Blonde will make you STRONG

[EvilPie]

Discovered yesterday that doing bench the day after your first triceps work for ages isn't a bright idea.

I got 4 x 5 at 100kg but it was ridiculously tough. To be honest I probably should've bailed out and dropped back a touch but I foolishly soldiered through fortunately with no adverse affects.

I really think I need to be keeping Sunday as a day off especially with bench being on Monday. I'd missed a couple of days in the week so had some catching up to do but I probably should've just left it. I did Saturday as well so that's going to mean 5 days on the bounce by tomorrow. Not the brightest plan ever.

Chest accessory day tomorrow which is a pretty easy session. Physio mid morning and then Thursday off and Malta Friday for a long weekend. I'm back Tuesday so will probably get back to the gym Wednesday, take the following weekend off and then start the bench programme again ready for a 1RM attempt at the end of April. We have a plan

[iRaise]

Discovered yesterday that doing bench the day after your first triceps work for ages isn't a bright idea.

I got 4 x 5 at 100kg but it was ridiculously tough. To be honest I probably should've bailed out and dropped back a touch but I foolishly soldiered through fortunately with no adverse affects.

I really think I need to be keeping Sunday as a day off especially with bench being on Monday. I'd missed a couple of days in the week so had some catching up to do but I probably should've just left it. I did Saturday as well so that's going to mean 5 days on the bounce by tomorrow. Not the brightest plan ever.

Chest accessory day tomorrow which is a pretty easy session. Physio mid morning and then Thursday off and Malta Friday for a long weekend. I'm back Tuesday so will probably get back to the gym Wednesday, take the following weekend off and then start the bench programme again ready for a 1RM attempt at the end of April. We have a plan

I get pretty beat up with 4 days on the row. Caffeine comes in hooooooot on the 4th day.

[Marky147]

Legs today, and was enjoyable, albeit frustrating.

Did 2x 10 inverted hack squats, but clonus got too bad in 3rd set and had to stop after 4.

Thought I'd try some normal hack squats, but where I'm so weak I can't drop below parallel. Did a couple sets of 6, and then went onto leg press.

Plates per side

1 x 10
1.5 x 10
2 x 4r
1 x 10
 
Empty x 12

Going as slowly as possible, and much deeper on this one is much harder, but I think will be more beneficial long term.

If you can, rarely a bad plan trying to get a full range.

It's definitely working more of the muscles, I think.

Given I don't do anything else through the day, I'm debating going up to 5 sessions a week, and having one which is focused completely on core work.

Can't do a lot, but just some kettlebell stuff, and back on the TRX if we can sneak into what is now the boxing room of the gym.

[Marky147]

Can't beat that feeling when you first notice you have a set of pecs

I'd highly recommend that you slip in 100 press ups each session if you really want to see some fast gains in your chest development. End of each just get down and get 100 done as part of your warm down. Doesn't matter if it's 10 x 10, 5 x 20, 4 x 25 etc. just get them done.

If you really don't know what you want then there's no problem with winging it until you figure out something that you want to stick to. Getting to the gym is the most important thing and you're doing that so I say just keep it up.

I found that RDLs really helped with my deadlift development when I was in rehab following injury. They really helped strengthen my lower back, hips, glutes and hamstrings all of which were really weak. The video below explains the technique perfectly in my opinion and was without doubt the catalyst that got me in to working on strength training rather than body building.

Watched some of these vids from your earlier post, and think he's very good at explaining things.

Going to see if they have a hex-bar in my gym, and maybe try using that, as it looks more stable.

[iRaise]

Plodding along, dropped to 4 this week as feel pretty beaten up. I am so bad as soon as life gets stressful my strength and motivation disappears.

One upper and one lower.

Bench and DL to go this week.

[PokerBroker]

Plodding along, dropped to 4 this week as feel pretty beaten up. I am so bad as soon as life gets stressful my strength and motivation disappears.

One upper and one lower.

Bench and DL to go this week.

I've been working with a guy to help my motivation, not sure I mentioned this before.  I started it for work purposes as it was a good sounding board and it's good to have all your ducks alligned.  The guy I work with is £50 a session he's an NLP Practitioner, PT and I call him Mind Guru.  He refers to himself as the Happinness guy, which makes it all sound a bit lame but I really feel the benefits. 

We had a few of our younger lifters in the gym work with the chap as well and he's has some excellent success with them. 

I think ths mind coaching is quite big in poker as well now. 

[iRaise]

Plodding along, dropped to 4 this week as feel pretty beaten up. I am so bad as soon as life gets stressful my strength and motivation disappears.

One upper and one lower.

Bench and DL to go this week.

I've been working with a guy to help my motivation, not sure I mentioned this before.  I started it for work purposes as it was a good sounding board and it's good to have all your ducks alligned.  The guy I work with is £50 a session he's an NLP Practitioner, PT and I call him Mind Guru.  He refers to himself as the Happinness guy, which makes it all sound a bit lame but I really feel the benefits. 

We had a few of our younger lifters in the gym work with the chap as well and he's has some excellent success with them. 

I think ths mind coaching is quite big in poker as well now. 

I have been going to a CBT practitioner for a few months now to help me with migraines. 100% agree these kind of things can be invaluable if you work with them. Nearly everyone that comes to see me could benefit.

But training so much I was always going to have a dip. Knowing I may be living here for a few more months as well takes the pressure off the now or never approach. So happy to take a few weeks off, and go back to a two/four week go again.

[iRaise]

4x3 105 for the bench. Was really heavy, but a good solid pause at the bottom so pleased. Was disappointed at the time with how heavy it felt, but really big range of motion as my arch wasn't great today, or ever, and with the pause was a long rep.

4x8e OAR 50. Failed every 8th on both hands in terms of full range so really pleased. Working to get that up to a 8-10 rep range. Once that feels too easy will add some bands or something. I like the movement so want to keep it in until I get bored of it.

[iRaise]

Paused DLs are very tough, went for the Alan Thrall approach at paused just off the floor.

4x5 Pause DL 120

4x8-12 LP 185

[Marky147]

I'd like to be able to do any deadlifts

Same as last week, with more sets @ slightly less weight, and will prob do a few more weeks of that when I get back.

[iRaise]

I'd like to be able to do any deadlifts

Same as last week, with more sets @ slightly less weight, and will prob do a few more weeks of that when I get back.

Stringing some good weeks together though, gotta be a good thing.

[Marky147]

I'd like to be able to do any deadlifts

Same as last week, with more sets @ slightly less weight, and will prob do a few more weeks of that when I get back.

Stringing some good weeks together though, gotta be a good thing.

Yeah, thankfully I've not had any long stretches that I've been injured/ill since the summer.

Stringing good weeks together on MyFitnessPal is another matter

[Whollyflush]

Been lurking this thread for the past few months while I've got into training. A little background i'm 31 6ft tall and weigh about 165 lbs, so I'm pretty much an Ectomorph. Ultimately I'm just looking to gain a bit of mass and strength, looking to lift to fail and successfully increasing my calories. I've started to plateau a little and I'm looking to change up my routine a little although probably looking to keep the compound exercises.

At present its:

chest/triceps

Bench 65kg 1x6 1x5 1x4
Inclined DB press 3x8 22kg
DB fly 3x6 20kg
12/10/10/8 dips

10min core

Back/Biceps

close grip pulldowns 70kg 4x10
bentover barbell row 55kg 4x10
DB row 20kg 4x20
DB alternative curls 2x6 14kg

10 min core

Legs/shoulders

8/8/6/6 50kg squats ( weak knee through football injury)
DB shoulder press 3x7 20kg
lateral raises 3x9 8kg
upright rows 3x8 14kg
calf raises 4x10 115kg
leg extensions 4x10 60kg

10min core

I plucked this routine off the internet and slightly modified it since my gym is very basic as its a squash/tennis club. Its on my doorstep and i play squash so moving gyms isn't an option. Any advice or pointers would be great to changing things up a bit.

[iRaise]

Been lurking this thread for the past few months while I've got into training. A little background i'm 31 6ft tall and weigh about 165 lbs, so I'm pretty much an Ectomorph. Ultimately I'm just looking to gain a bit of mass and strength, looking to lift to fail and successfully increasing my calories. I've started to plateau a little and I'm looking to change up my routine a little although probably looking to keep the compound exercises.

At present its:

chest/triceps

Bench 65kg 1x6 1x5 1x4
Inclined DB press 3x8 22kg
DB fly 3x6 20kg
12/10/10/8 dips

10min core

Back/Biceps

close grip pulldowns 70kg 4x10
bentover barbell row 55kg 4x10
DB row 20kg 4x20
DB alternative curls 2x6 14kg

10 min core

Legs/shoulders

8/8/6/6 50kg squats ( weak knee through football injury)
DB shoulder press 3x7 20kg
lateral raises 3x9 8kg
upright rows 3x8 14kg
calf raises 4x10 115kg
leg extensions 4x10 60kg

10min core

I plucked this routine off the internet and slightly modified it since my gym is very basic as its a squash/tennis club. Its on my doorstep and i play squash so moving gyms isn't an option. Any advice or pointers would be great to changing things up a bit.

I wouldn't worry about being an ectomorph type build. I was 6'3 and between 65-70KG until my 20s when I went to a wobbly 90. If you eat enough and lift enough you will get there, just may take a bit longer, but then we may end up leaning out easier.

First swap I would do is upper/lower for four days. It increased the frequency of your training and the volume.

Or if you wanted three days, do three full body days.

I wouldn't even do arms if you have three days. Just big ass movements. I do 1 set of biceps triceps at the end of my upper days if I have the energy. Press or pull enough and your arms get PLENTY of recruitment.

I wouldn't lift to failure unless you have great recovery (sleep/water/food) or you're training will suffer in the long run (maybe not if you are training three times a week, but why risk it).

How long have you been training for?
How comfortable do you feel doing the movements? Any favourites?
Overall thoughts on the success of this program?
How do you feel about your food?
What do you prefer doing, heavy stuff or volume?
Play any other sport in the background?

Awesome to have another person involved though, hopefully we can nudge you in the right direction.

[Whollyflush]

Been lurking this thread for the past few months while I've got into training. A little background i'm 31 6ft tall and weigh about 165 lbs, so I'm pretty much an Ectomorph. Ultimately I'm just looking to gain a bit of mass and strength, looking to lift to fail and successfully increasing my calories. I've started to plateau a little and I'm looking to change up my routine a little although probably looking to keep the compound exercises.

At present its:

chest/triceps

Bench 65kg 1x6 1x5 1x4
Inclined DB press 3x8 22kg
DB fly 3x6 20kg
12/10/10/8 dips

10min core

Back/Biceps

close grip pulldowns 70kg 4x10
bentover barbell row 55kg 4x10
DB row 20kg 4x20
DB alternative curls 2x6 14kg

10 min core

Legs/shoulders

8/8/6/6 50kg squats ( weak knee through football injury)
DB shoulder press 3x7 20kg
lateral raises 3x9 8kg
upright rows 3x8 14kg
calf raises 4x10 115kg
leg extensions 4x10 60kg

10min core

I plucked this routine off the internet and slightly modified it since my gym is very basic as its a squash/tennis club. Its on my doorstep and i play squash so moving gyms isn't an option. Any advice or pointers would be great to changing things up a bit.

I wouldn't worry about being an ectomorph type build. I was 6'3 and between 65-70KG until my 20s when I went to a wobbly 90. If you eat enough and lift enough you will get there, just may take a bit longer, but then we may end up leaning out easier.

First swap I would do is upper/lower for four days. It increased the frequency of your training and the volume.

Or if you wanted three days, do three full body days.

I wouldn't even do arms if you have three days. Just big ass movements. I do 1 set of biceps triceps at the end of my upper days if I have the energy. Press or pull enough and your arms get PLENTY of recruitment.

I wouldn't lift to failure unless you have great recovery (sleep/water/food) or you're training will suffer in the long run (maybe not if you are training three times a week, but why risk it).

How long have you been training for?

 About 4 1/2 months, pretty happy with my progress, i've added a bit of muscle and weight (hopefully both)

How comfortable do you feel doing the movements? Any favourites?

I'm fine with almost all movements apart from ones which put pressure on the knees. I tore my medial ligaments 3 years ago and because i stopped playing i guess i lost strength/muscle around it which is hindering me when doing squats

Overall thoughts on the success of this program?

Quite good in that i'm reasonably happy with how I'm progessing, however I don't really have anything to compare it to

How do you feel about your food?

I'm a very good/healthy eater in the main. Before i trained I'd have porridge/cereal for breakfast- snack all through till tea time on fruits/nuts/cereal bars biscuits. Tea mainly 300g chicken/brown rice and veg. Or steak and homemade potato fries and veg or salmon/veg an noodles. Now I've added a meal, so i i usually have tuna and baked sweet potato for lunch, soup or sandwiches or tuna pasta mayo. I have a protein shake (aimed at a gainer) which has carbs in it also, although with a banana and a couple of scoops of creatine before i train. When i eat out i generally just eat whatever i fancy and eat 2/3 courses if i can get away with it. I haven't crunched any numbers, but i'd have increased my intake by 40%+ i think (wasn't eating much to begin with!) and my appetite is a lot bigger!

What do you prefer doing, heavy stuff or volume?

At present because I'm lean and in decent nick so i'm looking to lift heavy stuff (build a bit more muscle rather than toning, if i'm on the right lines?)
Play any other sport in the background?

Football up until 3 years ago, cricket which I'm trying to retire from this year, golf (which may inhibit me going to the gym 4 times a week regularly) and squash although I'll only play squash in winter months.

Awesome to have another person involved though, hopefully we can nudge you in the right direction.

cheers any advice towards an upper/lower routine would be great, hopefully i can help contribute here



worth noting my gym has a Smiths machine, an Olympic bar a bunch of free weights but not a great deal apart from a few machines which are mainly leg/core orientated (as its a squash/tennis club)