Week 5 Day 6 - Avengers ASSEMBLE!

02/05/15 Day 32 – Active Rest

Today was an awesome day! One of the first days I haven't actually missed the gym as if I have lost a part of me. This morning I actually managed to have a lay in, which made me feel incredibly revitalised, now don't get me wrong I do love waking up early and getting things done, but there is nothing like sleeping in an extra few hours.

After a usual daily breakfast and coffee my partner and I popped off into town for a spot of lunch. It was a relatively high carbohydrate meal, which will be taken as this weeks cheat meal. Remember – If you are dropping carb levels during the week you need to have a high carb meal (not a day, a meal). This will allow you to spike your leptine levels which having been gradually dropping all week. The leptine spike boosts the metabolism back up and allows for constant fat burning all week long!

After our lunch we went to see the new Avengers:Age of Ultron. Which I have to say was absolutely awesome. If you have read my earlier posts then you will know I am a big comic book fan, so when big events happen like this it is a must for me to see them! Seeing action scenes on the big screen just brings in a whole new aspect of the story line, with the massive progression in CGI every year we see huge animated blockbusters hit our screens and wow us in amazement. This was one of those times. With this progress in animation its truly incredible to witness films like these that 10/15 years ago would have been a distant thought in producers minds due to the huge technical demand, but now they have blurred the lines between Sci-Fi and reality. Looking at films like these there is a part of you sitting there wishing/hoping that some day something like this could actually happen (yes I want to be a superhero, I really, really do). Without giving away anything I have to say it is pretty damn close to being on par with the first Avengers film, which I my opinion had a perfect balance of humour, action and suspense. There was a fair bit of humour running throughout the film which tickled kids and adults alike and does justice to fans like myself and the thousands of other that have seen this film since its UK release.

For me super heros aren't just cool film and comic book characters, they are people we can relate and aspire to, now don't get me wrong I won't be donning pants over leggings and try to fight crime! But standing up for what is right, believing in yourself and other and always striving to be the best at what you do, now that is something anyone can do, you don't need super powers but you will feel like you do.

Hope everyone is enjoying their Saturday,

Happy Resting,

Matt

Week 3 Day 3 - Trap City

15/04/15 Day 17- Shoulders & Abs

The chest DOMS are starting to set in now, getting a nice ache in the legs too. Its funny how I used to fear the feeling of being sore, yet now its all I want to feel, shows the true power of self development.

Talking of development, I have just got back from the gym, the shoulders are swollen, my focus is airtight and I'm ready for the day. Lots of work to do for my online clients, so today was all about smashing this session and getting home, so the intensity was up, the heart rate was up, and I pushed my body to complete failure. Mission successful captain.

I suggest you check out last weeks Shoulder session, to get an idea of how each week is completely different, but incredibly well adapted to build your muscles, week in, week out.

So here is the session:

Dumbbell Shoulder Press – 3 Sets x 20-25 Reps

Giant Set

Side Lateral Raises – 3 Sets x 20-25 Reps

Giant Set

Front Dumbbell Raises – 3 Sets x 20-25 Reps

Seated Bent-Over Rear Delt Raise – 4 Sets x 20-25 Reps

SuperSet

Side Laterals to Front Raise – 4 Sets x 20-25 Reps

Dumbbell Shrugs– 3 Sets x 20-25 Reps

Dumbbell Weighted Sit Ups– 3 Sets x 15-20 Reps

Cardio - Interval Training 15mins Total

Just looking at that session tires me out all over again.

So starting at the deep end, I jumped into a Giant Set to start, after a solid warm up and active stretch session, obviously. For those of you not familiar with a Giant Set, it quite simply is a Super Set, but contains more than 2 exercises back to back. So when you put Dumbbell Shoulder Press, Side Lateral Raises, Front Dumbbell Raises back to back, you will, guaranteed to have an insane pump. Because you aren't letting these muscles rest, and starting each set by pre fatiguing the whole deltoid, its going to be a bit of a struggle, expect to be lifting a lot lighter today than previous sessions, as you are dealing with some seriously high reps. 75 Reps in 1 set, no wonder I'm starting to hurt already.

Moving from a Giant Set to a Super Set on the 2^nd round of exercises, it isn't much of a compensation, but I took it. On this set I wanted to work really hard on my Seated Bent-Over Rear Delt Raise, as for myself, I feel as though my rear deltoids let my shoulder down, so I pushed out every rep here, even if it meant stopping for a few seconds, or even squeezing out ½ reps, you want to flood your targeted muscle with blood as much as possible. Due to me working on those rear delt raises, my Side Laterals to Front Raise took a bit of a punishing, trying to pull those dumbbells back from the front raise was killer! Be, like me, prepared to drop/alter your weights a few times though these exercises, as we are working already battered muscles as well as isolating a small muscle group.

Now comes to my favourite exercise of the day: Dumbbell Shrugs. Today I tried something different with these, and you should too! Firstly with the starting position, I tilted forward ever so slightly, so the dumbbells were in front of my body, the reasoning behind this is, that the traps don't just contract by lifting the shoulders up, but also from pull the shoulder blades together. So I changed the movement from straight up and down, to up and back, the difference was unreal. Secondly, I held the contraction at the top of the squeeze for about 2 seconds, the idea behind this is once again trying to flood those smaller muscle groups with as much blood as possible to allow them to grow, and this guys and girls is how you get traps like Tom Hardy in Warrior.

To round off the session I smashed out some heavy Dumbbell Weighted Sit Ups, here I didn't come all the way up, to make sure I was keeping a nice level of tension through those abdominal, try it, nothing will tighten that stomach like this!

Hope you are all enjoying the weather where ever you are.

Have a wonderful Wednesday,

Happy Lifting.

Matt

Week 1 Day 6 - Good Vs Evil

4/04/15 Day 6 – Rest Day 1

For me, rest days are the days I most struggle with. I can be under a bar breaking myself down to nothing, sweating, out of breathe and feeling like I am going to collapse at any moment, and I know that that is doing something, its making me stronger. But when I am resting I feel hopeless, its like I have never worked out before, my energy levels seem lower and I don't have the drive I usually do. So its on days like today I have to remind myself why I need to do this.

Without ample rest the body cannot grow, when you are at rest you body is given a chance to push out toxins, repair damaged tissues and allow your muscles to just relax.

For me I have spent the day watching DC Entertainments “Arrow”, I am very big fan of the Marvel and DC Universes. For me, it isn't just artistic, for me superhero's are a motivational tool. A person who is in their given circumstances are looked up to, they have to work tirelessly to achieve what they must, they give all their strength and effort to do what must be done. So why can I not do that? I have my goal and I know what I must do, so I will work with everything I have, find anyway possible to make sure that I control the outcome of my future. Superhero's don't leave things to fate, and neither will I. It does also help that most superhero's are portrayed with incredible physiques, chiselled abs, bulging arms and the strength of something that isn't...well...human.

I find that by motivating myself we things that are above and beyond me, it only makes me strive to be better, to be the image be aspire to, to be the role model people need. For me this isn't just about getting big, its about making a difference.

I hope you are all having a wonderful Easter Weekend!

Happy Resting ;)

Matt