Week 11 Day 4 - How To Get A V-Taper

11/09/15 Day 74 – Back & Biceps

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 Giant Set, working up and down repetition pyramid to induce to serious fatigue and push my muscle to their absolute maximum!

So without further adieu here is today's session:

Giant Set 1

Wide Grip Lat Pulldown – 4 Sets, 1 x 25,20,15,10

Barbell Deadlift – 4 Sets, 1 x 25,20,15,10

Chest Supported Dumbbell Row – 4 Sets, 1 x 25,20,15,10

Giant Set 2

Chest Supported Dumbbell Row – 4 Sets, 1 x 10,15,20,25

Barbell Deadlift – 4 Sets, 1 x 10,15,20,25

Wide Grip Lat Pulldown – 4 Sets, 1 x 10,15,20,25

Giant Set 3

Barbell Curl – 4 Sets, 1 x 25,20,15,10

Standing Bicep Cable Curls – 4 Sets, 1 x 25,20,15,10

High Pully Curls – 4 Sets, 1 x 25,20,15,10

Giant Set 4

High Pulley Curls – 4 Sets, 1 x 10,15,20,25

Standing Bicep Cable Curls – 4 Sets, 1 x 10,15,20,25

Barbell Curl – 4 Sets, 1 x 10,15,20,25

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 Wide Grip Lat Pulldown 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 Barbell Deadlift 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 Chest Supported Dumbbell Row, 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.

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 Chest Supported Dumbbell Row more now and less on the Wide Grip Lat Pulldown. 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!

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 Wide Grip Lat Pulldown & Chest Supported Dumbbell Row, but this wasn't going to stop me working them even harder! Starting the third Giant set with the Barbell Curl followed by the Standing Bicep Cable Curls and finishing with the High Pully Curls, 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 Standing Bicep Cable Curls 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 High Pully Curls with a medium grip and just smash out the reps.

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 High Pully Curls I found I could go really heavy on these, but then when moving on the Standing Bicep Cable Curls I had hardly anything left in the tank and even less when I finished off on the standard Barbell Curls.

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.

I hope you gals and guys are working hard and smashing the gym today!

Happy Lifting,

Matt

 

Week 11 Day 2 - Big Chest To Be The Best

09/06/15 Day 71 – Chest & Triceps

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 yesterdaysession 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:

Giant Set 1

Dumbbell Flat Bench Press – 5 Sets, 1 x 30,25,20,15,10

Dumbbell Incline Flyes – 5 Sets, 1 x 30,25,20,15,10

Cable Cross Overs – 5 Sets, 1 x 30,25,20,15,10

Giant Set 2

Cable Cross Overs – 5 Sets, 1 x 10,15,20,25,30

Dumbbell Incline Flyes – 5 Sets, 1 x 10,15,20,25,30

Dumbbell Bench Press – 5 Sets, 1 x 10,15,20,25,30

Giant Set 3

Tricep Pushdown (V Bar Attachment) – 5 Sets, 1 x 30,25,20,15,10

Tricep Overhead Extensions (V Bar Attachment) – 5 Sets, 1 x 30,25,20,15,10

Tricep Pushdown (Rope Attachment) – 5 Sets, 1 x 30,25,20,15,10

Giant Set 4

Tricep Pushdown (Rope Attachment) – 5 Sets, 1 x 10,15,20,25,30

Tricep Overhead Extensions (V Bar Attachment) – 5 Sets, 1 x 10,15,20,25,30

Tricep Pushdown (V Bar Attachment) – 5 Sets, 1 x 10,15,20,25,30

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!

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 manipulate the fascia 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.

After my final heavy set I altered my sequencing, making the Cable Cross Overs 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 Dumbbell Bench Press, 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.

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 Tricep Pushdown (V Bar Attachment) really allowed me to shift a bit more weight than expected, I was pretty happy with that, that was until I moved onto the Tricep Overhead Extensions (V Bar Attachment), 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!

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 Tricep Pushdown (V Bar Attachment) 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.

Happy Lifting,

Matt

Week 10 Day 5 - Insaiyn Workout!

05/06/15 Day 67 – Shoulders

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: Y3T/FST-7/GVT/HIT/DTP Extreme 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!

Machine Shoulder Press – 12 Sets, 1 x 30,25,20,15,10,5,5,10,15,20,25,30

Reverse Fly – 6 Sets, 1 x 30,25,20,15,10,5

Neutral Grip Reverse Fly – 6 Sets, 1 x 5,10,15,20,25,30

Standing Dumbbell Lateral Raises – 6 Sets, 1 x 30,25,20,15,10,5

Seated Dumbbell Lateral Raises – 6 Sets, 1 x 5,10,15,20,25,30

Barbell Shrugs – 6 Sets, 1 x 25,15,5,5,15,25

Cardio – Interval Training 15mins Total

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.

As the smith machine wasn't available I started my Machine Shoulder Press 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.

After torching the anterior and lateral heads of the deltoids I moved on to the Reverse Fly, 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.

After ascending up the pyramid with the previous exercise I changed to the Neutral Grip Reverse Flys 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.

Now it was time to torch my lateral heads to round off the shoulders. I started the first pyramid set with the Standing Dumbbell Lateral Raises, 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 Seated Dumbbell Lateral Raises 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.

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 Barbell Shrugs, 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!

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: mgonlinept@gmail.com today for your bespoke programmes!

Happy Lifting,

Matt

Week 10 Day 4 - Bringing Sexy Back!

04/06/15 Day 66 – Back & Biceps

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:

Neutral Grip Pull Ups – 3 Sets, 1 x 25,15,5

Superset

Chin Up – 2 Sets, 1 x 20, 10

Reverse Grip Lat Pull Down – 3 Sets, 1 x 5,10,15

Close Grip Lat Pull Down – 3 Sets, 1 x 20,25,30

Reverse Grip Bent Over Barbell Row – 5 Sets, 1 x 25,20,15,10,5

Bent Over Barbell Row – 5 Sets, 1 x 5,10,15,20,25

Single Arm Dumbbell Arc Row – 5 Sets, 1 x 25,20,15,10,5 per arm

Single Arm Dumbbell Row – 5 Sets, 1 x 5,10,15,20,25 per arm

Preach Curl – 5 Sets, 1 x 25,20,15,10,5

Single Arm Preacher Curl – 5 Sets, 1 x 5,10,15,20,25 per arm

Cardio – Interval Training 15mins Total

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 Neutral Grip Pull Ups I was trying to target the insertion of the lat across the armpit, with the standard Chin Up 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.

From there I moved out to the Reverse Grip Lat Pull Down 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.

Then to start targeting the upper traps I moved onto the Close Grip Lat Pull Down,  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.

The Reverse Grip Bent Over Barbell Row 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.

The Single Arm Dumbbell Arc Row 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 Single Arm Dumbbell Row. 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.

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!

Working the biceps individually on the last exercise (Single Arm Preacher Curl ) 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.

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.

For nutritional advice and bespoke programmes come and have a chat with me at: mgonlinept@gmail.com and change your future, today.

Happy Lifting,

Matt

Week 10 Day 2 - Pectoral Punishment

02/06/15 Day 64 – Chest & Triceps

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:

Incline Barbell Bench Press – 6 Sets, 1 x 30,25,20,15,10,5

Flat Barbell Bench Press – 6 Sets, 1 x 5,10,15,20,25,30

Decline Dumbbell Flyes – 12 Sets, 30,25,20,15,10,5,5,10,15,20,25,30

Incline Dumbbell Flyes – 6 Sets, 1 x 5,10,15,20,25,30

Rope Tricep Extension – 6 Sets, 1 x 30,25,20,15,10,5

Seated Overhead Rope Tricep Extensions – 6 Sets, 1 x 5,10,15,20,25,30

Close Grip Press Ups – 6 Sets, 1 x 30,25,20,15,10,5

Bench Dips – 6 Sets, 1 x 5,10,15,20,25,30

Cardio – Interval Training 15mins Total

With some much needed rotator cuff work being done and a certain buzz about me I started the session with the Incline Barbell Bench Press. 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 Flat Barbell Bench Press 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.

Now came the pain train. Working through 12 set on Decline Dumbbell Flyes 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.

Onto the final exercise for the chest, the Incline Dumbbell Flyes, 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!

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 Rope Tricep Extension! 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.

I then found myself facing a new challenge in the form of the Seated Overhead Rope Tricep Extensions. 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!

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 Close Grip Press Ups & Bench Dips. 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 DTP Extreme weeks.

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!

Happy Lifting,

Matt

Week 9 Day 5 - One Way Ticket To The Gun Show!

30/05/15 Day 61 – Arms

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.

Here is your ticket to the Gun Show:

Standing Over-Head Dumbbell Tricep Extension – 5 Sets, 1 x 30,25,20,15,10

SuperSet

Seated Dumbbell Curls – 5 Sets, 1 x 30,25,20,15,10

Decline Skull Crushers – 5 Sets, 1 x 10,15,20,25,30

SuperSet

Ez Bar Spider Curls – 5 Sets, 1 x 10,15,20,25,30

Cardio – Interval Training 15mins Total

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.

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 personal best of 40kg overhead dumbbell extension, 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! 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.

With my arms well fatigued and blood surging through my triceps and biceps I moved on to the final two exercises. The Decline Skull Crushers 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 (Ez Bar Spider Curls) 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. Remember: If you are going to do something, do it right.

Happy Lifting,

Matt

Week 9 Day 3 - Delts

27/05/15 Day 59 – Shoulders & Abs

Once again apologies for the lack of blog yesterday, very busy and simply didn't have time.

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:

Dumbbell Lateral Raise – 5 Sets, 1 x 30,25,20,15,10

SuperSet

Weighted Plate Front Raise – 5 Sets, 1 x 30,25,20,15,10

Standing Dumbbell Shoulder Press – 5 Sets, 1 x 10,15,20,25,30

SuperSet

Dumbbell Incline Bench Lying Front Raise – 5 Sets, 1 x 10,15,20,25,30

Bent-Over Rear Delt Raise – 5 Sets, 1 x 30,25,20,15,10

SuperSet

Weighted Sit Ups – 5 Sets, 1 x 30,25,20,15,10

Reverse Peck Deck Fly – 5 Sets, 1 x 10,15,20,25,30

SuperSet

Bent Knee Hip Raises – 5 Sets, 1 x 10,15,20,25,30

Cardio- Interval Training 15mins Total

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.

Working through the first superset of Dumbbell Lateral Raise & Weighted Plate Front Raises 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 Dumbbell Lateral Raises 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 Weighted Plate Front Raises 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).

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: Standing Dumbbell Shoulder Press followed by the Dumbbell Incline Bench Lying Front Raises. 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 Dumbbell Incline Bench Lying Front Raises 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. Remember: 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.

Then I moved onto the penultimate superset of the session, this came in the form of the Bent-Over Rear Delt Raise combined with the Weighted Sit Ups. On the Rear Delt Raise 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 Weighted Sit Ups 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!

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 Reverse Peck Deck Flyes with the Bent Knee Hip Raises 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 Bent Knee Hip Raises 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!

Tomorrow will be a rest day for me and if you are following this programme then it is for you too!

For customised meal plans and Gym routines, guaranteed to give you results e-mail me at:

mgonlinept@gmail.com

Change your future today.

Happy Lifting,

Matt

 

Week 7 Day 5 - Hard Work Will Always Pay Off

15/05/15 Day 47 – Triceps & Calves

Finishing off Week 7 of this Muscle Building Programme in pure DTP fashion with a massive session of both Triceps and Calves. Waking up this morning my traps 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.

Enough of all that! Lets get into the session:

Close Grip Barbell Bench – 6 Sets, 1 x 30,25,20,15,10,5

SuperSet

Seated Calf Raises – 6 Sets, 1 x 30,25,20,15,10,5

Incline Close Grip Barbell Bench – 6 Sets, 1 x 5,10,15,20,25,30

(For each rep performed 1 sec rest is awarded, 5 reps = 5 sec rest)

Seated Calf Raises– 6 Sets, 1 x 5,10,15,20,25,30

(For each rep performed 1 sec rest is awarded, 5 reps = 5 sec rest)

Tricep Pushdown – 6 Sets, 1 x 30,25,20,15,10,5

Overhead Rope Tricep Extensions – 6 Sets, 1 x 5,10,15,20,25,30

(For each rep performed 1 sec rest is awarded, 5 reps = 5 sec rest)

Cardio – Interval Training 15mins Total

Starting the session as I meant to go on I jumped on the Close Grip Barbell Bench 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 elbows in tight 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 Seated Calf Raises 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.  

When working down the pyramid in the traditional DTP fashion I moved from the flat bench to the Incline Close Grip Barbell Bench,  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 explosive power 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!

With the calf work all done for this week it was time to move on to isolating the triceps, with the first exercise (Tricep Pushdown) 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.

Finishing off the session strong I moved onto the cable machine for the Overhead Rope Tricep Extensions 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!

Hope everyone has had an awesome day and killed their session as hard as I did!

Happy lifting,

Matt

Week 7 Day 2 - How to Build Your Chest (Extreme)

12/05/15 Day 44 – Chest & Biceps

Following on from a pretty intense day on legs, today's treat comes in the form of a DTP Extreme 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 DTP Extreme training 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:

Barbell Preacher Curl – 6 Sets, 1 x 30,25,20,15,10,5

SuperSet

Decline Dumbbell Bench – 6 Sets, 1 x 30,25,20,15,10,5

Dumbbell Bench – 6 Sets, 1 x 5,10,15,20,25,30

(For each rep performed 1 sec rest is awarded, 5 reps = 5 sec rest)

Barbell Standing Curl – 6 Sets, 1 x 5,10,15,20,25,30

(For each rep performed 1 sec rest is awarded, 5 reps = 5 sec rest)

Standing Bicep Cable Curl – 3 Sets 1 x 30,20,10

SuperSet

Incline Dumbbell Bench – 3 Sets 1 x 30,20,10

Incline Dumbbell Bench – 3 Sets 1 x 10,20,30

(For each rep performed 1 sec rest is awarded, 5 reps = 5 sec rest)

Standing Bicep Cable Curl – 3 Sets 1 x 10,20,30

(For each rep performed 1 sec rest is awarded, 5 reps = 5 sec rest)

Cardio – Interval Training 15mins Total

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.

Starting with the superset of Barbell Preacher Curl & Decline Dumbbell Bench 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.

With the Chest and Biceps starting to swell really nicely I set up for what would be the 2^nd and last combo for my session today. This combo included the Standing Bicep Cable Curl and the Incline Dumbbell Bench. 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.

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!

Happy Lifting,

Matt

Week 6 Day 5 - Chest 101

08/05/15 Day 40– Chest & Biceps

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.

Enough of that, lets see what today had in store for me!

Incline Dumbbell Bench – 2 Sets x 8-12 Reps

Leverage Chest Press – 2 Sets x 8-12 Reps

Decline Dumbbell Bench Press – 2 Sets x 8-12 Reps

Cable Cross-Over – 2 Sets x 8-12 Reps

Dumbbell Alternating Bicep Curl – 2 Sets x 8-12 Reps

Barbell Curl – 2 Sets x 8-12 Reps

Preacher Curl – 2 Sets x 8-12 Reps

Cardio – Interval Training 15mins Total

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.

Beginning my working sets on the Incline Dumbbell Bench 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.

Moving on to the Leverage Chest Press 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. Remember: 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.

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 Decline Dumbbell Bench Press. 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.

To really finish off the chest I moved onto the last exercise on the list: Cable Cross-Over. 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.

With chest done and dusted it was time to move on to the Biceps. Starting with Dumbbell Alternating Bicep Curls 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.

With the biceps nicely pumped up I moved onto the straight Barbell Curl, 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.

To round off the whole session I finished on and old school favourite, Preacher Curls. 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.

Hope every is enjoying their training today!

Yesterdays session will be up tomorrow, have been busy and didn't have chance to put it up, so bare with me!

Happy Lifting,

Matt

Week 5 Day 5 - Only Human

01/05/15 Day 32 -Arms

First of all apologies for the lack of blogging yesterday, time was a real issues and I simply wasn't able to fit it into my day.

After a pretty rubbish end to my week I took the opportunity to focus my anger and energy on Day 5 of the German Volume Training workout: Arms! It was a really short session in terms of number of exercises, but none the less the sheer volume of work made up for that. So here is what my session looked like:

Barbell Curls – 5 Sets x 10 Reps (60sec Rest)

Ex Bar Curls – 5 Sets x 10 Reps (60 sec Rest)

Close Grip Weighted Dips - 10 Sets x 10 Reps (60 sec Rest)

Cardio – Interval Training 15mins Total

After my motivation taking a bit of a beating with a lack of sleep weighing me down and having to deal with a pretty rough customer at work, it was fair to say my head wasn't really in the game, but none the less I got on with my warm up and hoped the outcome would change. After a few very light warm up sets to get the muscle fibres firing I could immediately feel a difference in myself, I sometimes forget how good the gym is to vent your anger and focus negative energy in a positive action.

I started with a pretty traditional exercise, the Barbell Curls. Working my way up to a reasonable weight through a few lighter sets just allows me to lubricate the joints and get the muscles nice and lose for the working sets. When I found the a weight that was perfect for my working sets I strapped up, drew my focus and attention to the muscles I wanted to contract (the biceps) and began with the first phase. I started strong punching out solid reps for the first three sets, then on the fourth set my muscles began to tighten and the reps began to become a lot harder to squeeze out. The fantastic yet annoying thing about German Volume Training is that due to the low rep nature you naturally want to lift heavy, but then limiting yourself to short rest periods it becomes increasingly hard increasingly fast to actually push the reps out. After 5 hard core set it was time to put the flat bar down and pick up another.

Moving on to the Ez Bar Curls meant that I was looking at working a different head of the bicep, as well as having to deal with the pre fatigue of the previous set. So I decided to lower my weight from what I was using on the flat bar as I moved across, this then allowed me to test my muscles capabilities without the factor of bad form. Remember – if you are going lighter than usual you can always slow the movement down to make it harder, work the eccentric phase for longer to get a sick pump and challenge your muscles like they never been before. With the last few sets becoming a bit of a struggle I took the emphasis away from my eccentrics and just worked on getting the reps out.

With the final round already here it was time for me to move across to the parallel bars. The Close Grip Weighted Dips are all about testing the muscles through the movement of not only your body weight but extra weight to over work the target muscle group. For me, dips are already a bit of a pain, so I took a slightly smaller plate to work with so I could try to get a few sets in without failure. Well needless to say my triceps hated me today and took me a measly 3 sets before I started to fail on reps. At the first sign of failure I dropped the weights belt off and began to work with my body weight alone. With such small rest breaks the muscles do not have time to repair, meaning with every set that goes by the intensity and toughness also increases. After 2 more weightless sets I began to fail again, to finish the sets I worked on some negative reps as a form of mental punishment ( I know I am cruel) and then decided to grab some assistance bands and finish of my gruelling sets with perfect form and range.

On reflection I have really enjoyed this week of German Volume Training and think it has given me some fantastic ideas to base future training around. For such an old school training method it still gives some of the best results, so if you have never tried it or simply want to try something new, join tones of other people and e-mail me at: mgonlinept@gmail.com . Start your future today!

Hope everyone is looking forward to this bank holiday weekend, I know I am!

Happy Lifting,

Matt

Week 4 Day 5 - Always Move Forward, Never Look Back

24/04/15 Day 26 - Biceps & Calves

Finishing off the week of FST-7 Training with a bang! Its been a seriously intense and emotional week, the training has been off the scale, I'm so happy with the progress I am making and have to point out I still have leg DOMS from 4 days ago. So needless to say I will be using this method of training again in the future without a doubt and if you haven't tried it or even heard of it you can check it all out, from the start righthere!

So into today's training, hitting the smaller muscle groups has left me with a crazy pump and a huge smile plastered across my face. Here what it all looked like:

Preacher Curls – 4 Sets x 8 – 10 Reps

Incline Bench Alternating Dumbbell Curls – 3 Sets x 8-10 Reps

Laying Cable Curls – 3 Sets x 8-10 Reps

Spider Curls – 7 Sets x 8-10 Reps (30 seconds between sets)

Seated Calf Raise – 3 Sets x 20 Reps

Leg Press Calf Raise – 3 Sets x 20 Reps

Donkey Calf Raise – 7 Sets x 20 Reps (30 seconds between sets)

Cardio – Interval Training 15mins Total

Remember! - Contract the Biceps/Calves between every set to try and manipulate the fascia

Starting the session off with a nice isolation exercise in the form of Preacher Curls, here I wanted the focus to be on squeezing the biceps at the top of the contraction and slowly stretching the biceps out as I lowered into the bottom half of the range of motion. The slow and focused contraction really allows you to start pumping some crazy levels of blood into the biceps. Watching as the veins were rising, pulsing and swelling through my arms I knew from set 2 this was going to be a session to remember.

Moving swiftly on to sustain the pump I got onto a bench and got under way with the Incline Bench Alternating Dumbbell Curls. I struggled to feel the contraction slightly in this exercise, mainly I believe due to the fact my arms had swollen to the point of it being difficult to even take my earphones out. But I focused deep within the muscle, thinking about a think cable pulley system, much like a crane. This level of imagery really works for me, so if you are struggling to feel the muscles working during an exercise then try it out.

After I completed my 3 Sets I transitioned into the 3^rd and final exercise in my core sets before moving onto my exhaustion set. With the cable in place I got on with my Laying Cable Curls, I really like this exercise as having your arms laying against the floor stops you from using momentum, which allows you to really concentrate on the actually movement, rather than throwing the whole stack up and down by flailing your arms back and forth (and yes I have seen a lot of people do this).

There was only one way I was way to finish my biceps off and that was: Spider Curls, these little beauties are brand new to my training and I have fallen in love with them straight away. They not only allow you to superbly isolate the biceps but they also subject your arms to some heavy eccentric work, due to the range of movement. Well after just one set I had to admit that lifting with my ego wasn't going to get me through this, so I halved the weight, worked to the upper ranges of motion and squeeze every damn rep out until I got it done. Remember! - If you need to have small rests between the last few reps its completely normal, the rest pause principle allows you to work beyond your normal ranges, which obviously will allow you to flood the muscles better and grow.

With the bicep work behind me my new focus brought me to the Seated Calf Raise machine, after a few warm up sets it was time to crack on and get those baby cows working. With my head in the 8-10 rep range I stupidly kept the same mentality here and went really really heavy for 10 reps rather than the 20 suggested, yes I did feel a tad silly, but non the less I still worked myself incredibly hard, made sure I was hitting my 10 second static contractions between sets and started for the first time really to get a bit of a calve pump.

Feeling strangely keen to continue I made my way to the leg press for exercise No.2 Leg Press Calf Raise. With a good few plates on the rack I got underway with my gruelling 20 rep sets, hood up, eyes shut and my mind wide open I steamrollered my way through the first set. With the static contractions starting to make their mark I could really feel the deep burn within the calves, to be fair I usually shy away from this feeling in the calves but with this FST-7 I have learnt to embrace the burn and just work through it, and by the beard of Zeus that is exactly what I did!

Now to finish the Calves off I got my partner to jump on my back and get on with yet another new exercise for the books, the old school Arnold classic Donkey Calf Raises. With such small rest between the sets the lactic acid really started to build up quickly, I can totally see why Arnold used this exercise so much in his training, it hits your calves in such a brilliant and efficient way I couldn't really believe it!

To round off the whole day I chose today for my reefed day, getting in a high carb meal after depleting or lowering your carb intake for the week previous is a great way to spike to metabolic rate back up to make sure you continue to lose fat, but I will go into more detail on diet in tomorrows blog. For now all that is left is to say, have a wonderful evening, enjoy the people you are with, spread the love and have an awesome weekend.

Happy Lifting,

Matt

Week 3 Day 2- To Succeed, First You Must Fail

14/4/15 Day 16- Chest & Triceps

Feeling a little bit of stiffness in the hamstrings today, but nothing major, I have a feeling that the soreness is going to creep up on me tonight, and I'll probably be walking like John Wayne tomorrow (hopefully).

Today's session was another big burnout session, using some lovely drop sets and supersets to over train the muscle, fatigue it to the point of none contraction and making you endure some lovely lactic acid build up. So get prepared to fight this is today's session:

Incline Smith Machine Bench Press – 2 Sets x Drop set 20-25 Reps (Second Set is a Double Drop)

Flat Smith Machine Bench Press – 2 Sets x Drop set 20-25 Reps (Second Set is a Double Drop)

Incline Dumbbell Fly – 3 Sets x Drop set 15-20 Reps

Cable Cross Over – 2 Sets x Drop set 15-20 Reps

Cable Tricep Extension – 3 Sets x 15-20 Reps

Superset

Bent Over Cable Tricep Extension – 3 Sets x 15-20 Reps

Dumbbell Tricep Extension – 3 Sets x 20-25 Reps

Superset

Close Grip Bench Press – 3 Sets x 20-25 Reps

Cardio - Interval Training 15mins Total

So as you can see, lots of drop sets, lots of pumping, high reps, high intensity and high focus. Now I'm just going to go out and say this, I don't like the smith machine, I never have and probably never will, I don't find it usually tests me as much as free weights, but again that is my opinion and its not necessarily the correct one. None the less, these first two exercises go those muscles seriously fatigued seriously quickly. Now I'm not the worlds biggest bencher, but I can lift a few plates either side no trouble, but here I was whittled down to 2.5kg plates and 5kg plates, so be prepared to leave your ego lifting at the door, clean your mind and be ready to work. I found the Incline Smith Machine Bench Press tested me more than the Flat Smith Machine Bench Press, but that again is to do with the range of movement, and the number of muscle fibres being recruited.

The fantastic thing with this workout, from a physiology stand point we are fatiguing the muscles with big compound movements, only to then target them with an isolation movement (Incline Dumbbell Fly) , just pure genius. If we wear all the muscles out around the focus muscle, it means the muscle we are trying to pin point (our Pecs in this instance) has to work twice, maybe three times as hard to pick up the slack from the other muscles. Painfully, but beautiful.

So after exhausting my Pecs to the melting point, I moved over to the Cable Cross Over, here my focus was firstly to get the reps out, but also to stretching the Pec as much as possible before crossing the arms over, that added stretch just allows you to engage the whole belly of the pec, once again actively making it harder for myself, as this was the last exercise on the pecs I wanted to make sure I was hitting the upper rep range, to burn out that muscle as much as possible before moving onto the Triceps.

Now the fun part! SuperSets. The nice thing about super setting Cable Tricep Extension & Bent Over Cable Tricep Extension is that you can really hit pretty much the whole of the Tricep in two exercises. I did however have to drop my weights a few times throughout the exercise, but remember, “to learn to succeed, you must first learn to fail”-Michael Jordan. That is probably the biggest and best tip I could ever give to someone who is looking to improve their fitness, either cardio based, or weight training based, don't be afraid to fail, it is what makes us human, but we learn from our mistakes, and grow as a person from this.

Going into the last SuperSet I could feel how swollen my arms had become, but they weren't going to stop there, I wanted these big boys to be on the verge or bursting! So for the last two exercises (Dumbbell Tricep Extension Close Grip Bench Press) I aimed to hit that upper rep range, give a good rest period between each set, and make sure I could squeeze out ever last rep. I made sure I failed on the last set, just because then I know my muscles couldn't possibly give anymore if they tried, and that is when you know that a muscle group has truly been worked.

So if you take anything away from today's blog, let it be, that failure is not a bad thing, it is something we must all learn to give into before we can progress further, both physically and psychologically.

Have a blooming wonderful Tuesday, and check back tomorrow where we are training one of my favourites! Shoulders & Abs.

Happy Lifting,

Matt