Blonde will make you STRONG

[EvilPie]

Happy new year all. Nice to see Arbboy posting a few and also a newbie. Welcome to the thread mikeymike.

Been reasonably steady for me over the break, didn't train much but also didn't go over the top eating and dinking so no real harm done.

I hurt my arm before Christmas and that's still bad now. Chest day today was really tough and couldn't go above 100kg on bench without some pretty bad pain. The pain is in my elbow but I think it's actually coming from my shoulder or possibly my back near the teres major area. It's similar to the issue I've suffered for a long time that had recently disappeared. Hopefully it won't take as long to get rid of this time as I know the stretches and routine that got rid of it before.

I'm looking at improving my squat over the next few months as I'm way behind where I should be. I've managed to find a stance that seems to work well so I'm going to give it a go for a few months and probably look to doing 3 squat sessions per week just light and low volume each session to get some overall high volume in during the week. 80kg for 5 x 5 on Friday and I have no plans to go any heavier unless it gets way too easy.

[EvilPie]

Highlights:

8x140
6x150
4x160 (felt really good)
1x170 (think I fucked it a bit with the 160, went to failure which I tried not to do for that reason. Wanted a 1-2 more than that)

OHP

3x5 60kg, felt good there

3x8e Lunge with 24kg DBs, grip struggles as much as legs with that one.
3x8e SL RDL with the 24s again.

We finally have jumping boxes at the gym now, so got 4x3 at 107cm/42inches. Really want to get 150cm which is all the boxes but thats crazy crazy high. But always enjoyed doing vertical jumps and really want to work on my power to help my speed through the squat.

Good numbers there mate. I think my deadlift is going to develop a lot over the next few months. BoR and RDL are both getting much stronger which should soon transfer across to dead lift. I've still not gone above 120kg for deadlift but both RDL and BoR are at the same weight or more. I still get a bit paranoid with deadlift but that should drop off if I can have a few more good sessions without any injuries developing.

We're pretty much the same with OHP at the moment. I'm a little bit below par because of my arm but it doesn't affect me that much that I'd exactly surge ahead if I was 100% Be interesting if we manage a meet up to see what we can do on OHP, might be a good challenge.

[EvilPie]

Mine was when I realised I was less than 1/2 a stone from hitting 20... Been a lot harder to lose it this time, as I'm a lot more immobile etc.

I'm going to eat whatever I want over xmas, but as soon as I start back in the gym, I'll go back to a stricter routine, rather than mooching about into the year lol.

The mate who is my PT was out at the weekend, and some girl started saying to him he  is getting too big, and to be careful.

His response had me creased 'I'm 17 and a 1/2 stone with abs, so I'm not too worried, but thanks'

Great work Marky.  I had another 'my moment' when i got back to virtually 21 stone.  Back under 19 stone now and seem to have found the training/lifestyle balance now to hopefully last long term.  Nearly 3 months in now and going well.  Don't really want to post on here weekly as that never worked in the past.  Trying to do it quietly and get my head down and stay focused.

Still an avid reader of this thread even though i don't post so keep posting everyone.

If you have a 1 rep max meet up session around Stafford or anywhere in the Midlands would love to come along and have a go with some decent spotters.

Current weights for core exercises for 8-10 reps (without a spotter) are just for interest and review at later stage.  Training mon/tues/wed/fri every week.  Diet is pretty high protein and cut down a lot on carbs from previous attempts.  Cut out dairy totally which isn't an issue now.  Only thing i used to eat was too much cheese and not really missing that at all.

Flat bench 75kg now 82.5
Incline bench 65kg now 75kg
Dumbbell bench 30kg now 34kg
Bicep barbell curl 40kg now 47.5kg
Deadlift 120kg (taken this easy as suffered a lower back issue last year when i tried some 1-2 rep maxs) now 165kg x 4 reps last week.  
Power cleans 65kg now 70kg
Stiff legged deadlift 65kg now 75kg
Bend over barbell row 65kg now 80kg
Overhead tricep dumbbell presses 24kg dumbbell now 34kg
Shoulder dumbbell press 24kg now 28kg

Couple of extra exercises i have added in/forgot about including last time

Barbell upright row 45kg
Tbar bent over row 60kg
One arm bent over row 38kg
Lying down EZ bar tricep presses 35kg
Standing bicep curl 20kg
Standing bicep hammer curl 18kg
Seated bicep curl 18kg

Update for my own records and anyone who is interested.  Training gone really well last few weeks.  Had some family issues in early Novemeber which was a set back and upset my schedule for a couple of weeks.  Last 5/6 weeks have been great.

Upped the schedule to 5 days a week.  Mon/Tues/Wed/Fri/Sat with two rest days.  Still on the same 3 work out schedule so i basically do two of the three workouts twice a week on a 3 week cycle.  The other work out i only do once that week i go super heavy on and try to increase the PB's on this week when those bodyparts are fresh.

Still using Promax lean but added Creatine powder (5g a day) to this last few weeks and noticing an increase in strength.  Diet similar to before no real changes.

Deadlifts are really going well.  They are definitely my fav exercise.  I think i have the 'right' build for deadlifting tbh.  Got over the mental issue of the weight which injured me last year.  Warm up doing set of 20 reps with 120kg to get going.  Did 140kg easily after that for 10 reps then 150kg x 6 and 160 x 3.  So thought 'fuck it' lets try 165kg and got out 2 reps fairly easily tbh.  Going to rest well over xmas and try 170kg first session back for at least 1 rep.

Going to add in barbell behind neck press for shoulders after xmas as well.  Might have to use smith machine as my gym doesn't have a loose bar station for it which is a shame.

Weak area (Chest) is getting better but still frustrating weight wise.  Enjoying the dumbells more than the flat barbell stuff.  

Body Weight is still around 120kg but quite a change in body shape last 2 months.  Lost nearly 2 inches off my waist and trousers are a lot looser around my thighs which is great.

Happy xmas to everyone and enjoy the rest.  Hopefully we can all sort out a training meeting early next year.

Love these updates mate and you should definitely keep them up for your own records. I know I've mentioned it before but I often have a few hours going through the thread looking at where I was at with my training at various points over the last few years. I've got a few links to some milestones which are really useful for keeping an eye on progress.

I'd avoid behind the neck press if I was you, you really risk damaging your shoulders with those as they put you in a shit position. Standing OHP would be far better I'd imagine and will also help your chest work a lot more if that's one of your targets. If it's awkward because of the machines available then maybe a DB shoulder press.

What sort of accessory work are you doing for deadlift? Anything specifically aimed at improving your deadlift? Do you think you have a weak point anywhere? Seems strange that you warm up 20 reps at 120kg but then max at 165kg. Kind of suggests a weakness somewhere that if you could break through would see your numbers soar.

Good work with the waistline, I know that feeling when you lose a few inches, great isn't it One of my targets now is just to keep my belt on my work trousers on the third hole and keep my lifting belt at number 5 or 6.

[EvilPie]

New to this thread so Hi to all - advice required.

I am the best part of nearing 58 and have recently had a lung removed, before I had the operation I was fit as a butchers dog (builder).

I have now been sat on my arse for 8 months as I still have some niggling issues, the problem that I have is I have put on a couple of stone, all on my stomach – can’t see the little man now.

So I am thinking of joining a gym and the only thing that appeals to me is the weights but will this assist in losing the stomach flab and will it get my fitness levels
up.

Cheers

PS. I am six foot and 14.4 stone should really be 12.5

Hi Mikey, great to have someone new on board.

Same as Harvey here with regard to the lung issue, really can't advise at all as I haven't got a clue how it affects you. I assume you have half the lung capacity as before but is it that simple? Do you utilise your one lung more than you would previously have used your two lungs so your overall oxygen intake isn't too badly affected? Whatever you do I know you need to take advice from a doctor when you're looking at any kind of exercise.

Like the others have said losing weight and your belly fat is down to your diet. Simple calories in vs calories out. Training will burn a few calories so that increases calories out and you lose weight or gain it slower if you're in a heavy surplus.

You can't 'spot reduce' fat no matter what you do. What I mean there is that there is literally nothing you can do that will make you lose belly fat before any other fat unless that's the way your body happens to work. Most males lose belly fat last, women have stubborn bits around the hips. If you operate at a calorie deficit you'll lose weight but you have to just let your body do its thing and it'll disappear in the order it chooses.

You can do a few ab exercises that will give you a few stomach muscles but it won't shift your belly fat, you'll just have muscles hidden by a layer of fat.

It's fantastic that you want to get in to training and if you stick around here we'll help as you progress.

For starters you need to find something that you'll stick to. The hardest thing is starting, the next hardest is to keep going especially when after the first week you haven't suddenly developed the abs of a Spartan warrior.

Get yourself to a gym that has personal trainers. You may get a bad one but even a bad one will help at first as they'll give you a programme and that's what you need. Try to get to one of the cheap ones such as exercise for less or Pure. Unless you want swimming pools and saunas you don't need to spend much at all so don't think that £15 per month means they'll be crap, they aren't. Also if you don't stick to it it won't sting quite so much every month on direct debit day.

If you don't like cardio machines you're not on your own, I hate the things, they bore me to tears. I can't imagine you want to be pushing your lungs too much anyway so it's probably not the worst thing.

A simple programme with a few weights should be fine to get you going. Don't run before you can walk and just accept that to see results you're going to have to wait a long time.

Will wait to see your thoughts on the diet comments before I post anything more. One thing I'll say is that the more you put in to this thread the more you'll get out. I don't mean offering advice as obviously you can't just yet but let us know how you're getting on and we'll be interested in your progress and keep the tips coming.

Good luck mate.

[arbboy]

Mine was when I realised I was less than 1/2 a stone from hitting 20... Been a lot harder to lose it this time, as I'm a lot more immobile etc.

I'm going to eat whatever I want over xmas, but as soon as I start back in the gym, I'll go back to a stricter routine, rather than mooching about into the year lol.

The mate who is my PT was out at the weekend, and some girl started saying to him he  is getting too big, and to be careful.

His response had me creased 'I'm 17 and a 1/2 stone with abs, so I'm not too worried, but thanks'

Great work Marky.  I had another 'my moment' when i got back to virtually 21 stone.  Back under 19 stone now and seem to have found the training/lifestyle balance now to hopefully last long term.  Nearly 3 months in now and going well.  Don't really want to post on here weekly as that never worked in the past.  Trying to do it quietly and get my head down and stay focused.

Still an avid reader of this thread even though i don't post so keep posting everyone.

If you have a 1 rep max meet up session around Stafford or anywhere in the Midlands would love to come along and have a go with some decent spotters.

Current weights for core exercises for 8-10 reps (without a spotter) are just for interest and review at later stage.  Training mon/tues/wed/fri every week.  Diet is pretty high protein and cut down a lot on carbs from previous attempts.  Cut out dairy totally which isn't an issue now.  Only thing i used to eat was too much cheese and not really missing that at all.

Flat bench 75kg now 82.5
Incline bench 65kg now 75kg
Dumbbell bench 30kg now 34kg
Bicep barbell curl 40kg now 47.5kg
Deadlift 120kg (taken this easy as suffered a lower back issue last year when i tried some 1-2 rep maxs) now 165kg x 4 reps last week.  
Power cleans 65kg now 70kg
Stiff legged deadlift 65kg now 75kg
Bend over barbell row 65kg now 80kg
Overhead tricep dumbbell presses 24kg dumbbell now 34kg
Shoulder dumbbell press 24kg now 28kg

Couple of extra exercises i have added in/forgot about including last time

Barbell upright row 45kg
Tbar bent over row 60kg
One arm bent over row 38kg
Lying down EZ bar tricep presses 35kg
Standing bicep curl 20kg
Standing bicep hammer curl 18kg
Seated bicep curl 18kg

Update for my own records and anyone who is interested.  Training gone really well last few weeks.  Had some family issues in early Novemeber which was a set back and upset my schedule for a couple of weeks.  Last 5/6 weeks have been great.

Upped the schedule to 5 days a week.  Mon/Tues/Wed/Fri/Sat with two rest days.  Still on the same 3 work out schedule so i basically do two of the three workouts twice a week on a 3 week cycle.  The other work out i only do once that week i go super heavy on and try to increase the PB's on this week when those bodyparts are fresh.

Still using Promax lean but added Creatine powder (5g a day) to this last few weeks and noticing an increase in strength.  Diet similar to before no real changes.

Deadlifts are really going well.  They are definitely my fav exercise.  I think i have the 'right' build for deadlifting tbh.  Got over the mental issue of the weight which injured me last year.  Warm up doing set of 20 reps with 120kg to get going.  Did 140kg easily after that for 10 reps then 150kg x 6 and 160 x 3.  So thought 'fuck it' lets try 165kg and got out 2 reps fairly easily tbh.  Going to rest well over xmas and try 170kg first session back for at least 1 rep.

Going to add in barbell behind neck press for shoulders after xmas as well.  Might have to use smith machine as my gym doesn't have a loose bar station for it which is a shame.

Weak area (Chest) is getting better but still frustrating weight wise.  Enjoying the dumbells more than the flat barbell stuff.  

Body Weight is still around 120kg but quite a change in body shape last 2 months.  Lost nearly 2 inches off my waist and trousers are a lot looser around my thighs which is great.

Happy xmas to everyone and enjoy the rest.  Hopefully we can all sort out a training meeting early next year.

Love these updates mate and you should definitely keep them up for your own records. I know I've mentioned it before but I often have a few hours going through the thread looking at where I was at with my training at various points over the last few years. I've got a few links to some milestones which are really useful for keeping an eye on progress.

I'd avoid behind the neck press if I was you, you really risk damaging your shoulders with those as they put you in a shit position. Standing OHP would be far better I'd imagine and will also help your chest work a lot more if that's one of your targets. If it's awkward because of the machines available then maybe a DB shoulder press.

What sort of accessory work are you doing for deadlift? Anything specifically aimed at improving your deadlift? Do you think you have a weak point anywhere? Seems strange that you warm up 20 reps at 120kg but then max at 165kg. Kind of suggests a weakness somewhere that if you could break through would see your numbers soar.

Good work with the waistline, I know that feeling when you lose a few inches, great isn't it One of my targets now is just to keep my belt on my work trousers on the third hole and keep my lifting belt at number 5 or 6.

No accessory work to speak of.  JUst the simple 3 workout plan i am sticking to.  170kg 2 reps for 2 sets was fine.  I haven't really gone all out for a proper 1 rep max.  I reckon if i went for it i could do 180/190kg at a push but i don't want to risk injury tbh and have a set back.

Now i know i have done 170kg for 2 reps i will simply build on that for the next few weeks until i can do 6 reps at 170 then try 180kg for 1 or 2 reps and just keep cracking on like that.  Overall i am feeling great and the body is slowly starting to change from a lump of lard to something like i was at 25.  Going to continue with this routine for 3 months and see how strong i can get then try to lose more weight and focus less on power/strength for a few months to get in shape for the summer.  Really enjoying the hard core strength work i am doing at the minute though to stop it and feel tired by cutting the calories too much.

barbell bicep curled 50kg yesterday which was a nice bench mark (remember peaking at 60kg in my mid 20s) and dumbbell benched 36kg for 6 slow deep reps with no spotter.  Trouble is my gains have been so rapid the gym only has 40kg dumbbells so might have to look for somewhere else to train!  First world problems!  Another goal this year is your 50kg dumbbell bench challenge.  Pretty sure i benched 50/55kg dumbbells in my mid 20s at my peak.  I love the dumbbells so much more than barbell chest work.  4 months ago when i started back i was struggling benching 20kg dumbbells!  Funny looking back.  Triceps are helping this improvement as i did 8 deep reps with 38kg dumbbell over head 2 arm tricep seated presses and 40kg barbell lying down tricep press to the forehead.  They were tough.  Loaded the bar  up to 40k and thought it would be a piece of piss after smashing the 38kg dumbbell and nearly choked myself pressing the bar as it nearly collapsed on my throat!  Banged out 5 reps once i got sorted!  Elbows get a bit sore doing this so i need to investment in some proper heavy duty elbow supports i think.  Anyone got any suggestions or links?

Will take your advice on shoulder work.  I think i will just stick to dumbbells mainly for shoulder pressing as i like the individual balance it forces you to use with each arm.  I don't have a station for barbell shoulder pressing at my gym so dumbbells will be fine for that.

[EvilPie]

No accessory work to speak of.  JUst the simple 3 workout plan i am sticking to.  170kg 2 reps for 2 sets was fine.  I haven't really gone all out for a proper 1 rep max.  I reckon if i went for it i could do 180/190kg at a push but i don't want to risk injury tbh and have a set back.

Now i know i have done 170kg for 2 reps i will simply build on that for the next few weeks until i can do 6 reps at 170 then try 180kg for 1 or 2 reps and just keep cracking on like that.  Overall i am feeling great and the body is slowly starting to change from a lump of lard to something like i was at 25.  Going to continue with this routine for 3 months and see how strong i can get then try to lose more weight and focus less on power/strength for a few months to get in shape for the summer.  Really enjoying the hard core strength work i am doing at the minute though to stop it and feel tired by cutting the calories too much.

barbell bicep curled 50kg yesterday which was a nice bench mark (remember peaking at 60kg in my mid 20s) and dumbbell benched 36kg for 6 slow deep reps with no spotter.  Trouble is my gains have been so rapid the gym only has 40kg dumbbells so might have to look for somewhere else to train!  First world problems!  Another goal this year is your 50kg dumbbell bench challenge.  Pretty sure i benched 50/55kg dumbbells in my mid 20s at my peak.  I love the dumbbells so much more than barbell chest work.  4 months ago when i started back i was struggling benching 20kg dumbbells!  Funny looking back.  Triceps are helping this improvement as i did 8 deep reps with 38kg dumbbell over head 2 arm tricep seated presses and 40kg barbell lying down tricep press to the forehead.  They were tough.  Loaded the bar  up to 40k and thought it would be a piece of piss after smashing the 38kg dumbbell and nearly choked myself pressing the bar as it nearly collapsed on my throat!  Banged out 5 reps once i got sorted!  Elbows get a bit sore doing this so i need to investment in some proper heavy duty elbow supports i think.  Anyone got any suggestions or links?

Will take your advice on shoulder work.  I think i will just stick to dumbbells mainly for shoulder pressing as i like the individual balance it forces you to use with each arm.  I don't have a station for barbell shoulder pressing at my gym so dumbbells will be fine for that.

Seems ages since I last used dumbbells for chest press. Since I started having problems with my wrists and elbows I've avoided them completely as the slightest wrong move can cause me some pretty bad pain. It's such a shame I'm struggling with these at the moment as my gym goes up to 75kg so would be great to see how heavy I could go. I reckon 65kg may have been on the cards in my prime. There's a couple of guys at my place now who use the 65s and I actually spotted a guy last week doing 65kg DB shoulder press. Crazy strong!!

Don't worry too much about the rapid progress, it has to slow down at some point. For me it was around the 40kg point that it started to get harder to improve so you may be okay for a while yet.

Great work in general. Will be good following your progress through this year.

[EvilPie]

Finished my first week of 3 sessions of squats per week (I started on a Friday).

I've had a poverty squat for ages so I'm hoping that if I get some decent volume in over the next few weeks I might get a bit of a boost. It seems like my quads are pretty weak so I'm doing high bar and really trying to focus on my quads as I squat.

I'm also doing OHP in the same session so I've currently got 5 x 5 squats at 80kg and 5 x 5 OHP at 60kg three times per week. Seems a really good session so far so hopefully I'll be able to stick it out and see some reasonable results.

The other three session are chest, back and posterior chain for a full week as follows:

Monday - Back - Pull down, BoR, pull down, BoR (obviously different variations of each)
Tuesday - Squat/OHP
Wednesday - Rest
Thursday - Posterior chain - DL, RDL, heavy BoR
Friday - Squat/OHP
Saturday - Chest - Loads of bench pressing
Sunday - Squat/OHP

Going to give this at least 4 weeks and hopefully 6 to 8 if I keep enjoying it. Should be interesting to see how the squats go. At the moment I struggle at anything above about 90kg so there's loads of room for improvement. If I can get a rep out at 100kg without feeling any loss of form I'll be happy.

[Marky147]

Started back yesterday, but still finishing off the Xmas goodies

Going for a curry tomorrow, or Friday, and might be knocking the top off a bottle of scotch at some point over the weekend, too.

Did Chest & Biceps yesterday, and Legs today.

All went ok, even though the gym was fucking freezing, and felt colder than outside!

[iRaise]

New to this thread so Hi to all - advice required.

I am the best part of nearing 58 and have recently had a lung removed, before I had the operation I was fit as a butchers dog (builder).

I have now been sat on my arse for 8 months as I still have some niggling issues, the problem that I have is I have put on a couple of stone, all on my stomach – can’t see the little man now.

So I am thinking of joining a gym and the only thing that appeals to me is the weights but will this assist in losing the stomach flab and will it get my fitness levels
up.

Cheers

PS. I am six foot and 14.4 stone should really be 12.5

Hi Mikey, great to have someone new on board.

Same as Harvey here with regard to the lung issue, really can't advise at all as I haven't got a clue how it affects you. I assume you have half the lung capacity as before but is it that simple? Do you utilise your one lung more than you would previously have used your two lungs so your overall oxygen intake isn't too badly affected? Whatever you do I know you need to take advice from a doctor when you're looking at any kind of exercise.

Like the others have said losing weight and your belly fat is down to your diet. Simple calories in vs calories out. Training will burn a few calories so that increases calories out and you lose weight or gain it slower if you're in a heavy surplus.

You can't 'spot reduce' fat no matter what you do. What I mean there is that there is literally nothing you can do that will make you lose belly fat before any other fat unless that's the way your body happens to work. Most males lose belly fat last, women have stubborn bits around the hips. If you operate at a calorie deficit you'll lose weight but you have to just let your body do its thing and it'll disappear in the order it chooses.

You can do a few ab exercises that will give you a few stomach muscles but it won't shift your belly fat, you'll just have muscles hidden by a layer of fat.

It's fantastic that you want to get in to training and if you stick around here we'll help as you progress.

For starters you need to find something that you'll stick to. The hardest thing is starting, the next hardest is to keep going especially when after the first week you haven't suddenly developed the abs of a Spartan warrior.

Get yourself to a gym that has personal trainers. You may get a bad one but even a bad one will help at first as they'll give you a programme and that's what you need. Try to get to one of the cheap ones such as exercise for less or Pure. Unless you want swimming pools and saunas you don't need to spend much at all so don't think that £15 per month means they'll be crap, they aren't. Also if you don't stick to it it won't sting quite so much every month on direct debit day.

If you don't like cardio machines you're not on your own, I hate the things, they bore me to tears. I can't imagine you want to be pushing your lungs too much anyway so it's probably not the worst thing.

A simple programme with a few weights should be fine to get you going. Don't run before you can walk and just accept that to see results you're going to have to wait a long time.

Will wait to see your thoughts on the diet comments before I post anything more. One thing I'll say is that the more you put in to this thread the more you'll get out. I don't mean offering advice as obviously you can't just yet but let us know how you're getting on and we'll be interested in your progress and keep the tips coming.

Good luck mate.

Seems pretty sensible to me.

[iRaise]

No accessory work to speak of.  JUst the simple 3 workout plan i am sticking to.  170kg 2 reps for 2 sets was fine.  I haven't really gone all out for a proper 1 rep max.  I reckon if i went for it i could do 180/190kg at a push but i don't want to risk injury tbh and have a set back.

Now i know i have done 170kg for 2 reps i will simply build on that for the next few weeks until i can do 6 reps at 170 then try 180kg for 1 or 2 reps and just keep cracking on like that.  Overall i am feeling great and the body is slowly starting to change from a lump of lard to something like i was at 25.  Going to continue with this routine for 3 months and see how strong i can get then try to lose more weight and focus less on power/strength for a few months to get in shape for the summer.  Really enjoying the hard core strength work i am doing at the minute though to stop it and feel tired by cutting the calories too much.

barbell bicep curled 50kg yesterday which was a nice bench mark (remember peaking at 60kg in my mid 20s) and dumbbell benched 36kg for 6 slow deep reps with no spotter.  Trouble is my gains have been so rapid the gym only has 40kg dumbbells so might have to look for somewhere else to train!  First world problems!  Another goal this year is your 50kg dumbbell bench challenge.  Pretty sure i benched 50/55kg dumbbells in my mid 20s at my peak.  I love the dumbbells so much more than barbell chest work.  4 months ago when i started back i was struggling benching 20kg dumbbells!  Funny looking back.  Triceps are helping this improvement as i did 8 deep reps with 38kg dumbbell over head 2 arm tricep seated presses and 40kg barbell lying down tricep press to the forehead.  They were tough.  Loaded the bar  up to 40k and thought it would be a piece of piss after smashing the 38kg dumbbell and nearly choked myself pressing the bar as it nearly collapsed on my throat!  Banged out 5 reps once i got sorted!  Elbows get a bit sore doing this so i need to investment in some proper heavy duty elbow supports i think.  Anyone got any suggestions or links?

Will take your advice on shoulder work.  I think i will just stick to dumbbells mainly for shoulder pressing as i like the individual balance it forces you to use with each arm.  I don't have a station for barbell shoulder pressing at my gym so dumbbells will be fine for that.

Seems ages since I last used dumbbells for chest press. Since I started having problems with my wrists and elbows I've avoided them completely as the slightest wrong move can cause me some pretty bad pain. It's such a shame I'm struggling with these at the moment as my gym goes up to 75kg so would be great to see how heavy I could go. I reckon 65kg may have been on the cards in my prime. There's a couple of guys at my place now who use the 65s and I actually spotted a guy last week doing 65kg DB shoulder press. Crazy strong!!

Don't worry too much about the rapid progress, it has to slow down at some point. For me it was around the 40kg point that it started to get harder to improve so you may be okay for a while yet.

Great work in general. Will be good following your progress through this year.

All good numbers there, like Matt, looking forward to seeing how you get on over the year.

[iRaise]

Finished my first week of 3 sessions of squats per week (I started on a Friday).

I've had a poverty squat for ages so I'm hoping that if I get some decent volume in over the next few weeks I might get a bit of a boost. It seems like my quads are pretty weak so I'm doing high bar and really trying to focus on my quads as I squat.

I'm also doing OHP in the same session so I've currently got 5 x 5 squats at 80kg and 5 x 5 OHP at 60kg three times per week. Seems a really good session so far so hopefully I'll be able to stick it out and see some reasonable results.

The other three session are chest, back and posterior chain for a full week as follows:

Monday - Back - Pull down, BoR, pull down, BoR (obviously different variations of each)
Tuesday - Squat/OHP
Wednesday - Rest
Thursday - Posterior chain - DL, RDL, heavy BoR
Friday - Squat/OHP
Saturday - Chest - Loads of bench pressing
Sunday - Squat/OHP

Going to give this at least 4 weeks and hopefully 6 to 8 if I keep enjoying it. Should be interesting to see how the squats go. At the moment I struggle at anything above about 90kg so there's loads of room for improvement. If I can get a rep out at 100kg without feeling any loss of form I'll be happy.

Squats three days a week, naaaassstyyyyyy. Lot of general pressing there. Don't forget the prehab!

[iRaise]

Started back yesterday, but still finishing off the Xmas goodies

Going for a curry tomorrow, or Friday, and might be knocking the top off a bottle of scotch at some point over the weekend, too.

Did Chest & Biceps yesterday, and Legs today.

All went ok, even though the gym was fucking freezing, and felt colder than outside!

Pure at the minute seems to have some odd global warming zone, one side the heating is on full and you're roasting, walk across to the other and I need to put my hoody back on...

[Marky147]

Started back yesterday, but still finishing off the Xmas goodies

Going for a curry tomorrow, or Friday, and might be knocking the top off a bottle of scotch at some point over the weekend, too.

Did Chest & Biceps yesterday, and Legs today.

All went ok, even though the gym was fucking freezing, and felt colder than outside!

Pure at the minute seems to have some odd global warming zone, one side the heating is on full and you're roasting, walk across to the other and I need to put my hoody back on...

Same as my gym

The front area which has most of the cardio stuff is warm, and the free weights end is freezing.

[arbboy]

No accessory work to speak of.  JUst the simple 3 workout plan i am sticking to.  170kg 2 reps for 2 sets was fine.  I haven't really gone all out for a proper 1 rep max.  I reckon if i went for it i could do 180/190kg at a push but i don't want to risk injury tbh and have a set back.

Now i know i have done 170kg for 2 reps i will simply build on that for the next few weeks until i can do 6 reps at 170 then try 180kg for 1 or 2 reps and just keep cracking on like that.  Overall i am feeling great and the body is slowly starting to change from a lump of lard to something like i was at 25.  Going to continue with this routine for 3 months and see how strong i can get then try to lose more weight and focus less on power/strength for a few months to get in shape for the summer.  Really enjoying the hard core strength work i am doing at the minute though to stop it and feel tired by cutting the calories too much.

barbell bicep curled 50kg yesterday which was a nice bench mark (remember peaking at 60kg in my mid 20s) and dumbbell benched 36kg for 6 slow deep reps with no spotter.  Trouble is my gains have been so rapid the gym only has 40kg dumbbells so might have to look for somewhere else to train!  First world problems!  Another goal this year is your 50kg dumbbell bench challenge.  Pretty sure i benched 50/55kg dumbbells in my mid 20s at my peak.  I love the dumbbells so much more than barbell chest work.  4 months ago when i started back i was struggling benching 20kg dumbbells!  Funny looking back.  Triceps are helping this improvement as i did 8 deep reps with 38kg dumbbell over head 2 arm tricep seated presses and 40kg barbell lying down tricep press to the forehead.  They were tough.  Loaded the bar  up to 40k and thought it would be a piece of piss after smashing the 38kg dumbbell and nearly choked myself pressing the bar as it nearly collapsed on my throat!  Banged out 5 reps once i got sorted!  Elbows get a bit sore doing this so i need to investment in some proper heavy duty elbow supports i think.  Anyone got any suggestions or links?

Will take your advice on shoulder work.  I think i will just stick to dumbbells mainly for shoulder pressing as i like the individual balance it forces you to use with each arm.  I don't have a station for barbell shoulder pressing at my gym so dumbbells will be fine for that.

Seems ages since I last used dumbbells for chest press. Since I started having problems with my wrists and elbows I've avoided them completely as the slightest wrong move can cause me some pretty bad pain. It's such a shame I'm struggling with these at the moment as my gym goes up to 75kg so would be great to see how heavy I could go. I reckon 65kg may have been on the cards in my prime. There's a couple of guys at my place now who use the 65s and I actually spotted a guy last week doing 65kg DB shoulder press. Crazy strong!!

Don't worry too much about the rapid progress, it has to slow down at some point. For me it was around the 40kg point that it started to get harder to improve so you may be okay for a while yet.

Great work in general. Will be good following your progress through this year.

All good numbers there, like Matt, looking forward to seeing how you get on over the year.

170kg deadlift didnt get more than 2 inches off the floor this week.  #xmasfoodandrestftw!  160 was easy enough.  Let's have xmas every other week and we would all be as strong as eddie.  Just watched all the WSM shows today.  How good were Eddie and Thor? Thor only a point behind him with a series of events which really suited Eddie.

[iRaise]

No accessory work to speak of.  JUst the simple 3 workout plan i am sticking to.  170kg 2 reps for 2 sets was fine.  I haven't really gone all out for a proper 1 rep max.  I reckon if i went for it i could do 180/190kg at a push but i don't want to risk injury tbh and have a set back.

Now i know i have done 170kg for 2 reps i will simply build on that for the next few weeks until i can do 6 reps at 170 then try 180kg for 1 or 2 reps and just keep cracking on like that.  Overall i am feeling great and the body is slowly starting to change from a lump of lard to something like i was at 25.  Going to continue with this routine for 3 months and see how strong i can get then try to lose more weight and focus less on power/strength for a few months to get in shape for the summer.  Really enjoying the hard core strength work i am doing at the minute though to stop it and feel tired by cutting the calories too much.

barbell bicep curled 50kg yesterday which was a nice bench mark (remember peaking at 60kg in my mid 20s) and dumbbell benched 36kg for 6 slow deep reps with no spotter.  Trouble is my gains have been so rapid the gym only has 40kg dumbbells so might have to look for somewhere else to train!  First world problems!  Another goal this year is your 50kg dumbbell bench challenge.  Pretty sure i benched 50/55kg dumbbells in my mid 20s at my peak.  I love the dumbbells so much more than barbell chest work.  4 months ago when i started back i was struggling benching 20kg dumbbells!  Funny looking back.  Triceps are helping this improvement as i did 8 deep reps with 38kg dumbbell over head 2 arm tricep seated presses and 40kg barbell lying down tricep press to the forehead.  They were tough.  Loaded the bar  up to 40k and thought it would be a piece of piss after smashing the 38kg dumbbell and nearly choked myself pressing the bar as it nearly collapsed on my throat!  Banged out 5 reps once i got sorted!  Elbows get a bit sore doing this so i need to investment in some proper heavy duty elbow supports i think.  Anyone got any suggestions or links?

Will take your advice on shoulder work.  I think i will just stick to dumbbells mainly for shoulder pressing as i like the individual balance it forces you to use with each arm.  I don't have a station for barbell shoulder pressing at my gym so dumbbells will be fine for that.

Seems ages since I last used dumbbells for chest press. Since I started having problems with my wrists and elbows I've avoided them completely as the slightest wrong move can cause me some pretty bad pain. It's such a shame I'm struggling with these at the moment as my gym goes up to 75kg so would be great to see how heavy I could go. I reckon 65kg may have been on the cards in my prime. There's a couple of guys at my place now who use the 65s and I actually spotted a guy last week doing 65kg DB shoulder press. Crazy strong!!

Don't worry too much about the rapid progress, it has to slow down at some point. For me it was around the 40kg point that it started to get harder to improve so you may be okay for a while yet.

Great work in general. Will be good following your progress through this year.

All good numbers there, like Matt, looking forward to seeing how you get on over the year.

170kg deadlift didnt get more than 2 inches off the floor this week.  #xmasfoodandrestftw!  160 was easy enough.  Let's have xmas every other week and we would all be as strong as eddie.  Just watched all the WSM shows today.  How good were Eddie and Thor? Thor only a point behind him with a series of events which really suited Eddie.

Couldn't agree more with Thor, if you hand picked the events in Eddie's favour you would pretty much choose all of those, maybe a log press max too. Feel for Thor because I think he is the best all round athlete, and if he wins strongman could have a moneymaker effect with him being in Thrones. Really happy Eddie won tho, seems ridiculous you can be the best deadlifter to ever walked the earth and not officially be crowned WSM. Thor defo in for multiple WSM in the next few years injury/desire/TV work permitting.