Blonde will make you STRONG

[iRaise]

Struggled for time this week, so did 3x full body sessions instead.

Little tweak in my hammy and lower back from going for possibly a few too many DL reps in one day. Lets see how that calm down.

Two day nutrition conference over the weekend. Some long days, but always good and a dead cert to big up some useful bits of info.

[EvilPie]

Final programme week before a PR attempt

3 x 2 @ 120kg, 122.5kg & 125kg

3 x 1 @ 135kg, 140kg & 142.5kg with the slingshot.

Nice to get 140kg+ on the bar even if was with the slingshot. It moved really easily but the main thing is knowing how that much weight feels when I un-rack it. Nothing worse than going for a heavy lift and feeling defeated as soon as you un-rack it because it feels ridiculously heavy. I un-racked it myself, did a decent pause at the bottom and then held it for 3 or 4 seconds before re-racking. Made a huge difference to my confidence just knowing that I can handle the weight, just got to push it now.....

Feeling really confident about a PR next week if Harvey can make it for a session or if I can find a decent spotter. Managed to find a decent spotter today (one of the PTs) who just stood watch for a few sets. We had a good chat about the slingshot as he's never seen one before, think he was impressed. Unfortunately he couldn't help on my heaviest set as some poor fella collapsed and they had to get the paramedics in

The lad was okay but I felt really bad for him. Don't know what happened, whether it was fatigue or whether something went pop but he was stretchered out. He looked like a newbie so I really hope it doesn't put him off for life.

[EvilPie]

Struggled for time this week, so did 3x full body sessions instead.

Little tweak in my hammy and lower back from going for possibly a few too many DL reps in one day. Lets see how that calm down.

Two day nutrition conference over the weekend. Some long days, but always good and a dead cert to big up some useful bits of info.

Interested to get together and hear everything about your nutrition conference. My latest is increasing saturated fats by having coconut oil in my scrambled egg whites. I believe it's a better source of saturated fat than the yolks but could be completely wrong....

Tastes nice anyway so I'll stick it out.

[iRaise]

Struggled for time this week, so did 3x full body sessions instead.

Little tweak in my hammy and lower back from going for possibly a few too many DL reps in one day. Lets see how that calm down.

Two day nutrition conference over the weekend. Some long days, but always good and a dead cert to big up some useful bits of info.

Interested to get together and hear everything about your nutrition conference. My latest is increasing saturated fats by having coconut oil in my scrambled egg whites. I believe it's a better source of saturated fat than the yolks but could be completely wrong....

Tastes nice anyway so I'll stick it out.

Ironic timing, just finished the muscle gain section. Can't remember the breakdown between the too but, pretty sure I have it in my notes somewhere weirdly. So can take a look. Probably won't make too much of a difference, fat % and breakdown are probably reasonably low down the list for muscle building.

[muckthenuts]

Extra press ups every other day has definitely helped my bench out, cheers Matt. I haven't yet made headway on my numbers but my stability during the movement in general feels markedly improved, so it should just be a matter of time. I've got a little pump from it too which is nice.

Looking forward to hearing the trip report from your weekend iRaise, sounds interesting.

[iRaise]

Extra press ups every other day has definitely helped my bench out, cheers Matt. I haven't yet made headway on my numbers but my stability during the movement in general feels markedly improved, so it should just be a matter of time. I've got a little pump from it too which is nice.

Looking forward to hearing the trip report from your weekend iRaise, sounds interesting.

So much to say around these kind of weekends. I guess the takeaway points for the muscle gain part was:

Protein frequency/quality is the most important part of muscle building (from a nutrition standpoint, training is as a stand alone point). By this I mean aiming for 4-5 'doses' a day and the quality meaning it has around 2g of leucine per serving (if you eat meat, you have no worries there, if you are vegetarian/vegan it does become more complicated) Obviously you gain muscle without that, but you don't gain it at the quickest rate. And when you are natural, its painfully slow as it is.

Psychology of eating means sometimes you feel full and greedy, but you have to keep eating.

There isn't a magic surplus number. You just have to go trial and error, always 200-500 above maintenance seems a good place to start.

Lifestyle/preference dictates a huge portion of how you do it. Sometimes the most optimal way isn't possible for people to carry out.

[iRaise]

Second full week of full body 4x a week. Going ok actually. Feel pretty beat up because I can really go for it with each exercise. Basically a 2x leg, 2x push and 2x pull per session. 4-5 sets of each 5-12 reps on each.

Still a bit ginger with my hamstring, so mainly just squats this week with 4 sets of RDL at 50, lol.

Had to support all my back movements too as I couldn't stabilise well enough so a week of cable rows and LPD's with a variety of grips.

Have to be a bit lol tomorrow and go and do calves and arms because been too tired after every session this week.

Took cals down a bit this week and last and added in a 1x hour walk in too. No real reason other than didn't feel that hungry so thought it would be a good time to just shift a few KG and attack again in a few weeks.

[Marky147]

Got to the gym 4x this week, and I think it was 3x last, but enjoying too many BBQs and currys for my own good

I was 228lbs today, so only put 4lbs on from my lightest, and hopefully won't do too much damage over the next month.

[iRaise]

Got to the gym 4x this week, and I think it was 3x last, but enjoying too many BBQs and currys for my own good

I was 228lbs today, so only put 4lbs on from my lightest, and hopefully won't do too much damage over the next month.

Decent work

All going consistent my end, food staying pretty low for a few more weeks then gradually bring it up. Hasn't effected strength too much, although queue the heat wave where I melt in the gym later.

[EvilPie]

I've had to take a couple of weeks off unfortunately due to a back problem. It's been playing up for a while but I seemed to be fine benching so didn't take any time off. Got to my PR attempt day and it just wasn't going to happen. Target was 145 but the 120 warm up barely moved so it was time to call it a day and get fixed.

I've had a few physio sessions and pleased to say I was back this morning for a session that felt good. Obviously didn't do anything crazy but nice to be there with no pain. Just need a few pulls/rows and some ohp and seated shoulder press. Felt nice being back.

I've got a few weeks now to build back up ready for another shot at the bench towards the end of August. I'm going to assume that I would've hit my PR so that'll give me a new max weight to base my programme around. I put in all the training and I'm really confident I'd have hit it if I wasn't injured so can't see why I shouldn't just assume it was achieved. I'll base weights around 145kg current max but I'll make that my first target next time I'm on a PR day.

Going to try to do something exciting with the dumbbells over the next couple of months as well. I've kind of given up having a big squat or deadlift, I just don't think my back's up to it so going to push the upper body stuff.

I think it was a heavy deadlift session that put me out recently so I really need to just accept I'm not a big deadlifter. I'll keep doing them but nice and light never pushing failure or maxes and maintaining strict form. They'll come along slowly anyway but there won't be any specific goals, I'll just see what happens. Similar with the squat, keep it light and accept that I'm just going to be one of those strange people who can bench more than he can squat or deadlift.... It may change in the future if I get stronger but for now it's just time to take it steady.

Good stuff from everyone else and really pleased to see that press ups have helped MTN. They really are amazing. Keep them up mate.

[EvilPie]

Pleased to say I'm fully fixed from my recent back issue. Did a full bench day today and was pleasantly surprised that I've not lost too much strength at all.

I wasn't intending to do anything excessive with the target being 80 to 90kg. Ended up feeling really good so did 5 x 5 @ 100kg then 3 x 5 @ 100kg with the slingshot. Every rep had a good pause so was a tough session. Did plenty of accessory stuff as well which all felt good.

Probably going to stick to something similar to this for 3 or 4 weeks then get in to a programme for a PR attempt in a couple of months. Going to be smashing the 50kg dumbbells in the next few weeks on my accessory day with target being 54kg and maybe a touch more if I feel good.

I have a plan for a bit of a 5 day per week routine over the next few months, 2 x bench days one of which will be accessories then an OHP, squat and deadlift day. As with most of my plans this may change in a week but got to have a guide to work with.

Just so pleased to back at it fully fit after what ended up being a fairly short lay off.

[the sicilian]

Its been a while..dont want it to be the evil and IR show

 have been training hard and my PT is now putting me through a ton of conditioning circuits.. with some strength workouts so not to lose muscle.. example circuits

40Kg squat clean and jerk to overhead X 10
Full burpee ( chest flat to floor ) x 10
Press ups x 15
V -ups ( situp basically but head and legs held suspended x 15
40kg bent over row x10
200m run

then repeat no stopping.. 5 min rest then repeat..last weeks time 8 min 30

today was :

Squat to explosive overhead 16kg barbell x 20 ( 10 each side )
Press ups ( not too fast either was told to slow down lol ) x 20
assisted pull up x20
squat jumps x20
full burpee x 20

3 minute rest repeat twice more

So thats a 300 rep circuit.. i tell you i was flipping dying.. but I am getting very fit

Strength :

Squats 110 Kg 4 x 10 sets  90 second rest between sets..fairly comfortable.. no idea what a 1 rep best could be but quite a lot higher i imagine

Deadlift

60kg warmup for 10 then 3 x 10  for 100KG 90 second rests

bench

80kg x 10
90 kg x 10
100kg x 6

i have no spot so dont push beyond that

leg press :

250kg x10

280kg x 10

300kg x10

im built for squatting and leg pressing and prob no where near maximum

doing lots of other stuff to but you get the drift.. looking to be lean and mean for Malta in August

[Marky147]

Glad you've got your back sorted Matt.

Makes me ill just looking at that circuit.

As for looking mean and lean. Just stand next to Vin, and you're set

[EvilPie]

Its been a while..dont want it to be the evil and IR show

 have been training hard and my PT is now putting me through a ton of conditioning circuits.. with some strength workouts so not to lose muscle.. example circuits

40Kg squat clean and jerk to overhead X 10
Full burpee ( chest flat to floor ) x 10
Press ups x 15
V -ups ( situp basically but head and legs held suspended x 15
40kg bent over row x10
200m run

then repeat no stopping.. 5 min rest then repeat..last weeks time 8 min 30

today was :

Squat to explosive overhead 16kg barbell x 20 ( 10 each side )
Press ups ( not too fast either was told to slow down lol ) x 20
assisted pull up x20
squat jumps x20
full burpee x 20

3 minute rest repeat twice more

So thats a 300 rep circuit.. i tell you i was flipping dying.. but I am getting very fit

Strength :

Squats 110 Kg 4 x 10 sets  90 second rest between sets..fairly comfortable.. no idea what a 1 rep best could be but quite a lot higher i imagine

Deadlift

60kg warmup for 10 then 3 x 10  for 100KG 90 second rests

bench

80kg x 10
90 kg x 10
100kg x 6

i have no spot so dont push beyond that

leg press :

250kg x10

280kg x 10

300kg x10

im built for squatting and leg pressing and prob no where near maximum

doing lots of other stuff to but you get the drift.. looking to be lean and mean for Malta in August

Those conditioning circuits look like absolute hell on earth!!

Any thoughts of pushing for a 1RM at any point on squat, bench or deadlift? Those weights and rep ranges look great for body building but would you like to know what you could move as a max?

Any guesses what they might be for each lift? Thinking back to the picture you posted a while back you look like you have the shape to shift some serious weight on every lift. Do you think injuries might become an issue of you pushed the weight or do you just prefer the higher rep ranges?

Great to have someone else posting, gets a bit lonely around here sometimes....

[the sicilian]

Its been a while..dont want it to be the evil and IR show

 have been training hard and my PT is now putting me through a ton of conditioning circuits.. with some strength workouts so not to lose muscle.. example circuits

40Kg squat clean and jerk to overhead X 10
Full burpee ( chest flat to floor ) x 10
Press ups x 15
V -ups ( situp basically but head and legs held suspended x 15
40kg bent over row x10
200m run

then repeat no stopping.. 5 min rest then repeat..last weeks time 8 min 30

today was :

Squat to explosive overhead 16kg barbell x 20 ( 10 each side )
Press ups ( not too fast either was told to slow down lol ) x 20
assisted pull up x20
squat jumps x20
full burpee x 20

3 minute rest repeat twice more

So thats a 300 rep circuit.. i tell you i was flipping dying.. but I am getting very fit

Strength :

Squats 110 Kg 4 x 10 sets  90 second rest between sets..fairly comfortable.. no idea what a 1 rep best could be but quite a lot higher i imagine

Deadlift

60kg warmup for 10 then 3 x 10  for 100KG 90 second rests

bench

80kg x 10
90 kg x 10
100kg x 6

i have no spot so dont push beyond that

leg press :

250kg x10

280kg x 10

300kg x10

im built for squatting and leg pressing and prob no where near maximum

doing lots of other stuff to but you get the drift.. looking to be lean and mean for Malta in August

Those conditioning circuits look like absolute hell on earth!!

Any thoughts of pushing for a 1RM at any point on squat, bench or deadlift? Those weights and rep ranges look great for body building but would you like to know what you could move as a max?

Any guesses what they might be for each lift? Thinking back to the picture you posted a while back you look like you have the shape to shift some serious weight on every lift. Do you think injuries might become an issue of you pushed the weight or do you just prefer the higher rep ranges?

Great to have someone else posting, gets a bit lonely around here sometimes....

Cheers mr evil.. I lurk the thread a lot  but some of the stuff you guys talk is lost on me .. I wonder sometimes how long I can do those kind of circuits .. I'm approaching 49 years old.. my PT says age is just a number.. easy to say as his only 27 ..one of the other PT's told me I trained to hard lol.. dunno if it was admiration or a warning he didn't want to break out the heart attack equipment ... as to
Max weight ? Hmmm I train alone so bench I wouldn't be happy without a spot nothing more embarrassing than screaming for someone to get an optimistic bar off ur rapidly compression chest...but I'd say 120kg is achievable. squats I think a lot bigger ..i done 60 kg warm up the 2 sets of 100kg x10 then done 6 reps at 120 today.. was reasonably happy and prob could have knocked out the full 10 but am was a little cautious as I didn't want to injure myself as that's the most I've ever squatted.. weirdly I only started real squatting in the last year or so.. I used to think it would make my arse big loooool.. it's hard to think of a max but 140 is def within range I'd say.. this was done after one of those killer circuits too and followed this with 2x 10 leg press at 250 kg and 2x 10 at 300kg.. finished with 3x 10 each side one arm row with 42kg dumbbell .. I prefer high reps as I don't want to get bigger.. I'm only 5'7.. I'm already built and I'd rather be leaner than bigger.. literally the opposite of
Most guys that go to the gym.. think brad Pitt in Snatch only bit more muscle and obv more handsome.. in reality my biggest enemy is food.. I love food and I have had to change my lifestyle
And eating in conjunction as my age and metabolism is against me to get on course of where I want to be .. but I'm getting plenty of protein and staying away from the takeaways.. hopefully will rip up for august and post an Eso Kraal type ghey selfie