Blonde will make you STRONG

[iRaise]

I watched his bench press video last night and tried some of it out this morning. I've never used a 'back arch' before but it seems really good particularly for protecting the shoulders. Have to admit I've always thought it looked dangerous but the way he explains it convinced me that it's a perfectly legit way of shifting a bar. Be interesting to see if I make any significant gains using this method that I've never tried before.

Is he a powerlifter?

Back arch done right is absolutely fine. 18yr old kid gets 140 of his chest using it. He moves it like 5-6inches and gets trolled so hard. But he is a powerlifter, so he has a PERFECT technique for his sport.

[iRaise]

Matt I have seen the thumbnail of that video before, but 17mins just hurts. Whats the jist?

Training going well, diet going well, life going well. Dream combo.

If anyone has any tips in finding commercial property please shoot them my way, the local estate agents here are less than helpful.

Started training arms again, crazy how they haven't lost size, but have lost a decent amount of strength in traditional bicep stuff. I think I am using my lats/back much more in row movements now, so my arms aren't failing as much. So good to push them to failure, likewise with press movements.

Started dong more core work too, tried to do a front level the other day and just crashed down the the floor. So definitely more core work.

I am doing an 'over warm up' with deadlifts now. Just to 'test' 1RM, then drop down to 3x5.

Mondays numbers were 180x1, 3x5 at 140. The 140 was pretty easy, but wanted to implement the new technique tweaks, so will be going up in 5's I would have thought in that. Would be nice to peak to 1rm at 200 again before the start of May but we shall see.

How is everyone else getting on? Matt back up there with the press ups, good to see.

ping BorntoBubble on here, sure he works in commercial estate agency

Legend, will drop him a message, thank you!

[muckthenuts]

After a week off was supposed to tackle 92.5kg squats this evening. Really didn't eat enough in a busy work day though and after 1/5 sets decided I wasn't going to get it done today. Felt super weak going down.

Anyone have any thoughts on pre-workout shakes? I'm tempted to give them a try. Any recommendations would be super if anyone has tried any and had good results.

[iRaise]

After a week off was supposed to tackle 92.5kg squats this evening. Really didn't eat enough in a busy work day though and after 1/5 sets decided I wasn't going to get it done today. Felt super weak going down.

Anyone have any thoughts on pre-workout shakes? I'm tempted to give them a try. Any recommendations would be super if anyone has tried any and had good results.

Would not take them if you train post work, you won't sleep. If they work they are landed with caffeine. I say that, beta alanine isn't and it is actually pretty good.

I was going to go off on a tangent and ruin potential placebos, so i am just gonna say drink coffee pre workout and listen to loud music.

[EvilPie]

After a week off was supposed to tackle 92.5kg squats this evening. Really didn't eat enough in a busy work day though and after 1/5 sets decided I wasn't going to get it done today. Felt super weak going down.

Anyone have any thoughts on pre-workout shakes? I'm tempted to give them a try. Any recommendations would be super if anyone has tried any and had good results.

I used to train about an hour after work in my beastly days. I'd have a meal replacement shake mixed with 50g of oatmeal about 20 minutes after work and that would keep me going through training no problem.

I've never used the official "pre-training" shakes, all I was bothered about was getting a chunk of calories with a reasonable amount of carbs inside me. It was my biggest carb hit of the day by far.

Fwiiw I used the CNP pro-MR shakes. Always worked well for me.

[iRaise]

After a week off was supposed to tackle 92.5kg squats this evening. Really didn't eat enough in a busy work day though and after 1/5 sets decided I wasn't going to get it done today. Felt super weak going down.

Anyone have any thoughts on pre-workout shakes? I'm tempted to give them a try. Any recommendations would be super if anyone has tried any and had good results.

I used to train about an hour after work in my beastly days. I'd have a meal replacement shake mixed with 50g of oatmeal about 20 minutes after work and that would keep me going through training no problem.

I've never used the official "pre-training" shakes, all I was bothered about was getting a chunk of calories with a reasonable amount of carbs inside me. It was my biggest carb hit of the day by far.

Fwiiw I used the CNP pro-MR shakes. Always worked well for me.

Definitely an option.

[muckthenuts]

Awesome, thanks guys. Matt that sounds like something I've got to try!

[EvilPie]

Awesome, thanks guys. Matt that sounds like something I've got to try!

You might want to tone it down a touch to cater for your size. Don't forget I was pushing 17st at the time and burning a ridiculous amount of calories every day.

You'll need to take the lid of your shaker bottle to drink it by the way and also be prepared to chew a bit. Oh and don't expose it to the air for too long in case it has time to set

[iRaise]

Legs yesterday, good progression all round. Few weeks ago dropped the weight on a few things to try and isolate where I wanted to use, and that has started to feel a lot better and not just windmilling around for an hour. Probably should have made that choice a few weeks before I did.

Working by way back up in weight so very modest at the minute. Will end up training them three times this week, so interested to see how that affects me next week.

Brought some plyo work in too, couldn't let Rich have all the fun could we.

Food wise going well, can't believe it has taken me this long, but got turkey mince yesterday. Had it a week or so ago and liked it, so going to try and implement that in a bit more. Found it really filling which is such a win for me right now.

Going to go controversial here, but I am starting to think I make the best pancakes in the world.

[Eso Kral]

Well this week was challenging as on Monday morning I woke up and had felt a bit off through the night as if something was sat in my stomach that wasnt right and 5 mins later I was praying to the god of bog whilst spewing my ring up which meant I spent the next 6 hours after the school run in bed and didnt eat anything bar soup until 6pm and felt completely empty overnight into Tuesday which would have been the start of this new phase.

Always loving a challenge though I got up at 5.30 and had a banana and porridge and got to the gym but had nothing energy wise in me so did the whole upperbody section with weights to ensure correct form and work out what I will be able to use going forward for the 8-12 reps x 4sets.

Leg day felt better on Weds and then Friday and Saturday despite late finishes in the GPS poker I have been up early both days and done my sessions so am going to treat this week as a weight finding week and do weeks 5-8 starting Tuesday which I am sure wont do any harm, I am also going to add in some Calf work on legs day as there are no specific exercises in there and as there is a tri set followed by Deadlifts and Squats adding in 1 more lot of 4 sets should be ok.

On the upper body day I am about 80% of my body weight on the pulldowns so am staying with them for 2 weeks before I go for wide grip chins (there is no assisted machine in the gym) but dips have been fine.

I've eaten pretty good this week as well and had my first glass of wine last night in 2 months with a meal on a break from the poker which was nice and I am starting to really see the benefit of this work I have put in at the start of this year in gym/nutrition (thanks to Harvey) and the consistency is starting to tell.

The only negative around at the moment is that I am at the end of my prescription of drugs for my Ulcer and Hiatus Hernia and am due to have another endoscopy on Monday and having been off the drugs for 2 days now I am already feeling the heartburn so will have to see what they say as it may mean some dietry changes.

Will post how my week 2 sessions have gone next week when I will have a clearer indication on the weights I can realistically do.

[zerofive]

Just a quick update as I've not been very active in this thread of late.

I put together a pretty decent annual plan for myself, and I'm looking forward to seeing how easy it is to honour. I wanted to stay in a strength phase a bit longer, but I'm in a stage in my career where I can't afford to be injured or too fatigued - and tbh I was picking up a few injuries so I think, in a way, my body was trying to tell me to focus on something else for a bit.

I transitioned out of strength and into yoga. As we move into the spring months, the plan is to transition from yoga into hypertrophy. At the moment I'm only lifting twice per week, yoga twice, pilates twice, and a run around the local nature reserve on my rest days if the weather is good. By May, I should be practicing some sort of yoga every other day, while following a push/pull/legs/cardio routine. It's quite intricate, but volume is reasonable and the focus is still on mobility and staying injury free.

As summer comes to a close, I'll be upping the calories and focusing on my weak points, moving into a more athletic phase. Then over the winter the plan is to get back into strength training.

My annual routine could be summarised as "Soft/Size/Structure/Strength." I should be able to keep this backbone, even if my exact targets and programs end up deviating a little.

Let me know what you think or if you have any questions

[iRaise]

Went into just do deads today to see how heavy. Failed a 190 which is kinda annoying, but looking to get that in the next few weeks. Failed it like a pro too, absolutely no movement un that bar.

[muckthenuts]

Got 92.5 kg squats done. Not going to lie it was really hard. The next few levels are going to be tough for sure if I want 5x5 100 soon.

Felt I made progress benching yesterday too. I took it down a few rungs by holding 20kg db's and slowing my movement down a bunch. Felt good straight after and I feel good this morning too. I've got so much still to learn, normally I'm really stubborn about ever lowering weight but it really made a difference.

[iRaise]

Got 92.5 kg squats done. Not going to lie it was really hard. The next few levels are going to be tough for sure if I want 5x5 100 soon.

Felt I made progress benching yesterday too. I took it down a few rungs by holding 20kg db's and slowing my movement down a bunch. Felt good straight after and I feel good this morning too. I've got so much still to learn, normally I'm really stubborn about ever lowering weight but it really made a difference.

Strong stuff.


Update, all going well, some nice progression and enjoying it this week.

[the sicilian]

Countdown to Vegas has begun and my PT has me on lung busting Circuits & Cardio Intervals to strip and going to mix in some power stuff in a few weeks.. looking to take off a stone and 10% body fat.... in the past year ive lost 2 stone 3lb..and gained 8lb muscle and lost 10% off body fat but seemed to have plateaued at 14' 8..so really need to push on...so big on protein less on Pizza

16 km/h sprints 40 second on 20 second rest X 8

Circuit

15 X press up to Box jump
20 X tyre Flip (60KG)
15 X 16KG Viper squat to overhead
15 X Rope Slams
15 X 20KG Slam Balls

PT wants to increase this to all 20 reps by June.. not so sure as the press up to box jumps i find an early doors killer...

40 Second 20 second rest sprint rows X 8

Today was singles
 run as above

All below 5 X over 45 second rest 2 -3 min rest between exercise

15 X 20KG squat to slam....slam ball
15 X press up to knee crunch
20 X tyre flips
15 X  12kg kettle bell each hand squat to overhead

350 reps

I actually thought i might die