
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Matt</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12037367428494480656noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4312329304090118632.post-42575920776739661972015-06-01T13:06:00.000+01:002015-06-01T13:06:28.141+01:00Week 10 Day 1 - 2hrs 1140 Reps & One Stupidly Pumped Up Leg Session<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>01/06/15 Day 63</b>
– Legs & Calves</div>
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<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Here
I am! Week 10 of this 12 week muscle builder, coming into the last
couple of sessions on each body component. With such little time left
and such a great demand on results every single rep counts at this
point and boy are there a lot of reps! Working with the DTP style of
training once again, all about volume, all about size and it's
certainly all about will power. I find that with such high rep ranges
as the ones you will see today its 80% mental ability to concentrate
and 20% of actual physical ability. Remember that your brain doesn't
know how many plates you have on the bar, it only knows you are
working against resistance, so follow in my foot steps and leave your
ego at the door and get ready to get pumped up!</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Box Squats</b>
– 12 Sets, 1x30,25,20,15,10,5,5,10,15,20,25,30</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Leg Extension</b>
– 3 Sets x 50 Reps</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Hack Squat</b>
- 12 Sets, 1x30,25,20,15,10,5,5,10,15,20,25,30</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Lying Leg Curl</b>
– 3 Sets x 50 Reps</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Cable Stiff Leg
Deadlift</b> – 12 Sets,
1x30,25,20,15,10,5,5,10,15,20,25,30</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Single Leg Calf
Press</b> – 12 Sets,
1x30,25,20,15,10,5,5,10,15,20,25,30</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Cardio</b>
– Interval Training 15mins Total</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Needless
to say a whopping great warm up was the only way to start off this
Goliath of a training session, loosening up every joint, warming up
all the muscles till they radiated heat. With my pre workout tingling
my skin, the itches telling me it was time to start, so I plugged my
ear phones in with the music blaring and the smell of sweat in the
air and got ready to climb the mountain of a session ahead.</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Box Squats </b>were
the first task at hand. Being so tall depth can sometimes be an issue
for me when it comes around to squatting, I have never been a massive
fan due to this, not to mention the torn ligaments in my right knee,
but I pushed all that aside as this had to be done and I am not one
to back down from a fight. With the lower back burning away, the
quads filling with blood and my breath escaping me I soon realised
that this wasn't going to get any easier (just the way I like it).
Making it to the half way point seemed like an eternity had passed,
but now it was time for a the Dtp drop set, hitting every rep I had
previously done in reverse order with no rest apart from the time
stripping the bar. Well bugger me that has to be one of the hardest
sets of squats I have ever done! With basically nothing on the bar
for the final two rounds I still felt like I was holding the world on
my shoulders, the legs were stiff and the sweat was tickling down my
skin, by the end all that was left of me was the pool around my feet.</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
With
the squats all done and dusted (thankfully) I moved on to the <b>Leg
Extension</b>s, here the idea was
to continue the the stimulation of the quadriceps and allow even more
naturally occurring human growth hormone to be flooded into the
system. Trying battle against the machine with less weight then I had
previously used even seemed like a bridge too far, I fought and
fought until my mind surrendered, I dropped a plate off and honed in
on the final set with all my might, making sure every rep was a tight
as the last. I couldn't believe the struggle, I had never felt this
beaten before, but then I realised that each week I have to try to
better myself and this was just another test, of course its harder,
that is how I will become the best, because I have no limits, only
what is in my mind!</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Moving
on to the <b>Hack Squat </b>my
only thought was that this was the last exercise for my quads, this
was a land mark in the session and it was my job to push through it.
Starting off light I wanted to drill good technique into my cranium,
just trying to take my thoughts away from the rattling of my legs.
Each set it got harder, the legs trembled more and I reached to my
phone to turn up the music, anything to take away my focus from the
burn, but alas the volume was all the way up, it was blaring and I
didn't even realise over the screams of my quadriceps. It isn't meant
to be easy I had to keep reminding myself, working like this will
make me a champion and with that set in my sight I drove through to
the end of the exercise. Thank Christ.</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
With
my quadriceps completely cooked it was fitting that now I could move
on to the hamstring section of the work out, starting with <b>Lying
Leg Curls</b>. Here the emphasis
was on high reps and low sets once again, trying to push myself to
failure before I had even started, it seems all I know in the gym
these days is failure but if that is what it takes then I am not one
to argue. Between each set I sprang off the machine and stretching
the burn out of the muscles, cursing under my breath it seemed like I
couldn't stop myself. Hopping to and fro until I was finished, well
only two exercises left. I knew I could do it, but it seemed like
this session was never going to end!</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
The
<b>Cable Stiff Leg Deadlifts</b>
were a new one for me today and I must say I really enjoyed them, I
have a tendency to lose the contraction in my left hamstring at some
points usually, but due to the flexibility of this exercise I could
tweak my movement to maintain an insane contraction that would later
come back to haunt me. Working down the ladder to only crawl back up
was a real chore, but I wasn't going to quit this close to the end
and that is why I am barely able to walk now. But I LOVE IT!</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
I
had done it, the final exercise was here and I managed to end the
session on a real high. The <b>Single Leg Calf Press</b>
was all about working each calf individually without rest, after one
side was done it was on to the other straight away, with as little
rest as possible. I pushed and pushed and pushed, with 2 sets left
between me leaving all I could think about was my post workout shake.
After draining my calcium deposit through the workout it was almost
impossible to squeeze a good contraction out of my calves any more,
feeling knackered I allowed some momentum to influence my final set.
I was finished, the hard work had been completed.
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Wanting
to nap right now, but being 1pm its not really an acceptable time,
plus my meal prep won't do itself!</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
To
make a change to your body and your life, get in contact with me now
at: <a href="mailto:mgonlinept@gmail.com">mgonlinept@gmail.com</a>
for your bespoke gym plans and nutritional programmes!
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Change
your future today.</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Happy
Lifting,</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<br />
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Matt</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCd88bwDBTWBZepiqKf8Aw_1wkmxGTvzajNFYiTF-Xa_4UHeIGY0jXTFbvRDKDhx8uDDXzv_3sw5CFa5t6nIJO_q6oIDWrk_WaP7gdBAj7jlVX5UWQKFSq_eIIr7vZtC3hZmHoLbEzPKw/s1600/DSC_6955.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="225" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCd88bwDBTWBZepiqKf8Aw_1wkmxGTvzajNFYiTF-Xa_4UHeIGY0jXTFbvRDKDhx8uDDXzv_3sw5CFa5t6nIJO_q6oIDWrk_WaP7gdBAj7jlVX5UWQKFSq_eIIr7vZtC3hZmHoLbEzPKw/s400/DSC_6955.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12037367428494480656noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4312329304090118632.post-11153088913595024352015-05-30T16:16:00.002+01:002015-05-30T16:16:40.160+01:00Week 9 Day 5 - One Way Ticket To The Gun Show!<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>30/05/15 Day 61 –</b>
Arms
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Today
was a very short, simple and insanely effective gym session, with
only 4 exercises in the entire session it was all about going heavy,
hitting failure and pushing through my mental and physical barriers
to complete every set.
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Here
is your ticket to the Gun Show:</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Standing Over-Head
Dumbbell Tricep Extension –</b> 5
Sets, 1 x 30,25,20,15,10</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<i>SuperSet</i></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Seated Dumbbell
Curls –</b> 5 Sets, 1 x
30,25,20,15,10</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Decline Skull
Crushers –</b> 5 Sets, 1 x
10,15,20,25,30</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<i>SuperSet</i></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Ez Bar Spider Curls
–</b> 5 Sets, 1 x 10,15,20,25,30</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Cardio</b>
– Interval Training 15mins Total</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
As
usual I started my session with a really solid warm up, made sure I
worked my rotator cuffs and did a lot of warm up work on the triceps,
as religiously when doing overhead tricep work I tighten up very
quickly. So some explosive active stretching followed during my warm
up sets, the hoodie came off and it was game time.</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
With
the first superset, it was 100% about trying to hit complete failure
on every single set, so for me I looked at the dumbbell rack and
asked myself what would I usually lift for those reps, then moved a
few kilos up so I knew I had to really work hard to finish off the
sets, I found this worked really well in my favour as I actually
managed to lift stupidly heavier then I perceived I would be able to.
Two or three sets in to the first super set and my arms where feeling
seriously swollen, with the weights getting heavier and heavier I
really had to draw all my attention in to my contractions, with my
spotter standing by for a comfort blanket I pushed myself to the
limit. Very happy with my new <u>personal
best</u> of 40kg overhead
dumbbell extension, <u>if I
look a few years back it was something only I dreamt of and now I'm
living it, just goes to show that hard work pays off!</u>
The dumbbell curls felt really good today as well, with my focus on
this exercise to twist the little finger up towards the ceiling to
engage the inner head of the biceps I found it encouraged the pump
nicely.</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
With
my arms well fatigued and blood surging through my triceps and biceps
I moved on to the final two exercises. The <b>Decline
Skull Crushers</b>
felt really awesome today, by taking the arms further back, past
eyeline it meant that I could keep constant tension through the
triceps. Keeping the tension through the target muscles for as long
and possible will help to promote the release of human growth hormone
by the body, so if you are not using performance enhancing drugs like
myself this is a brilliant way to build that awesome thickness that
makes the body look a lot fuller. The opposing exercise (<b>Ez
Bar Spider Curls</b>)
really helped to isolate the outer head of my biceps, taking the
close grip on the Ez bar meant I couldn't recruit much of the inner
head, allowing me to work the entire bicep through the duration of
the session. As I started to fatigue in the later sets due to the
higher reps I made sure that I was pushing the ticeps into the
preacher machine to stop the temptation of swinging the bar up but
instead forcing the biceps to contract harder to lift the weight.
<b><i>Remember: </i></b><i>If
you are going to do something, do it right.</i></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Happy
Lifting,</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<br />
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Matt</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiibbXnxH3YEkEgta4sNbopufQhiScLB34rAv7Sj1arDiVBFB3eq6DY-gxTmrAzoyGsVNRmPdzDY9iyX_M-3-sbMQzvT_tKqBPYGBGHdPcSzykOssTxmi2-LfcaorvkxpJI1y2I-T5YEL8/s1600/IMG-20150530-WA0009.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiibbXnxH3YEkEgta4sNbopufQhiScLB34rAv7Sj1arDiVBFB3eq6DY-gxTmrAzoyGsVNRmPdzDY9iyX_M-3-sbMQzvT_tKqBPYGBGHdPcSzykOssTxmi2-LfcaorvkxpJI1y2I-T5YEL8/s400/IMG-20150530-WA0009.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12037367428494480656noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4312329304090118632.post-42592804922141336072015-05-27T15:25:00.000+01:002015-05-27T15:25:09.526+01:00Week 9 Day 3 - Delts<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>27/05/15 Day 59 –</b>
Shoulders & Abs</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Once
again apologies for the lack of blog yesterday, very busy and simply
didn't have time.
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Today
was day 59 of the 12 week muscle builder and today I hit delts, I hit
them hard! Working with purely supersets today kept the work
intensity high, the volume high and really gave me that insane pump I
was craving after. Here is what my session looked like today:</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Dumbbell Lateral
Raise –</b>
5 Sets, 1 x 30,25,20,15,10
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<i>SuperSet</i></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Weighted Plate Front
Raise –</b>
5 Sets, 1 x 30,25,20,15,10</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Standing Dumbbell
Shoulder Press –
</b>5
Sets, 1 x 10,15,20,25,30</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<i>SuperSet</i></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Dumbbell Incline
Bench Lying Front Raise –
</b>5
Sets, 1 x 10,15,20,25,30</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Bent-Over Rear Delt
Raise –</b>
5 Sets, 1 x 30,25,20,15,10<b> </b>
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<i>SuperSet</i></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Weighted Sit Ups
–</b>
5 Sets, 1 x 30,25,20,15,10</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Reverse Peck Deck
Fly –
</b>5
Sets, 1 x 10,15,20,25,30</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<i>SuperSet</i></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Bent Knee Hip Raises
–
</b>5
Sets, 1 x 10,15,20,25,30</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Cardio</b>-
Interval Training 15mins Total</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
I
started the session with a solid rotator cuff warm up, as I feel the
rotator cuff is a bit of a weak point for me I wanted to make sure
that during the workout they wouldn't hold me back. So with some
mobility work and some light sets under my belt to oil up the joints
and grease up the engine I was ready to get stuck in.</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Working
through the first superset of <b>Dumbbell Lateral Raise
</b>&
<b>Weighted Plate
Front Raise</b>s
allowed me to target the lateral and anterior heads of my deltoids ,
giving the impression of a fuller deltoid. With a big frame having
some large, full delts are imperative. With my <b>Dumbbell
Lateral Raises </b>I
like to keep the weight on the outside of my hand and draw up from
the elbow, I feel this gives me a much stronger contractions on the
lateral head of my delt, but what works for me may not work for you
so make sure that you experiment a bit with some lighter weights and
see what works for you. The <b>Weighted
Plate Front Raises</b>
started out quite easy with the lighter sets but I found as the
plates only go up in increments of 5kg some times there was a big
jump in the weights for the rep range I was working in, to get around
this I used the same weight for a few sets before moving up, so I was
in a range I could actually work in (rather than rest pausing every
repetition).</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
With
the delts feeling incredibly full already after those first two
exercises I wanted to keep up the pump and hunt for that pump, so I
quickly moved onto the next set of exercises, these were: <b>Standing
Dumbbell Shoulder Press</b>
followed by the <b>Dumbbell
Incline Bench Lying Front Raises. </b>With
the press I wanted to make sure I was in a solid and stable position
before each set as leaning back to far when overhead pressing can
cause mass stress to the spine and I wanted to avoid that completely.
The press was a powerful movement, making sure I didn't fully lock
out in order to keep more tension within the delts and put them
through me TUT (time under tension). The <b>Dumbbell
Incline Bench Lying Front Raises </b>were
a new one for me, trying them out I quickly found there is a huge
tendency to swing a lot, this defeats the whole object of being in a
isolative position such as this one. I made sure I was keeping the
dumbbells under control the whole time, which did mean lowering the
weights but I am not ego lifting but simply putting my muscles under
strain. <b><i>Remember:</i></b><i>
Your brain doesn't know how much you are lifting, it only knows that
it is under stress and will thus increase the contraction intensity
to combat this, so don't worry about going heavy all the time,
because quite frankly your brain doesn't care.</i></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Then
I moved onto the penultimate superset of the session, this came in
the form of the <b>Bent-Over
Rear Delt Raise</b>
combined with the <b>Weighted
Sit Ups. </b>On
the <b>Rear Delt
Raise</b>
I wanted to make sure my back was completely flat so as to not put
tension through the spine but also to focus my mind muscle connection
on the read delts, I made sure that with every rep I was squeezing
them to start off the contraction, this helps me build the
neuromuscular pathways and thus gives me a better result. Super
setting the raises with <b>Weighted
Sit Ups</b>
really took it our of me, starting only with an Olympic bar on a
decline bench I found my abs really burnt out quickly on this
exercise, I don't know if it was due to me working so hard on the
other exercises but I found this especially tough today!</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
By
this point my shoulders were pumped, my abs were burning and I the
end of the session was in plain view, the only thing in my way was
<b>Reverse Peck
Deck Flyes </b>
with the <b>Bent
Knee Hip Raises</b>
to follow. The flyes were great today, I surprised myself in the
first few set with the strength I have managed to gain in these small
muscles, but when moving up the the longer sets of 25/30 reps I began
to flag quite a lot, I think the muscles had burnt out and I really
did have to rest pause the last 10 or so reps to finish of the sets.
Luckily the <b>Bent
Knee Hip Raises</b>
didn't need any help from the delts which meant I could blast through
these sets a bit easier, not saying it was easy those last few higher
rep set had my abs on fire!</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Tomorrow
will be a rest day for me and if you are following this programme
then it is for you too!</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
For
customised meal plans and Gym routines, guaranteed to give you
results e-mail me at:</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<a href="mailto:mgonlinept@gmail.com"><span style="text-decoration: none;">mgonlinept@gmail.com</span></a></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Change
your future today.</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Happy
Lifting,</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<br />
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Matt</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0hPyXkPC4tri849BiEciOzCmyZLOxj6Y4TYR0ptLzy_8Uo_Bj0LCtD55l0RICR8nVXDqXb8M9PSHOJHtsnPz-ltexJzKpErb2QQp3gvQNQOVvPLjM39zGUaoV0qhlhP3lLq5vQ61MuPM/s1600/DSC_6933.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0hPyXkPC4tri849BiEciOzCmyZLOxj6Y4TYR0ptLzy_8Uo_Bj0LCtD55l0RICR8nVXDqXb8M9PSHOJHtsnPz-ltexJzKpErb2QQp3gvQNQOVvPLjM39zGUaoV0qhlhP3lLq5vQ61MuPM/s320/DSC_6933.jpg" width="243" /></a></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12037367428494480656noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4312329304090118632.post-67068122533179594652015-05-25T14:02:00.001+01:002015-05-25T14:02:47.646+01:00Week 9 Day 1 - Total Leg Annihilation (960 Reps)<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>25/05/15 Day 57 –</b>
Legs & Calves</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Unfortunately
I got hit pretty hard by a cold/virus on Friday and despite my best
efforts it has whittled me down slightly, I worked pretty damn hard
during my Arms session on Friday, but simply didn't have the mental
or physical strength to get a Blog out to everyone, so sorry about
that. Even though I have been feeling pretty shoddy I managed to get
down the the gym yesterday to hit up some light cardio, hoping to
sweat most of what ever I had out, luckily it worked a but and I am
not feeling quite so lethargic today, although my lunges feel quite
constricted and I have now adopted a wicked cough (not wicked as in
cool!). But today was the beginning of Week 9, so I put everything to
the back of my head and pulled my ass down the gym for a bank holiday
training session, needless to say the gym was RAMMED but I didn't
care because lots of people don't train legs (burn) so I had the
upper hand on getting most pieces of equipment with easy.
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
If
you feel like your usual leg sessions don't demand that much of you,
then you <u>have to</u>
try this out, the most intense hardcore session of the 12 week
trainer so far! Here it is:</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Leg
Extension</b>
– 3 Sets, 1 x 50,40,30
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Leg
Press –</b>
5 Sets, 1 x 30,25,20,15,10</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Hack
Squat –
</b>5
Sets, 1 x 10,15,20,25,30</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><i><u>(For
each rep performed 1 sec rest is awarded, 5 reps = 5 sec rest)</u></i></span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Leg
Extension </b>3
Sets, 1 x 30,40,50</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Lying
Leg Curl </b>
– 3 Sets, 1 x 50,40,30
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Stiff
Leg Dumbbell Deadlift –</b>
5 Sets, 1 x 30,25,20,15,10</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Lying
Leg Curl –
</b>5
Sets, 1 x 10,15,20,25,30</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><i><u>(For
each rep performed 1 sec rest is awarded, 5 reps = 5 sec rest)</u></i></span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Seated
Calf Raise –</b>
5 Sets, 1 x 30,25,20,15,10</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Standing
Calf Raise –
</b>5
Sets, 1 x 10,15,20,25,30</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><i><u>(For
each rep performed 1 sec rest is awarded, 5 reps = 5 sec rest)</u></i></span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Cardio</b>
– Interval Training 15mins Total
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Starting
with a very, very thorough warm up ensured that I wouldn't pull or
damage any muscles during what was the most intense, energy sapping,
mentally demanding session so far. With the pre-workout flooding my
veins with energy, tingling away at my skin I began the session.</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
The
<b>Leg Extension</b>
warmed me up for what was to come, working with such a high volume
requires a certain sense of mental endurance to make sure that you
aren't simply going through the motions but instead you are making
every single rep count for something. After the first few sets I
could really feel the muscles beginning to pump and swell, it felt
great, I knew that this volume of training would inhibit a high
release of human growth hormone in my body, but feeling such a strong
pump, so early on clarified that this was going to <u>make
me grow</u>.</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Moving
swift on to the <b>Leg
Press </b>
next ensured that this pump wasn't going to waste. With the weights
increasing with each set I made sure I pushed my legs to the absolute
limit, using a rest pause to finish off the heavier sets determined
that I would push myself as close to complete failure as possible,
without creating long term damage. <b><i>Remember</i></b><i>:
When using a leg press you keep the feet close together to focus on
the contraction within the quadriceps, or take the feet high and wide
to recruit more the glutes in the exercise.</i></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Then
came the first DTP XxTreme (see what I did there) set of the workout,
which came in the form of the <b>Hack
Squat</b>.
Keeping the feet close together once again ensure I was beasting my
quadriceps into a oblivion, working through the reps with the tiny
rest breaks really did mean my legs became incredibly tight very
fast, so in between the longer sets I made sure that I hopped off the
machine and stretched out to ensure the muscles elasticity and
prevent any long term harm to the knees (or anymore damage should I
say).</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Finishing
the quadriceps off as I started I moved to the <b>Leg
Extension</b>
machine once again to well and truly cook them. This time I worked up
in the repetitions and down in the weight, really really really
fatiguing the muscles, breaking down the tissue and building me some
quads that could hold up a small house. I have to say the last set
completely recked me, even with a very light weight I felt as if my
legs just wouldn't work anymore. I employed a rest pauses strategy to
finish off the exercise, as I couldn't battle through 50 reps
straight off, which annoyed me slightly, but I welcome failure as I
know it will make me grow.</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
After
I cooked the quadriceps it was time to move onto some fresh meat
which meant it was time to jump on the <b>Lying
Leg Curl</b>.
Starting once again with huge amounts of volume really took it out of
me, by this point in the work out I was very fatigued, I felt
massively warn out and was worried that this session was going to get
the best of me, so I put my headphones in, cranked the volume and
awakened my inner beast. Smashing out reps like they were going out
of fashion allowed me to warm up the hamstrings for some nice heavy
weights on the next exercise.</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Then
I hit the <b>Stiff
Leg Dumbbell Deadlift</b>
for some heavy ass reps. Making sure the contractions was felt in
both hamstrings was the main focus for me, even development of the
body will help me when it comes round to competition time as I won't
have to worry about the symmetry so much if both sides of the body
are being worked equally. I took the last few reps incredibly slow on
the final 2 sets, I wanted to feel every single contraction
throughout the whole of the hamstring, squeezing the muscles till
there was nothing left.</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Working
to failure meant going back to the <b>Lying
Leg Curl</b>
for the next DTP Xxtreme was going to be no walk in the park (in fact
I don't actually think I could walk at this point). Using a weight I
would perform for 20 reps I began the flogging, having to fight
myself to carry on, to break through the pain barrier and to implore
myself to finish the exercise. With the final reps getting the better
of me I rested for a few seconds as I got too much, which aided my
completion of this awesome, yet sickening set.</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
With
the Quads and Hamstrings well and truly shot to piece it was time to
finish off the legs, with some testing <b>Seated
Calf Raises </b>&
<b>Standing Calf
Raise</b>.
The seated raises were fantastic, working up to a really heavy weight
had my motivation levels high and had me chomping at the bit to
finish this session off. The only thing left for the session was the
grand finale of DTP Xxtreme, the standing raises. The standing raises
were done only with my body weight off a step, due to the intensity
and already pre fatiguing them it was hard enough working through the
short burst sets, squeezing both the Soleus and Gastrocnemius through
each and every rep.
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
By
now it was fair to say I was running on empty, after a wonderful
stretch out to encourage the recovery of these beaten up muscles I
grabbed my bag and went on my way.</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Still
feeling a little tired I find myself here sipping my BCAA's and
typing this up. I hope you are having a wonderful bank holiday those
of you in England and to everyone else Happy Monday!</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Happy
Lifting,</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Matt</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
(No
photo today, I feel and look far too awful for that)</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12037367428494480656noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4312329304090118632.post-6724576316336270132015-05-21T11:57:00.000+01:002015-05-21T11:57:35.239+01:00Week 8 Day 4 - Serious Shoulder Session!<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>21/05/15 Day 53 –</b>
Shoulders</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Today
was day 4 of the 2<sup>nd</sup>
week on the DTP Extreme trainer, today session was created and
designed to complete annihilate the deltoids and that is <u>exactly</u>
what it did. Feeling pretty darn tight in the legs, chest and back I made sure my body was prepared for today's session. Last
night I began visualising what I wanted to get out of the session
today, creating a mental game plan, so as soon as I stepped foot in
the gym I knew what was I was going to do.
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
So
here it is, today's session:</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Dumbbell Shoulder
Press –</b> 6 Sets, 1 x
30,25,20,15,10,5</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<i>SuperSet</i></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Cable
Upright Rows –</b> 6 Sets, 1 x
30,25,20,15,10,5</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Cable
Shoulder Press – </b>6 Sets, 1 x
5,10,15,20,25,30</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><i><u>(For
each rep performed 1 sec rest is awarded, 5 reps = 5 sec rest)</u></i></span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Cable
Seated Front Raises – </b>6 Sets,
1 x 5,10,15,20,25,30</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><i><u>(For
each rep performed 1 sec rest is awarded, 5 reps = 5 sec rest)</u></i></span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Dumbbell
Lateral Raises –</b> 6 Sets, 1 x
30,25,20,15,10,5</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<i>SuperSet</i></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Cable
Rear Delt Flyes –</b> 6 Sets, 1 x
30,25,20,15,10,5</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Dumbbell
Later Raises – </b>3 Sets , 1 x
10,20,30</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><i><u>(For
each rep performed 1 sec rest is awarded, 5 reps = 5 sec rest)</u></i></span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Cable
Rear Delt Flyes – </b>3 Sets , 1
x 10,20,30</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><i><u>(For
each rep performed 1 sec rest is awarded, 5 reps = 5 sec rest)</u></i></span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Cardio</b>
– Interval Training 15mins Total
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
I
really had to make sure that I was thoroughly warmed up today, with
the joints feeling a bit creaky and having quite hardcore DOMS
(delayed onset of muscle soreness) I wanted to be 100% sure in my own
mind that I was ready for the session ahead, so worked through lots
of rotator cuff work as well as some dynamic stretching to try and
work some more blood into those tight muscles and aid their recovery.</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Starting
the session with a super set was pretty fun, jumping back and fourth
between the <b>Dumbbell Shoulder Press </b>and
the <b>Cable Upright Rows</b>
really was a great introduction for the shoulder joints into the DTP
Extreme massacre of the muscles. Working my way up the weights in
these first sets was a nice eye opener for my strength, I sometimes
lose track of how far I have come until I do a session like this
where I am constantly going back to the rack to pick up heavier
dumbbells because I am choosing to light a weight, which really felt
fantastic. Working the front and lateral (outside) head of the
deltoids in these two exercises allowed the muscles to share the work
load, which was another contributing factor to the heavier reps.</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Then
came the first DTP Extreme exercise, moving on the the close cable
system I lowered the handles, placed a bench down and began my
journey on the <b>Cable Shoulder Press.</b>
A bit of a bizarre exercise for me, as I have never really tired
using the cables for any shoulder pressing movements, but I have to
say it very much tested my ability and strength and will be something
I come back to in the future. Really hitting the smaller fixation
muscles in the shoulder as well as those big deltoid heads really
allowed me to get a fantastic workout out of a very simple exercise.</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
With
the deltoids screaming out after those presses it was only fair to
work them a little bit harder, with around 1 ½ minutes rest I moved
the bench out from the cables. With a relatively light weight on the
stacks I set myself physically and mentally and began the next DTP
Extreme set which was the <b>Cable Seated Front Raises.
</b>Isolating the Anterior (front)
head of the shoulder meant this already fatigued muscle group was
being pushed to is complete limit, I loved every minute of this
exercise but that isn't to say it was easy, I often found that I had
to stop for a few seconds here and there because my shoulders were on
fire, the build of of lactic acid really had me grunting out every
single rep in the last few sets.</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Giving
the front portion of the should a bit of a break I moved over to the
wide cable pulleys and set out on my second super set of the session,
which was the <b>Dumbbell Lateral Raises </b>followed
by the <b>Cable Rear Delt Flyes</b>.
With a few minutes rest since the last DTP set I was ready to crack
on, working with the high reps meant that I was working with quite
light weights to start with, but as the sets went on I was slowly
creeping up the weights and forcing my muscles to complete failure,
this allowed me to breakdown more muscle tissue, which will then have
to be resynthesised by the body to create larger and stronger
muscles.</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
With
the super set done and dusted it was time to move on to working the
movements in isolation for the final two DTP Extreme sets! Starting
with the <b>Dumbbell Lateral Raises</b>
I worked with the same weight I performed for 20 reps in the previous
exercise, to ensure I would reach failure on the 20 & 30 rep sets
in this exercise. <b><i>Remember</i></b><i>:
Do not be afraid of failure, working your body to its maximum is the
only way it's going to grow.</i></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
With
the end in sight I prepared the cable system for the last push
through the soul shattering <b>Cable Rear Delt Flyes. </b>Here
you may have noticed I was only working through a 10,20 and 30 rep
range, keeping the duration shorter and thus the rest periods also
dwindled, forcing more blood into the muscles, keeping them under
tension for longer and if you have been following these blogs over
the past 8 Weeks then you will know it is all about Time Under
Tension (TUT). With the final set done and the weights completed, I
ensured that I stretched out for a while, still having all the blood
pumping around the delts made them tight and needed to be flushed
out.
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
I
hope you kill your session as hard as I murder mine today!</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Happy
Lifting,</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<br />
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Matt</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-Of1JQ4ysJ-Rqj6wgNMILyOoaHTnNE7WUkBaINjj9HqZEMrWHB-FDcM-hz2JandjfYiY9ZpsCO5j6CHj1s2pEKuPRGtmAJKJ0CLhii30V9ODs_5HQ_goFQ79lGdQc8SYSwfPC8P2_ue0/s1600/DSC_6911.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-Of1JQ4ysJ-Rqj6wgNMILyOoaHTnNE7WUkBaINjj9HqZEMrWHB-FDcM-hz2JandjfYiY9ZpsCO5j6CHj1s2pEKuPRGtmAJKJ0CLhii30V9ODs_5HQ_goFQ79lGdQc8SYSwfPC8P2_ue0/s320/DSC_6911.jpg" width="196" /></a></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12037367428494480656noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4312329304090118632.post-30047427359803811192015-05-20T11:36:00.000+01:002015-05-20T11:36:35.529+01:00Week 8 Day 3 - Training To Go Saiyan<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>20/5/15 Day 52 –</b>
Chest & Calves</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
After
destroying what was a humongous <a href="http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/kris-gethin-dtp-training.html" target="_blank">DTP Extreme</a> leg session yesterday it
is fair to say I am feeling
<u>incredibly sore and tight today</u>.
When I feel like tight like this I have to take special care to make
sure I don't over do it when training, so a solid warm up and stretch
is 100% necessary to make sure I don't pull or strain any muscles
(which would be devastating). Although I push my body to it limits
every day I do play it smart and listen to my body, if something
doesn't feel right I will try and diagnose what this issue is and try
to adapt so as to resolve the problem.
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Today
was a bit of a strange session, incorporating the calves that were
not in yesterdays programme along with chest! So let's have a look at
what my session looked like:</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Incline Dumbbell
Bench –</b> 6 Sets, 1 x
30,25,20,15,10,5</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Decline Dumbbell
Flyes – </b>6 Sets, 1 x
5,10,15,20,25,30</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Leverage Chest
Press–</b> 6 Sets, 1 x
30,25,20,15,10,5</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<i>SuperSet</i></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Single Leg Calf
Press–</b> 6 Sets, 1 x
30,25,20,15,10,5</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Peck Deck Flyes –
</b>6 Sets, 1 x 5,10,15,20,25,30</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Calf Press – </b>6
Sets, 1 x 5,10,15,20,25,30</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Cardio-</b>
Interval Training 15mins Total</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
With
a nice <u>warm up complete</u>
I hopped onto a bench where I preformed a few sets of 15 reps on a
very light weight, this was just to loosen the chest muscles in
partnership with some active stretching. I also want to make sure the
joints were well oiled for the session ahead, as there is once again
a huge emphasis on volume with this DTP Extreme training I want to be
sure in myself that my joints can keep up with the work load.
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
With
the warm up complete it was time to launch myself into my training I
began with the <b>Incline Dumbbell Bench</b>,
with this exercise I want my core focus to be keeping tension through
the chest throughout the whole set, the way I achieved this was by
keeping the elbows nice and soft and not locking out at the top of
the movement, when I hit the peak of my contraction I lowered the
weight back down in order to flush the muscles with lots and lots of
blood, which will help me to increase muscle size.</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
With
the final heavy sets completed on the incline bench I took the bench
down to the floor and chose a weight I could perform around 15-20
reps on and prepared myself for the DTP Extreme set of <b>Decline
Dumbbell Flyes</b>. When working
with such great volume on one exercise its hard to keep focused on
the contraction, so here I wanted my goal to keep solid and strict
form and try not to pause during the set as much a possible. The
fatigue kicked in around the 15 mark and really made it difficult to
push through the sets, but with a few small brakes supplementing my
rest between sets, it allowed me to finish the exercise strong.
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Then
came the one and only super set of the session, it was a bit of a
strange one as the <b>Leverage Chest Press</b>
really hits the chest and triceps well and then the <b>Single
Leg Calf Press </b>works purely on
the calves. With the big split between upper body and lower body it
meant I could afford to go really heavy with both exercises as they
were not having any direct impact on each other. I hit a new PB on
the leverage press which I was really happy with, starting to feel a
bit of tension through the triceps at this point I tried to think
about contracting my pectorals as much as possible, being a bigger
muscles group it aided me with the heavier weight more than the
triceps ever could.</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Down
to the penultimate exercise, which was performed in the DTP Extreme
style of training. The <b>Peck Deck</b>
is a old school favourite for most, for me its not a machine I enjoy
much as the range in the arms do not suit for people like me who are
6 foot 8 and have over a 2 metre wing span, but none the less I
toughened up and pushed forward into the sets. Selecting a weight I
would usually do for around 20 reps meant I knew when passing 20 reps
I would be well and truly fatigued, this means the muscle breakdown
will be greater in the targeted areas and thus meaning I can build
more muscle onto that area. With some tension being put through the
shoulders during the final sets I wanted to really emphasise the
drawing together of my pectoral muscles, this meant I could get the
most out of the movement.</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
On
to the final exercise the <b>Calf Press</b>,
at this stage the calves had been warmed and primed for this last set
of DTP Extreme work for today. When several plates on the leg press
machine I extended and locked the legs out and prepared for my
working sets. Making sure the heel was dropping past the foot plate
with every rep meant I was able to fully elongate the muscle before
each contraction, working the whole length of both the soleus and
gastrocnemius, for maximal effort under a large work load. The final
few sets really did sear through my calves and it felt like they
would never stop burning, but after a brisk walk around the gym I
managed to shun the pain and enjoy a well deserved rest, as <u>today's
session was complete</u>!</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Felt
very good about the effort I put into my session today, I do feel
complete smashed and could do with a lay down, but fortunately work
calls and I must stay awake, I know I am going to sleep like a baby
tonight!</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Hope
everyone is having an <u>AWESOME</u>
Wednesday I know I am!
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Happy
Lifting,</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<br />
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Matt</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5TqMOgasGb6EjtSlbQTFz1zFDyyHntp3um6MVZSaFaaTM9SZmwk7y_MsokguxXDgMGGT0EF33b9a8c1S2Ugt9UEhigYgA_q2XHy-bliwSXDCvUD1b3LhHJulXWfH8ruWYbRX5BTKMMMU/s1600/DSC_6904.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="202" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5TqMOgasGb6EjtSlbQTFz1zFDyyHntp3um6MVZSaFaaTM9SZmwk7y_MsokguxXDgMGGT0EF33b9a8c1S2Ugt9UEhigYgA_q2XHy-bliwSXDCvUD1b3LhHJulXWfH8ruWYbRX5BTKMMMU/s400/DSC_6904.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12037367428494480656noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4312329304090118632.post-2387655165502377012015-05-18T16:18:00.000+01:002015-05-18T16:18:05.531+01:00Week 8 Day 1 - Baby Got Back!<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>18/05/15 Day 50 –</b>
Back & Ab</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Here
I am 8 weeks into this awesome and gruelling 12 week muscle gainer
programme, feeling very confident with the massive progress I have in
the past 8 weeks I can only imagine what another 4 weeks are going to
do for me!
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Week
8 marks the 2<sup>nd</sup>
week of this wicked form of DTP Training, if you haven't check out
what DTP is all about check my blogs from <a href="http://risingtogreatness.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/week-7-day-1-840-reps-later.html" target="_blank">last week</a>. So this week
will have another huge emphasis on volume, on fatigue and on massive
pumps that will swell my muscles and make me grow.</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Today
we hit back and abs, lets check it out:</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Chin Ups </b>–
5 Sets, 1 x 20,15,10,10,5</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Reverse Grip Lat
Pulldown –</b> 5 Sets, 1 x
5,10,10,15,20</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><i><u>(For
each rep performed 1 sec rest is awarded, 5 reps = 5 sec rest)</u></i></span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Leverage Isolated
Row </b>– 5 Sets, 1 x
20,15,10,10,5</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<i>SuperSet</i></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Laying Cable
Crunches </b>– 5 Sets, 1 x
20,15,10,10,5</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Seated Cable Row–</b>
5 Sets, 1 x 5,10,10,15,20</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><i><u>(For
each rep performed 1 sec rest is awarded, 5 reps = 5 sec rest)</u></i></span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Cable Crunches –</b>
5 Sets, 1 x 5,10,10,15,20</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><i><u>(For
each rep performed 1 sec rest is awarded, 5 reps = 5 sec rest)</u></i></span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Bent-Over Wide Grip
Barbell Row </b>– 5 Sets, 1 x
20,15,10,10,5</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<i>SuperSet</i></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Seated Knee Tucks –</b>
5 Sets x To Failure</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Reverse Grip
Bent-Over Barbell Row–</b> 5
Sets, 1 x 5,10,10,15,20</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><i><u>(For
each rep performed 1 sec rest is awarded, 5 reps = 5 sec rest)</u></i></span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Cardio</b>
– Interval Training 15min Total</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
If
you have read any of last weeks sessions you may notice that this
session the reps are not quite as high, working between 5 and 20
means that the focus can be more around lifting heavy now, rather
than having to factor in large amount of fatigue that would otherwise
burn the muscles out.</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Beginning
the session with <b>Chin Ups</b>
was nice, I haven't performed standard chin ups in quite a while and
was shocked when I found out I could perform a lot my reps than I
have previously done, this I put down to the large amount of lean
muscle tissue I have gained throughout this programme. Starting with
a big compound movement allows the whole body to start working, gets
the bloody pushing around all the muscles and is a fantastic way to
start a session. With the volume aspect you may find you can only
just get the last few sets out, don't worry you can always hope on an
assisted machine or get a spotted to help you. You maybe also find
the final 5 reps are too easy, in which case I would suggesting
stacking a weight belt and test yourself on how heavy you can go.</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Moving
on to the first DTP exercise of the day <b>Reverse Grip Lat
Pulldown </b>looked to isolate the
lat slightly more, although there is a tendency for the biceps to
creep into the equation some times. <b><i>Remember: </i></b><i>Try
to draw the elbows down, rather than pulling down from the hands, the
shorter leaver system works the muscle more effectively and also
triggers the contraction better too.</i>
The last few sets were a real struggle to perform, not just because
the muscles were incredibly pumped, but also due to the forearms
being fatigued on the chin ups, this meant gripping the bar was much
tougher than usual.</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
With
the first superset of <b>Leverage
Isolated Row </b>&
<b>Laying Cable
Crunches</b>
the idea was to fatigue the core muscles needed in the next DTP
exercise. So when you are lowering the reps you need to up the
weight, this is what will allow your muscles to breakdown more
effectively (which strangely is exactly what we want). With the
leverage row you isolate more the muscles in the upper back (traps,
rhomboids etc) as suppose to the chin ups which are more lat focused.</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
From
there we moved onto the DTP portion of the exercises, where we took
those pre fatigued from the last exercise and worked them to the
point of failure, the first exercise was the <b>Seated
Cable Row</b>.
Here you may find some bicep recruitment sneak in, so I always try to
draw the elbows back and try to switch the focus into the back
muscles. Trying to squeeze the reps at the top of the motion to get a
better contraction became relatively hard, quick, so when this
happened I made the conscious effort to draw the elbows as far back
as possible to make it worth while. With the second exercise:<b>Cable
Crunches</b>,
the idea is to hold the rope attachment aside of the head, draw the
abdominals down and try to focus the elbows towards the knees. That
movement alone will make the abs contract, to get an even better
contraction I like to hold and squeeze the abs at the bottom of the
movement to make it slightly more challenging.</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Then
came the penultimate exercises:<b>
Bent-Over Wide Grip Barbell Row </b>&
<b>Seated Knee Tucks. </b>
These two exercise allowed work of most muscles in the entire torso,
which I really loved, the wide grip rows put more of a focus on the
upper back once again. With the barbell being pulled to the chest
rather than the naval it means the lower back is having to work
increasingly hard to stabilise the movement, so expect to feel a
little uncomfortable! The ab work to failure was a real kick in the
teeth as will no rest you are moving from once massively draining
exercise to another. I did have a tendency to want to give up, it was
hard and i'll admit I was struggling slightly, but I made sure I
gritted my teeth and just kept forcing the reps out until I had
nothing left.</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
To
finish off the session we performed the <b>Reverse
Grip Bent-Over Barbell Row</b>,
but in the DTP fashion. With this exercise the lower back was taking
a bit of strain as it had been worked pretty hard before, but to
compensate there was some bicep recruitment to even the playing
field, all in all it was a really difficult exercise to finish. A few
times I had to strip the bar down to try and get all the reps out,
but by the hammer of Thor I did it, and I feel pretty good for it
now.</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
I am looking forward to another week of awesome training, with
awesome people! What are you guys and girls training today!?</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Happy Lifting,</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<br />
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Matt</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia1lmIZr-D0nptpt1jD2Uk3L-Ft2swRGm7-60B-KJ1i57BJLOn_GJNczmYDAmLw5ybf-WSfgMVVLnOsBwpYgZQsucH5fZLaFZWeiU-N6NXdaAeJ-nCJQbNRTaJSxQK3gaD27sif-IB2eM/s1600/DSC_6897.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEia1lmIZr-D0nptpt1jD2Uk3L-Ft2swRGm7-60B-KJ1i57BJLOn_GJNczmYDAmLw5ybf-WSfgMVVLnOsBwpYgZQsucH5fZLaFZWeiU-N6NXdaAeJ-nCJQbNRTaJSxQK3gaD27sif-IB2eM/s320/DSC_6897.jpg" width="254" /></a></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12037367428494480656noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4312329304090118632.post-28500191775695184062015-05-16T09:59:00.000+01:002015-05-16T09:59:05.006+01:00Week 7 Day 5 - Hard Work Will Always Pay Off<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><b>15/05/15
Day 47 –</b> Triceps & Calves</span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">Finishing
off Week 7 of this <a href="http://risingtogreatness.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/where-it-all-began.html" target="_blank">Muscle Building Programme</a> in pure <a href="http://risingtogreatness.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/week-7-day-1-840-reps-later.html" target="_blank">DTP fashion</a> with
a massive session of both Triceps and Calves. Waking up this morning
my <a href="http://risingtogreatness.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/week-7-day-4-carnage.html" target="_blank">traps</a> were well are truly screaming at me, feeling pretty tight
after a hardcore week of training, this meant I needed to have a
solid warm up and hit some mandatory mobility exercises as well. For
someone who as suffered with tennis
elbow a few times it has become even more imperative for me to warm
up the elbow joints thoroughly.</span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">Enough
of all that! Lets get into the session:</span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Close
Grip Barbell Bench –</b> 6 Sets,
1 x 30,25,20,15,10,5<b> </b></span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><i>SuperSet</i></span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Seated
Calf Raises –</b> 6 Sets, 1 x
30,25,20,15,10,5</span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Incline
Close Grip Barbell Bench </b>– 6
Sets, 1 x 5,10,15,20,25,30</span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><i><u>(For
each rep performed 1 sec rest is awarded, 5 reps = 5 sec rest)</u></i></span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Seated
Calf Raises</b>– 6 Sets, 1 x
5,10,15,20,25,30</span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><i><u>(For
each rep performed 1 sec rest is awarded, 5 reps = 5 sec rest)</u></i></span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Tricep
Pushdown –</b> 6 Sets, 1 x
30,25,20,15,10,5<b> </b></span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Overhead
Rope Tricep Extensions </b>– 6
Sets, 1 x 5,10,15,20,25,30</span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><i><u>(For
each rep performed 1 sec rest is awarded, 5 reps = 5 sec rest)</u></i></span></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Cardio
– </b>Interval Training 15mins
Total <b> </b></span>
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="docs-internal-guid-5f3ce3a1-5be7-6b25-9c8e-434c94ddba5d"></a>
Starting the session as I meant to go on I jumped on the <span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Close
Grip Barbell Bench </b></span>and began with a few warn up sets. When
I felt adequately supple and mentally ready I began my working sets.
With the close grip bench the aim was to keep the <u>elbows in tight</u>
to the body and force my triceps to do all the work. There is a
tendency to flare the elbows out and start recruiting some of the
pectorals which although means lifting heavier is possible you won't
get the intended benefit from the exercise. As this was super setted
with the <span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Seated Calf Raises </b></span>
which did mean I was running to and from the machines and on the
occasion I did have to boot someone off the calf raise machine.
Ascending the pyramid meant I was able to get some pretty heavy sets
out in the end, which I was really happy about. </div>
<div class="western">
<br /><br />
</div>
<div class="western">
When working down the pyramid in the traditional
DTP fashion I moved from the flat bench to the <span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Incline
Close Grip Barbell Bench</b></span>, taking the emphasis more
on the belly of the triceps, as I have found all this week the short
rest periods really do take their toll pretty quick, so with
this I had to strip the bar down twice as the load was simply too
much for my muscles to cope with over such extended reps. After I had
completed the tricep work I moved on to the seated calf
raise once more, this time it wasn't going to be quite so easy.
Working in that DTP style I selected a weight I could perform around
20 reps on and began to ascend my way to gains city! Making sure I
didn't cop out on my range made the later sets a bit of a struggle,
as the muscles began to fatigue I encouraged a bit of <u>explosive
power</u> from the bottom of the movement, this then meant I could
squeeze out this last few reps to really get the calves fully pumped
with blood and primed for growing!
</div>
<div class="western">
<br /><br />
</div>
<div class="western">
With the calf work all done for this week it was
time to move on to isolating the triceps, with the first exercise
(<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Tricep Pushdown</b></span>) I
was working heavier with each set, working on the muscles capability
to be powerful and strong, again with the influence of fatigue
(even with 1 minutes rest) it made each set progressively harder so I
strapped up my elbows and stuck a few more plates on and made sure I
worked my triceps till they had absolutely nothing left.
</div>
<div class="western">
<br /><br />
</div>
<div class="western">
Finishing off the session strong I moved onto the
cable machine for the <span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><b>Overhead
Rope Tricep Extensions</b></span> where I attached two rope
extensions. The idea behind the double ropes means I am not limited I
my range of motion being so tall (6ft8) and having such long
limbs means that I have a range that would be way above that of the
average person and therefore need to accommodate my training as such,
if you have not used a double attachment I would really suggest
trying it, personally I find that I get a much better contraction as
well as feeling it through the whole length of the muscle. Using the
DTP style on this final exercise really showed me how incredibly worn
out my triceps had become, struggle to shift half the weights I
usually would only proved that I had worked really hard. With the
final set finished I let out a sigh of relief my, week 1 of DTP was
down, now for a weekend of light cardio to prep me for what I am sure
will be another knackering week!
</div>
<div class="western">
<br /><br />
</div>
<div class="western">
Hope everyone has had an awesome day and killed
their session as hard as I did!</div>
<div class="western">
<br /><br />
</div>
<div class="western">
Happy lifting,
</div>
<br />
<div class="western">
<br />Matt</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnyd-8wITkJN3Et9YWrOi1i_VhSBlPdOkvyHgZEElKuGsXXedtF-rFfPPz1E156_TO4kmIkHevtzaWnQz-A6H5u4t6M4PlbMoYJDGWPIPiEEX9aB0gQky9dvjDKO1MFKfRUeP8ca5iFmU/s1600/DSC_6876.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnyd-8wITkJN3Et9YWrOi1i_VhSBlPdOkvyHgZEElKuGsXXedtF-rFfPPz1E156_TO4kmIkHevtzaWnQz-A6H5u4t6M4PlbMoYJDGWPIPiEEX9aB0gQky9dvjDKO1MFKfRUeP8ca5iFmU/s320/DSC_6876.jpg" width="180" /></a></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12037367428494480656noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4312329304090118632.post-83346789180825581512015-05-15T00:04:00.000+01:002015-05-15T00:04:22.595+01:00Week 7 Day 4 - Carnage <div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>14/05/15 Day 46 –</b>
Shoulders</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Coming
to the end of Week 7 marks yet another muscle group I am currently
loving to train, which is Shoulders. Still working on the style of
DTP (Drastic Transformation Protocol) I have to say that I really
really had to push hard throughout today's session. With this style
of training my muscles are constantly screaming at me and due to its
high volume nature you will probably find (if you try it) you will
feel very drained, or at least this is what I have found. Here is
what this brutal session looked like:</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Seated Military
Press –</b> 6 Sets, 1 x
30,25,20,15,10,5</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<i>SuperSet</i></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Cable Lateral Raises
–</b> 6 Sets, 1 x
30,25,20,15,10,5</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Seated Military
Reverse Press </b>– 6 Sets, 1 x
5,10,15,20,25,30</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<i><u>(For
each rep performed 1 sec rest is awarded, 5 reps = 5 sec rest)</u></i></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Bent-Over Lateral
Raise </b>– 6 Sets, 1 x
5,10,15,20,25,30</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<i><u>(For
each rep performed 1 sec rest is awarded, 5 reps = 5 sec rest)</u></i></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Barbell Shrugs –</b>
6 Sets, 1 x 30,25,20,15,10,5</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<i>SuperSet</i></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Wide Grip Upright
Rows –</b> 6 Sets, 1 x
30,25,20,15,10,5</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Barbell Behind The
Back Shrugs </b>– 3 Sets, 1 x 30,
20, 10</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<i><u>(For
each rep performed 1 sec rest is awarded, 5 reps = 5 sec rest)</u></i></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Close Grip Upright
Rows </b>– 3 Sets, 1 x 30, 20, 10</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<i><u>(For
each rep performed 1 sec rest is awarded, 5 reps = 5 sec rest)</u></i></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Cardio –</b>
Interval Training 15mins Total</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
With
the emphasis of today's session purely focused on Deltoids I knew
that I was going to have a pretty tough time, even when I opened my
training book last night and saw the session I thought, “this isn't
going to be a walk in the park”. So with a brisk walk on the
treadmill, a few rotator cuff exercises and some reps under the belt
I was ready to start the session.</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Beginning
the session with a Super set of <b>Seated Military Press </b>&
<b>Cable Lateral Raises</b>
was a recipe for fatigue. With the Military press I took the smith
machine bar behind the head, I just feel more comfortable doing it
this way and feel it actually puts less pressure through my
shoulders, but everyone is different so try it out for yourself. With
the ascending weight I found that I was not able to lift anywhere
near as much as I normally would, which also went for the cable
raises too, I found myself stuck on a pretty low weight for a few
rounds. Because the volume is rather high with this style of training
your muscles tend to fatigue quite quick, so then you add the
increased weight to the equation and you are depleting store of both
long term and short term based muscle fibres, so you break down the
muscle at an astonishing rate.</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
With
the DTP portion on the <b>Seated Military Reverse Press </b>I
found that I was really having the strip the bar down very quickly, I
had never really performed this exercise before which obviously made
it that much harder. Targeting mainly the front head of the delts
means that they will also fatigue a lot quicker, so as you can
imagine it was pretty damn hard to say the least. With the next DTP
exercise (<b>Bent-Over Lateral Raise</b>)
the focus was on contracting the posterior delts, so the range of
movement was slightly reduces but once again the joys of hitting such
a small muscle group means that you will fatigue very quickly. So if
you have to much like I did, take rest/pause breaks during the set,
that doesn't mean give up it just means take a few seconds between
reps to replenish some energy and then turn on that inner beast a
power through the remaining reps.</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
With
a nice break from the DTP I moved onto the 2<sup>nd</sup>
lot of Super sets, which this time was the <b>Barbell Shrugs</b>
and the <b>Wide Grip Upright Rows</b>.
With these two exercises the main groups being targeted were in the
upper back, with both exercises being in the same muscle group there
was obviously a cross over, so I knew that I would not be going as
heavy as normal with the upright rows as the traps had already been
fatigued, none the less I pushed myself really hard through these two
exercises.
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Then
came the last portion of DTP, which perfectly finished off the
session, this was in the form of <b>Barbell Behind The Back
Shrugs </b> & <b>Close
Grip Upright Rows</b>. These
exercises were not in a superset but instead were worked in a DTP
fashion only through the reps: 10,20,30 subsequently the rest periods
were shorter so the frequency of work was actually increased. The
behind the back shrugs target the upper traps and rhomboids more
where as the close grip upright rows will be hitting more of the
shoulder girdle, so this coupling works well as the fatigue from one
exercise doesn't really carry across to the other.</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
All
in all today's session was incredibly challenging both mentally and
physically, I loved every minute and have found that I simply thrive
to find testing workouts like these now. I adore working out and
couldn't be happier with where I am right now, so thanks to all of
you guys that have helped me out so far, simply by sharing these
blogs, commenting and just being so damn accepting of what I am
doing!</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
So
thanks.</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Happy
Lifting,</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Matt
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNysa4SqKjheMpps3neObY5m-WZdld-C0AUYc5Q5dwSsA3ftEHGY9QuGn-hESy9YHSbl_MNHE6zUFbwqwFktP1fZpWTNROeP6n75xFdJAVakkO6_Bicf68B3B9oF_ub26SZYynoz6KGWA/s1600/DSC_6873.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNysa4SqKjheMpps3neObY5m-WZdld-C0AUYc5Q5dwSsA3ftEHGY9QuGn-hESy9YHSbl_MNHE6zUFbwqwFktP1fZpWTNROeP6n75xFdJAVakkO6_Bicf68B3B9oF_ub26SZYynoz6KGWA/s320/DSC_6873.jpg" width="305" /></a></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12037367428494480656noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4312329304090118632.post-65279438189228637272015-05-13T19:25:00.000+01:002015-05-13T19:25:00.254+01:00Week 7 Day 3 - Barn Door Back <div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>13/05/15 Day 45 –</b>
Back & Abs</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Staying
strong and really ploughing the way through the week has brought us
once again to a favourite day of mine, back. Continuing on with the
<a href="http://risingtogreatness.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/week-7-day-2-how-to-build-your-chest.html" target="_blank">DTP</a> style of training my partner and I were looking to work through a
combination of heavy low rep sets as well as high rep sets to bring
together and amalgamation of pain that will bring together some
awesome results!</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Here
is what the session looked like for us:</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Bent-Over Dumbbell
Lat Row – </b>5 Sets, 1 x
25,20,15,10,5</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Bent-Over Trap Row –</b>
5 Sets, 1 x 5,10,15,20,25</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<i><u>(For
each rep performed 1 sec rest is awarded, 5 reps = 5 sec rest)</u></i></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Lat Pulldown – </b>5
Sets, 1 x 25,20,15,10,5</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Straight-Arm
Pulldown –</b> 5 Sets, 1 x
5,10,15,20,25</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<i><u>(For
each rep performed 1 sec rest is awarded, 5 reps = 5 sec rest)</u></i></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Weighted Sit-Up –
</b>5 Sets, 1 x 25,20,15,10,5</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Reverse Crunch–</b>
5 Sets, 1 x 5,10,15,20,25</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<i><u>(For
each rep performed 1 sec rest is awarded, 5 reps = 5 sec rest)</u></i></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Cardio –</b>
Interval Training 15mins Total</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
With
a new exercise like the <b>Bent-Over Dumbbell Lat Row</b>,
which is very different to a standard bent-over row, it took us a few
warm up sets to really get into the movement and find our personal
triggers to aid our mind muscle connection. Looking to really pull up
through the elbows and squeeze and extending the lats repeatedly left
us with not much breath, an elevated heart rate and a wicked intro
for another awesome session!</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Starting
the DTP set next, in the form of the <b>Bent-Over Trap Row</b>
was a very subtle yet substantial alteration that really put us
through our paces. Looking to recruit more of the rhomboids and upper
traps rather than the lats allowed us to work harder as we were using
fresh muscles, for myself however I have a relatively weak back,
which I think held me back (ironic). With the small amounts of rest
between each set there is no way it will ever get easier, from the
first set we both knew it was going to be a struggle, but if you want
to have a back that resembles barn doors then you have to work hard
for it. <b><i>Remember-</i></b><i>
It is easy to get lost, so always keep track of what it is that you
want to achieve and do everything you can to constantly push towards
that goal. </i>
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
After
finishing our DTP set we pushed on with the <b>Lat Pulldown</b>
getting a really good amount of weight on the stack, this kept me
motivated as I was able to use some weights I had yet to try. Making
sure the bar was coming down to chin height was paramount for us, I
see a lot of people using less range than this and all it will mean
is that they will have very undeveloped muscles as well as
imbalanced, which will one day catch up with them. As the <b>Lat
Pulldown </b>utilises the biceps as
well as the lats it means going heavier on this exercise rather than
the <b>Straight-Arm Pulldown </b>
is easily achieved, so don't be scared get some weight on that stack.</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
The
next DTP exercise <b>Straight-Arm Pulldown </b>I
have to say was probably the hardest of the session. With the
incredible isolation of purely the lats it meant there was a constant
burn across the insertion point in the arm pit. My main focus through
this exercise was to pull down from the elbow rather than the hand.
Drawing down from the elbow creates a shorter leaver system for the
lat to work through, which means its more efficient with heavy weight
and/or fatigue, it also alleviates pressure unlike pulling down from
the hand which puts the should girdle through huge amounts of stress.</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
With
all of our back exercises done it was time to move onto some ab work,
as the back session was relatively short it meant we still had a good
amount of energy left to push out some really heavy weights on the
<b>Weighted Sit-Ups</b> and
as my partner and I are pretty competitive it meant we were
constantly battling to keep up with each other, which made it a bit
more fun. Then came the final round of DTP, this was pretty hardcore
as the small rest breaks start to creep up on you slightly, with a
searing burn coursing through my abdominals I was really starting to
flog towards the end of the last two sets. But with my partner there
to push me forward I dug deep and pulled it out of me, completing the
exercise with a massive sense of achievement I could now relax!</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
If
you are following this programme and have some questions, or you just
want some help and advise, send me a message at: <a href="mailto:mgonlinept@gmail.com">mgonlinept@gmail.com</a>
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Hope you are all having a wicked Wednesday!</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Happy Lifting,</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Matt</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9WXR6b9D0jPWWFjrk6MQiz2inUf2KEE8B4usQv7svsJqo4gZpl3Hco5VbLKD39ruO_T2TGNwrqTFM7Ec_hdyjYgOaDproG26Gx4f_lSe8-L-EIfIVTb3luftlgHK44rj7w9pQXSo5nEc/s1600/DSC_6860.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg9WXR6b9D0jPWWFjrk6MQiz2inUf2KEE8B4usQv7svsJqo4gZpl3Hco5VbLKD39ruO_T2TGNwrqTFM7Ec_hdyjYgOaDproG26Gx4f_lSe8-L-EIfIVTb3luftlgHK44rj7w9pQXSo5nEc/s400/DSC_6860.jpg" width="287" /></a></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12037367428494480656noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4312329304090118632.post-42437027262206148872015-05-12T11:50:00.002+01:002015-05-12T14:09:42.744+01:00Week 7 Day 2 - How to Build Your Chest (Extreme)<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>12/05/15 Day 44</b>
– Chest & Biceps</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Following
on from a pretty intense day on legs, today's treat comes in the form
of a <a href="http://risingtogreatness.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/week-7-day-1-840-reps-later.html" target="_blank">DTP Extreme </a>Chest and Bicep session. Training alone today which
I must say was quite a struggle, no music, no distractions just 100%
pure focus and determination. The idea behind this <a href="http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/kris-gethin-dtp-training.html" target="_blank">DTP Extreme training</a> is to work up and down pyramid sets with a variation on
weights and reps. Let me show you what today looked like for me:</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Barbell Preacher
Curl –</b> 6 Sets, 1 x
30,25,20,15,10,5</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<i>SuperSet</i></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Decline Dumbbell
Bench –</b> 6 Sets, 1 x
30,25,20,15,10,5</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Dumbbell Bench </b>
– 6 Sets, 1 x 5,10,15,20,25,30
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<i><u>(For
each rep performed 1 sec rest is awarded, 5 reps = 5 sec rest)</u></i></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Barbell Standing
Curl </b> – 6 Sets, 1 x
5,10,15,20,25,30
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<i><u>(For
each rep performed 1 sec rest is awarded, 5 reps = 5 sec rest)</u></i></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Standing Bicep Cable
Curl</b> – 3 Sets 1 x 30,20,10</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<i>SuperSet</i></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Incline Dumbbell
Bench</b> – 3 Sets 1 x 30,20,10</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Incline Dumbbell
Bench – </b>3 Sets 1 x 10,20,30</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<i><u>(For
each rep performed 1 sec rest is awarded, 5 reps = 5 sec rest)</u></i></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Standing Bicep Cable
Curl – </b>3 Sets 1 x 10,20,30</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<i><u>(For
each rep performed 1 sec rest is awarded, 5 reps = 5 sec rest)</u></i></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Cardio</b>
– Interval Training 15mins Total</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
With
the knowledge gained from yesterdays session, I knew that today was
going to be no walk in the park. With my pre-workout beginning to
pump around my body I picked up some light dumbbells and began my
warm up, focusing on what I needed to achieve during the session
allowed me to home in my focus on my muscle contractions as much as
possible.</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Starting
with the superset of <b>Barbell Preacher Curl </b>&
<b>Decline Dumbbell Bench </b>allowed
me to fully work the arm and chest without fatiguing the muscles
needed for the opposing exercise. Working my way down the pyramid
allowed me to really wear the muscles down for the DTP Extreme sets
to follow. My main thought on the descend was to get my range and
contractions right so I could get as much out of my muscles before I
burnt them out. Once I had pumped out the last 5 Reps on each
exercise with a nice heavy weight I rested for around a minute,
during this time I moved to a flat bench where I picked a weight I
could perform for 20 reps, then picked up another barbell which I
could also curl for 20 reps. Then came the fun part, DTP Extreme! I
was not super setting these two exercises but instead I worked
through the rep ranges, with my tiny rest breaks (correlating with
the amount of reps I had done) breaking down my muscles to complete
failure. When I was hitting failure at around 15 reps I lowered the
weight slightly so as I could keep good form and not risk injuring
myself.</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
With
the Chest and Biceps starting to swell really nicely I set up for
what would be the 2<sup>nd</sup>
and last combo for my session today. This combo included the <b>Standing
Bicep Cable Curl </b>and the
<b>Incline Dumbbell Bench</b>.
The idea behind these two is to make sure we are targeting the same
muscle “group” but yet hitting muscles that had not been focused
on the last two exercises, so for myself I took a wide grip on the
cable curls as it targeted a different head of the bicep and of
course the incline bench is targeting the upper chest region.
Thankfully these exercises were only working through the rep ranges
of 10,20 and 30, so although they are less endurance based, the small
rest periods and completely sapped muscles made it really hard to
even work through that. The descending rep range allowed me to push
to some pretty heavy weights once again and really get those muscle
fibres firing, but when it came down to the ascending rep range
portion (or the DTP Extreme portion) I had very little left in the
tank. To get the reps I needed to out I had to employ a rest/pause
principle, whereby I put the weights down for a few seconds to give
the muscles a very short rest in order to keep working through the
reps all the way to completion.</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
With
the session done and my body screaming it was time to get some fuel
on board, so I chugged down my Whey Protein and had a nice upper body
based stretch session. Now I find myself sat here drinking my water
and talking to you beautiful people. Hope you are all having a fab
day wherever you are!</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Happy
Lifting,</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Matt</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF9cVdQHP4u5Xy5JutZLsy5-OcVHe8JBqXHqWxqtmaGdWj3rb5VTfJKyPAwTyOVz9kRQUI0UUoNLKy8-kgRX67r_KgEQTem81KRzOhPViWOZsHYCfOafM-Zq75903MJITA-aT7OfnImfk/s1600/DSC_0058.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="207" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF9cVdQHP4u5Xy5JutZLsy5-OcVHe8JBqXHqWxqtmaGdWj3rb5VTfJKyPAwTyOVz9kRQUI0UUoNLKy8-kgRX67r_KgEQTem81KRzOhPViWOZsHYCfOafM-Zq75903MJITA-aT7OfnImfk/s400/DSC_0058.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12037367428494480656noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4312329304090118632.post-16367122213181786912015-05-11T16:34:00.000+01:002015-05-11T16:34:43.789+01:00Week 7 Day 1 - 840 Reps Later...<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>11/05/15 Day 43 –</b>
Legs & Calves</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Today
marks 2 things, the beginning of <u>Week 7</u> and thus<u> DTP Extreme
Training</u>, but also it is my <b><u>21<sup>st</sup>
Birthday</u></b> today, so celebrating all weekend has lead to possibly one
of if not the <u>HARDEST </u>training session of my life.
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
DTP
stands for <u>Dramatic Transformation Protocol</u> and it draws from a
Extreme version of pyramid training, there will be a shed load of
reps and sets. You will discover a whole new meaning of the word
volume. Lets see what my Birthday training looked like:</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Leg Press</b>
– 6 Sets, 1 x 30,25,20,15,10,5</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Leg Press</b>
– 6 Sets, 1 x 5,10,15,20,25,30
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<i><u>(For
each rep performed 1 sec rest is awarded, 5 reps = 5 sec rest)</u></i></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Leg Extension</b>
– 6 Sets, 1 x 30,25,20,15,10,5</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<i>SuperSet</i></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Lay
Leg Curl</b> – 6 Sets, 1 x
30,25,20,15,10,5</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Leg
Extension</b> – 6 Sets, 1 x
5,10,15,20,25,30
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<i><u>(For
each rep performed 1 sec rest is awarded, 5 reps = 5 sec rest)</u></i></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Laying
Leg Curl</b> – 6 Sets, 1 x
5,10,15,20,25,30
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<i><u>(For
each rep performed 1 sec rest is awarded, 5 reps = 5 sec rest)</u></i></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Seated
Calf Raises</b> – 6 Sets, 1 x
30,25,20,15,10,5</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Seated
Calf Raises </b>– 6 Sets, 1 x
5,10,15,20,25,30
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>Cardio
</b>– Interval Training 15mins
Total</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Starting
today's with a really solid warm up was key, I knew that the session
was going to be stupidly difficult so mental preparation was
paramount. With several minutes on the bike it was time to crack on
with stretching and some mobility work, when hitting such high volume
you must,must,must warm up for a good amount of time otherwise you
will tighten up to fast and render that whole session worthless.
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
After
jumping on the <b>Leg Press</b>
it became very apparent very quickly that this was going to be a very
Extreme session. With two sets in (30 reps & 25 reps) my legs had
already become fully swollen, with around a minute rest between each
of the first 6 sets meant that going heavy was a easy possibility.
Building the weight up with every sets merely helps to pre fatigue
the muscle before getting into the “Extreme” portion of the
exercise. For the next 6 sets the weight would be kept on whatever
weight was used to do 20 reps in the previous sets, then I had to
perform 5 reps, 10 reps, 15,20, etc. up to 30 reps. The number of
reps I performed was the amount of time I was aloud to rest, 5 reps =
5 secs, 10 reps = 10 secs and we did this all the way up to 30 reps!
Needless to say I was on the verge of crying through these 6 sets. If
you want a challenge, you need to try this out.</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
We
then moved from the Leg Press to a wonderful superset using both the
<b>Leg Extension </b>&
the <b>Lay Leg Curl</b>.
Using the exact same method here as the last exercise we built up the
weights as the rep range dropped. With the legs so heavily fatigued
just adjusting the machine was a struggle enough let alone trying to
actually do something, so I was not looking to achieve any personal
bests here, but instead simply work my way through these sets, in
wait for the horrendous pyramid sets to follow. Thankfully with these
exercises we didn't have to superset them on the 2<sup>nd</sup>
lot of sets and work through the 5,10,15,20,25 and 30 reps on each
machine separately. With such short rest periods between sets my legs
were screaming at me for most of the session, I got used to the fact
that it felt like my legs were on fire for the majority of the time,
but what was really hard was how the muscles took such a beating, by
the final few sets the muscles just didn't have the energy to
contract fully. It was a very strange feeling having your legs just
give up on you in such a way, but it certainly let me know they were
being worked.</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
To
finish off the lower body we used the <b>Seated Calf Raise
</b>machine, using the same
principle as the last 2 exercises we built up our weights through our
first 6 sets, which by this point was so difficult. Even though it
was a fresh muscle group our bodies just couldn't handle to beating
it had taken, so we (my partner and I) had to try our best to
encourage the other person one, counting out every rep and every rest
interval allowed us to just get on with the actual exercise. As we
got onto the final 6 pyramid sets it almost became a case of
stretching in between every set, the calves as a muscle group for me
like to tighten incredibly quickly and almost get a burning fizz
running through them for the session, which really isn't ideal, so
stretch and make the most of it!</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
I
hope everyone has had an awesome weekend! I certainly have. Lots of
new comics to wear and a bunch of new gym vests to show off to you
guys!</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Happy
Lifting,</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<br />
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Matt</div>
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<br /></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12037367428494480656noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4312329304090118632.post-86605692618205403532015-05-08T14:51:00.000+01:002015-05-11T15:39:17.394+01:00Week 6 Day 5 - Chest 101<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>08/05/15 Day 40–</b>
Chest & Biceps</div>
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<br /></div>
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Today
marks the end of Week 6 and rounded off the HIT style of training I
was working on. Re-capping on the week I have to say its been a real
test going in to every session knowing that my aim is to push my body
to complete failure, both mentally and physically it's incredibly
draining. With the added support of a training partner it tends to
make it a bit easier, but none the less its not always possible to
train with someone else, so then trying to get yourself out of that
comfort zone needs to be the no.1 priority.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Enough
of that, lets see what today had in store for me!</div>
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<br /></div>
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<b>Incline Dumbbell
Bench </b>– 2 Sets x 8-12 Reps</div>
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<b>Leverage Chest Press
</b>– 2 Sets x 8-12 Reps</div>
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<b>Decline Dumbbell
Bench Press </b>– 2 Sets x 8-12
Reps
</div>
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<b>Cable Cross-Over </b>–
2 Sets x 8-12 Reps</div>
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<b>Dumbbell Alternating
Bicep Curl </b>– 2 Sets x 8-12
Reps</div>
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<b>Barbell Curl </b>–
2 Sets x 8-12 Reps</div>
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<b>Preacher Curl </b>–
2 Sets x 8-12 Reps</div>
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<br /></div>
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<b>Cardio – </b>Interval
Training 15mins Total
</div>
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<br /></div>
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Starting
the session off with some really thorough rotator cuff work and some
big stretches allows me not only to get into my mind what I need to
achieve through the session, but it also means I am able to loosen
and lubricate the joints that are going to be given a serious
thrashing, such as the shoulders and elbows. For me I like to use
some elbow protection when going heavy with large pressing movements
as it simply gives me a bit of added support and security against
injury.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Beginning
my working sets on the <b>Incline Dumbbell Bench</b>
I decided to push myself a bit harder than I usually would and bumped
up my weights, normally I would be very hesitant to do this but today
I was feeling pretty damn good so I went for it. Driving all my force
through the elbows to punch the weights up, keeping the elbows nice
and soft and squeezing the contractions I surprisingly beasted my way
through both sets, reaching failure at around 10 reps, then trying to
pump out any remaining ½ reps I had left in the tank.
</div>
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<br /></div>
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Moving
on to the <b>Leverage Chest Press</b>
was a whole new experience for me, if you don't have a leverage press
at your gym then just use a fixed bench machine, its pretty much the
same thing. Due to the fact you are not laying down (therefore not
working against gravity) you will find you can bench more here then
you can on a flat dumbbell/barbell press, so don't be afraid to go
heavy! Keeping the elbows up nice and high to recruit as many of my
pectoral muscles as possible left me with a serious pump. <b><i>Remember:</i></b><i>
When doing such high intensity work you must make sure you are
stretching between most sets, the chances of a Pec tear are very high
when working with heavy weights over long periods of time, so take
care of your body.</i></div>
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<br /></div>
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After
working the upper and middle portion of the chest all that was left
was to punch out some lower pectoral work, today I did this with
<b>Decline Dumbbell Bench Press</b>.
With a smaller range of motion than the other presses you can afford
to go slightly heavier with this movement, just as I did. Keeping my
wits about me I made sure with a few warm up sets that I was in fact
able to lift the weights (fatigue will start creeping in at this
point so be careful). After asking another member to help me get the
weights up I was happily off repping my way though the sets, hitting
failure at around 9-11 reps. It was pretty difficult pushing myself
to failure and then trying to work out any further reps, but I know
what I need to do to succeed and that is what keeps me going.</div>
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<br /></div>
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To
really finish off the chest I moved onto the last exercise on the
list: <b>Cable Cross-Over. </b>
With this exercise make sure the elbows and hands are pointing in the
exact direction of where you want the cables to finish, by doing so
it means the pectoral is working by itself, if there is even a slight
mismatch you will be hitting the rotator cuffs hard, which means you
will not be able to go as heavy, for as many reps because the cuff is
tiny in comparison and no where near as mechanically effective.</div>
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<br /></div>
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With
chest done and dusted it was time to move on to the Biceps. Starting
with <b>Dumbbell Alternating Bicep Curls</b>
is a good way to introduce the tendons in the elbow to work. Starting
with something like a preacher curl puts far too much strain though
this joint and massively increases the risk of an injury. So after a
few heavy warm ups I jumped into my working sets, trying to make sure
I was failing just after 8 Reps, then I was encouraging the movement
with some momentum, this allowed me to work on the negative to finish
my 12 rep sets.</div>
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<br /></div>
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With
the biceps nicely pumped up I moved onto the straight <b>Barbell
Curl</b>, the intension with this
exercise is to work on a different bicep head, making sure the whole
bicep develops in unison with each session. For someone going into
competing you must be symmetrical so to do so you must work every
single muscle as hard as its opposing muscle, this gives the even
look the judges will be looking for.</div>
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<br /></div>
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To
round off the whole session I finished on and old school favourite,
<b>Preacher Curls</b>. I did
this with individual dumbbells to try to keep the muscles as even in
strength (and thus size) as possible. When doing this exercise you
want to make sure you don't fully extend the arm, by doing so it
means the elbow joint is being subjected to insane amounts of strain
and can very, very easily result in injury. So keeping the
contractions slow and controlled I worked to failure at around 10
reps and then aided the weight back up with the other hand to
complete the 12 reps with negatives. Man that was a sick pump.</div>
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<br /></div>
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Hope
every is enjoying their training today!</div>
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<br /></div>
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Yesterdays
session will be up tomorrow, have been busy and didn't have chance to
put it up, so bare with me!</div>
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<br /></div>
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Happy
Lifting,</div>
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<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Matt</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12037367428494480656noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4312329304090118632.post-63395276755595765682015-05-07T13:32:00.002+01:002015-05-11T15:40:18.393+01:00Week 6 Day 3 - How To: Eat Your Way To A Summer Body<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>06/05/15 Day 38 </b>- Active Rest</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">With the intensity of the Week 6 HIT training coming into play this week will host a rest day in the middle of the week, splitting up the 4 days training. Today I wanted to take the </span>opportunity to talk through some simple points that could help those of you looking to lose a weight of weight before beach season hits us, so here it is!<span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span><br />
<b><br /></b><b><u>5 simple points to help you lose that unwanted poundage </u></b><br />
<br />
Today I'm talking about a few easy tips that will help you shed some of that unwanted weight before come round without having to go on any outrageous detoxes or calories deficient diets!<br />
<br />
<b><span style="color: #3d85c6;">1)</span></b>Firstly thing I will mention is about the <u>consumption of Protein</u>, protein is a nutrient that is massively under consumed and under-rated. Its ability to resynthesise muscle tissues is remarkable, but it burns fat just consuming it! As the molecular structure make the protein so dense it effects something called our TEF=Thermogenic effect of food, this basically means our digestion system heats up (thermo) as a result of the breakdown of particles from the moment we put it in our mouth and our salivary amailase (saliva) starts to slowly digest our food, this happens right the way through our body. This process in itself will help us to burn fat. <i>But surely you can do this with any food Matt??</i> Well quite simply yes! you can but the difference is quite scary. Per gram of fat consumed TEF accounts for<b> 2%</b> energy use, Carbohydrate is <b>5% </b>and Protein is a country mile ahead with <b>25%! </b>that's 5 x the amount that Carbohydrates use!<br />
<br />
<b><span style="color: #3d85c6;">2)</span></b>Next is <u>food regulation</u>, most people will eat 3 times a day, these meal will normally be rather large in the hope to keep the person full till right up to the next meal, which in real terms is around 4-6 hours without a meal. This quite frankly is a ridiculous ask of the body, the majority of us will start to feel hungry after around 2-3 hours after the meal, sometimes even quicker depend on your exercise routine. We feel hungry because we are getting a massive drop of insulin in our blood levels from our massive spike in our consumption of our big heavy meal. This means we are going to start getting some cravings now, and these cravings are going to be for the naughty things, quick fixes that satisfy our need so food, often unhealthy and most certainly not going to help us level out our blood sugar. So instead of having 3 big meals, start trying to eat 4-6 smaller meals throughout the day, this keeps our bloody sugar levels lower, and means no more cravings for naughty things that will mean we keep putting on the poundage! Also means our TEF can work more readily to keep that fat burning.<br />
<br />
<b><span style="color: #3d85c6;">3)</span></b>Which brings me on to the next point.Stay away from <u>pre packaged meals</u>. These microwave meals have had layers of there natural fibre coating removed in order to be heated up quick. This means your body has even less work to do when it comes to digestion, effecting our TEF and not to mention shovelling tones of artificial preservatives into our body that cant be used as fuel. Stick clean and eat raw, whole foods that packed with vitamins, minerals and natural fibre.<br />
<span style="color: #3d85c6;"><br /></span>
<b><span style="color: #3d85c6;">4)</span></b>Do you <u>drink enough water?</u> not to mention the delivery of vitamins, minerals and essential fats through our body water also increases our metabolism. Increasing our BMR (basal metabolic rate(the rate which we burn fat at rest) is vital to burning as much fat a possible. By increasing your intake of water by 1.5 litres a day for 1 year you can burn 2kgs alone, now this isn't much but for an easily sustainable act as simple as drink more water you can lose 20kg of 10 years, that loads!!<br />
<span style="color: #3d85c6;"><br /></span>
<b><span style="color: #3d85c6;">5)</span></b>The final topic I will talk about is <u>stress</u>, stress is the biggest cause of weight gaining and putting on fat. But now we have to go back to the first days of the cave-man. When cave-men were stressed out it would be over the fact they missed a kill and would now have to go without food for possibly days on end, what happens now is incredible! When the cave-man got stressed their bodies releases a hormone called Cortisol, cortisol breaks down muscles tissue in the body and uses it as a energy source, as its denser than fat, and with a massively depleted fat store, death is imminent, so the cave-man allowed their own body's to eat their muscle tissue, as they had plenty of it in order to give them the energy for the next kill. Muscle is one of the biggest contributing factors of fat burning as the more muscle we have the more fat we burn, just look at top end body builders! So when you are getting angry because someone has cut you up, or your stuck in traffic, or your toast lands butter side down, just think that you can be releasing cortisol! So I recommend finding something you enjoy doing that is relaxing, such as yoga or reading a book or taking a nice long bath, or even some simple meditation and simple breathing to alleviate the stress in the body and keep you burning that fat all day long.<br />
<br />
<br />
I hope you have found this article interesting, if so check out the rest of my posts.<br />
<br />
If you are interested in some personalise Gym/Nutrition plans, guaranteed to get results send me an e-mail at: <a href="mailto:mgonlinept@gmail.com">mgonlinept@gmail.com</a> and change your future today!<br />
<br />
Happy Resting,<br />
<br />
Matt<br />
<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12037367428494480656noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4312329304090118632.post-12991959157222176862015-05-05T13:17:00.000+01:002015-05-11T15:39:59.036+01:00Week 6 Day 2 - Failure Is Just Another Lesson<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>05/05/15 Day 37 –</b>
Shoulders & Triceps</div>
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<br /></div>
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Following
on with the HIT style of training, made famous by Dorian Yates, we
worked on some slightly smaller muscle groups today as we had such an
intense Leg session yesterday. Following a small muscle group after a
bigger one simply allows the muscle to repair better, rather than
putting stress through the big muscles group every day we are
splitting it, one day big group one day small group.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
With
the pre-workout pumping through my veins and my training partners
standing by we got started on our warm ups. After we felt amply ready
we got ourselves mentally prepared and ready for the workout. Here it
is:</div>
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<br /></div>
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<b>Seated Military
Press </b>– 2 Sets x 8-12 Reps</div>
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<b>Side Lateral Raises </b>
– 2 Sets x 8-12 Reps</div>
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<b>Bent-Over Reverse
Delt Raise</b> – 2 Sets x 8-12
Reps</div>
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<b>Reverse Peck Deck
Fly</b> – 2 Sets x 8-12 Reps</div>
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<b>Shrugs</b>
– 2 Sets x 8-12 Reps</div>
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<b>Tricep Pushdown</b>
– 2 Sets x 8-12 Reps</div>
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<b>Ez Bar Skull
Crushers</b> – 2 Sets x 8-12 Reps</div>
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<b>One Arm Tricep
Extension</b> – 2 Sets x 8-12
Reps</div>
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<br /></div>
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<b>Cardio</b>
– Interval Training 15mins Total</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Beginning
the session with the biggest <u>compound movements</u> allowed us to really
fatigue the larger muscles quickly, meaning more effort has to
utilised through them to complete the sets throughout the entire
session. With the <b>Seated Military Press </b>
I enjoy taking the barbell behind the head as I feel the engagement
of the deltoids more, this is not to say this is the only way to do
it, between sets my father was working with me and he found it better
to take the bar in front of the body, so do what ever is more
comfortable for yourself. Now with this style of <u>High Intensity
Training</u> (<u>HIT</u>) your partner needs to be standing by to help you
through your sets as your aim is to work to failure within your 8-12
rep ranges, so go heavy, go hard and make some noise because this is
going to be tough!</div>
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<br /></div>
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With
the shoulders amply pumped up it was time to move on to our first
isolation exercise, today it was the <b>Side Lateral Raises</b>.
With this exercise my aim was to work to complete failure before any
help was given, to make it that little bit harder after the failure
had set in, my partner would only give me a slight momentum boost at
the bottom of the movement, as this is the hardest part of the
exercise as you are completely stationary. Trying to work through
failure was so difficult here, I really had to dig deep to draw out
every bit of strength I had left, but with the positive encouragement
of my partner I was able to put the pain aside and focus on the task
at hand.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
With
the second isolation exercise <b>Bent-Over Reverse Delt Raise
</b>the focus was to draw up from
the elbow in order to engage the posterior delts. Normally the
posterior delts are one of the hard muscles to engage, with not many
exercises focusing on isolation them they do tend of be under
developed on lots of people, so to get that full shoulder look try to
add a few rear delt exercises in each session and you will be amazed
at the difference.
</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
After
we beat up the read delts a bit it was time to move along to the 2<sup>nd</sup>
isolation exercise in the form of the <b>Reverse Peck Deck
Fly</b>. I really began to struggle
with this exercise, after fatiguing such a small muscle group its
very hard to sustain such high weight exercises to failure, which
means its very easy to fall in to a a comfortable weight zone and not
demand more of yourself, this is where having a training partner also
helps as they can tell you to stop being a wimp and pump up the
weights!</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
To
finish off the shoulder portion of the session we advanced onto the
Barbell <b>Shrugs</b>. Now
for my fathers sake we did this exercise on a smith machine, one as
it is easier to spot/aid someone on a smith machine rather than a
free weight, but was also a bit nicer on his back, with some pretty
horrendous back injuries it is always imperative that we find an
alternative when heavy amounts of lower back recruitment is needed.
Drawing the shoulder up to the head to encourage a squeeze through
the whole traps we also wanted the lowering of the bar to be under
strict control as well, allowing us to get muscular strain through
both portions of the movement.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
With
the shoulders all done and dusted we were feeling pretty good, with
my other half (Amie) coming in to join for the Tricep portion of the
workout we had an incredibly high level of comradeship and positive
encouragement about us, giving us a pep up we moved onto the <b>Tricep
Pushdown</b>. Keeping the elbows in
tight to isolate the triceps it was proving difficult to get many
reps out on the weight I had set for myself, this was probably due to
the fatigue throughout the session, but with my partners there they
aided me through my two sets with my forced reps past failure to
really get that pump going.</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
After
we had complete our cable work it was time to move on to the brutal
exercise and a favourite of mine the <b>Ez Bar Skull Crushers</b>.
Here I had incredibly over estimated how much strength I had left and
needed help from around the 5<sup>th</sup>
rep of each set, so instead of letting my spotter do all the work I
decided to use some negative reps to finish off my sets. The idea
behind negative sets is that the spotter will lift the weight to the
top portion of the exercise and then you will slowly lower the weight
down, hitting the muscles in a different way, when you have reached
the bottom they will raise it up once again and you continue to do
this until every rep is completed. Brutal.</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
To
round off the whole session we moved onto our separate benches and
worked our way through our <b>One Arm Tricep Extension</b>.
With the muscles pretty much unwilling to do anything we were having
to aid ourselves to push the weight to the top portion of the
movement and then performing negatives. This was very testing on the
mind as I just wanted to keep giving up, but I knew deep down that
giving up wasn't an option.
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
This
was again an absolutely awesome session and really want to encourage
people to try out this fantastic method of training. For me these
first 6 weeks have been a massive learning curve, teaching me more
about myself then I thought I could ever know on every scale
possible, I am thankful for every day I can spend in the gym and I
know this is something that will change me forever. I am ready.</div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Happy
Lifting,</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Matt</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12037367428494480656noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4312329304090118632.post-59460624271539855992015-05-04T19:04:00.000+01:002015-05-11T15:39:50.620+01:00Week 6 Day 1 - HIT Time<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<b>04/05/15 Day 36</b> – Legs & Calves</div>
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Today
saw the start of a brand new week, with a brand new training method.
This weeks I will be following in the foot steps of 6 x Mr Olympia
the one and only <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorian_Yates" target="_blank">Dorian Yates.</a> His HIT style of training will be
focusing on small 45min-1hr training sessions, packed with high
intensity. The idea is pre fatiguing the muscles, followed by sets
that are pushing your muscles to absolute failure and then going
beyond that with the aid of forced reps and negative reps.</div>
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Starting
the week with Legs allow us to focus our energy on the biggest group
of muscles in the body. Here is what my session looked like:</div>
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<b>Leg Extensions</b>
– 2 Sets x 15-20 Reps</div>
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<b>Leg Press</b>
– 2 Sets x 8-12 Reps</div>
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<b>Hack Squat</b>
– 2 Sets x 8-12 Reps</div>
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<b>Dumbbell Laying Leg
Curls</b> – 2 Sets x 8-12 Reps</div>
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<b>Seated Leg Curls</b>
– 2 Sets x 8-12 Reps</div>
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<b>Seated Calf Raise </b>–
2 Sets x 8-12 Reps</div>
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<b>Standing Calf Raise
</b>– 2 Sets x 8-12 Reps</div>
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<b>Cardio</b>
– Intervals 15mins Total</div>
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Starting
off the session with some light leg work it allowed me to focus both
my mind and muscles on the session ahead. I made sure there was
plenty of stretching throughout the warm up, this was due to the fact
the session ahead was designed to test the muscles more then they
have been worked in previous weeks, so keeping the muscle nice and
supple will mean I can get the most out of them without sustaining
injury.</div>
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<b>Leg Extensions </b>began
the working sets of the session, here we were seriously heavy. Making
sure that we were failing before we hit the rep limit, meaning that
my partner was having to aid me through the following reps, some
times introducing negative reps can also promote serious levels of
HGH release in the body and inhibit growth, which is exactly what we
want.</div>
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From
the extensions we moved onto the <b>Leg Press</b>,
were we performed some nice light warm up sets to get ready for the
failure that would follow. For myself my stance was slightly tighter
to put more emphasis on the quadriceps, where as my partners stance
was wider, with the foot placement higher as well to put more of an
emphasis on the glutes. Trying to force yourself to failure is not an
easy task, but made a lot easier with the knowledge that you have a
partner with you to support you.</div>
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With
our legs well and truly burning it was fair to say at this point we
were not looking forward to the <b>Hack Squat</b>
which followed. With this I was once again focusing on a smaller
stance to put more strain though the quads, be careful with the hack
squat as it can some times put strain through the knees if your foot
base is too close, so don't be afraid to push those feet slightly
more forward than you usually would.</div>
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With
the quadriceps fully burnt out at this time, it coincided with the
perfect transition to hamstring work. Starting with the <b>Dumbbell
Laying Leg Curls</b> was a great
start to the second half of the session. With a few light sets in the
bag the hamstrings seemed amply warmed up by now and allow my partner
and I to work into our two working sets. Due to the fact you have to
pinch the dumbbell in between the feet you are also getting a
secondary contraction in the adductor muscles, which just adds to the
awesomeness of the this exercise, it now takes No.1 place as my
favourite hamstring exercise.</div>
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With
the dumbbells racked it was time to move onto the <b>Seated
Leg Curls</b>. Where once again the
need of a training partner was made even more prominent, due to me
never really working my hamstrings to failure it made it very hard to
push myself out of my comfort zone on this exercise, but I clicked a
few extra plates in place and hooked myself into the machine and
repped. With my partner standing by to help me achieve full range it
felt like my legs were going to split in half and I loved it!</div>
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At
this point our legs were feeling pretty damn swollen, which meant it
was a good point to move across to the calf work. Starting with the
<b>Seated Calf Raises</b>
was slightly nicer as it meant we got to finish the calves with the
<b>Standing Calf Raises </b>which
allows you to utilise a little bit of momentum. With working to
failure on the seated calf raises you partner will need to assess how
to aid you, if you are using a leg press machine they will find it
easier to aid the forced reps, where as on the seated machine there
isn't always much room to hold, making it slightly harder for them.
<b><i>Remember </i></b><i>–
always assess the situation before you do anything, you must always
know what you are doing and how to over come boundaries that can
potentially stop you.</i></div>
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With
the bank holiday coming to a close its back to normality for
everyone, so wishing you all a fantastic week! I am now on a 7 day
count down to my 21<sup>st</sup>
Birthday, which seems to be encroaching incredibly quickly!</div>
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Happy
Lifting,</div>
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Matt
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