I Declare WAR! on weights

[I Declare War]

Incline-Bench Barbell-Press

- Four warm-up sets of increasing weight, then one all-out-set of 6-8 reps.

100kg 10

120kg 6

- Some fellas were doing 3/4 reps with 100 and 120 and 1/2 reps with 140 on the incline bench in front of me. Haha... hope they noticed I was doing nice clean full reps and I hope they felt ashamed!

Incline-Bench Dumbbell-Press

- One feel-set of 10 reps, then one all-out-set of 8-10 reps.

45kg per side 10

55kg per side 4 (forced drop-set) 50kg 3 (damn! that didn't go to plan.)

47.5kg per side 8

- The 55s were a bitch to get in to place. Need a training partner or to get stronger to do this right. Man that sucks.

Incline-Bench Dumbbell-Fly

- One feel-set of 15 reps, then one all-out-set of 10-12 reps.

17.5kg 15

27.5kg 12

- felt good and not too hard, try 30kg next week.

Seated Pec-Deck-Machine-Fly

- As many reps as possible, using the sum of the weight used for the Incline-Bench Dumbbell Flyes all-out-set.

55kg 30-40?

- Didn't count. Good weight to burn out on. Chest was looking damn mean.

Seated Single-Arm Dumbbell-Curl

- Two warm-up sets of increasing weight, then one all-out-set of 6-8 reps.

6kg 10

10kg 10

17.5kg 8

- Do this on an incline bench next week. Why did I do it on the preacher thing today -- need to rename the exercise on my routine to make it clearer.

Standing EZ-Bar-Curl

- Add 5kg plates per side doing 10 rep sets, until you can't get 10 reps anymore. Then strip-set one plate per side, until there's no more weight on the bar.

Bar 10

20kg 10

30kg 10

40kg 10

50kg 10

60kg 3

Non-stop strip-set

50kg 4

40kg 4

30kg 10

20kg 15

- I went from one set to the next up to 60kg without any rest, only the time it took to slap the plates on. Damn 60kg felt heavy!

Weighted Incline Sit-Up

- One warm-up set of 20 reps, then one all-out-weighted-set of 12-15 reps.

16kg 20

24kg 12

- I did these holding a kettle-ball. Gotta be fucken careful when you put it down at the end of the set... nearly squashed my cock off! :shock:

Incline Leg-Hip Raise

- As many reps - using good form - as possible.

20? Didn't count

A bit lame today.

[I Declare War]

Cardio this morning:

Crosstrainer - 500 Calories - 33m30s - L15 (last 15 minutes)

[I Declare War]

Damn my biceps are feeling sore, sore, sore today! \:D/

Dropping the reps to 8 next week with the EZ-curl bar and adding in hammer curls after for the forearms... even more punishment to come.

[I Declare War]

DAY 3: Quads, Glutes, and Calves

Seated Leg-Extension

- Several warm-up sets, then one all-out-set of 15 reps.

72.5kg 15

82.5kg 15

Barbell Back-Squat

- Several sets of increasing weight, then one all-out-set of 15 reps.

140kg 10 drop-set: 100kg 5

45 Degree Sled Leg-Press

- Add two plates per side and do a set, repeat until you fail to achieve the rep range, then strip off half of the plates and proceed to do as many reps as you possibly can.

3, 6, 9, 12 pps 15

6pps 30

Barbell Front-Squat

- One feel-set, then load the barbell up to your body-weight and do one all-out-set until failure.

82.5kg 15

Standing Calf-Raise

- One feel-set, then one all-out-set of 10-12 reps.

N/A

Seated Calf-Raise

- One feel-set, then one all-out-set until failure.

N/A

leg-Press as a Calf Raise

250kg 15

[HarryB]

Damn shifting good weights big guy! Laughed at your comments re guys doing half reps on inclines.... Cmon man they just looked at their 140 and thought "that dude is only doing 120, we're killing him"

Yeah its a bitch getting the heavy DBS up without a decent TP. I pretty much only do flat DBS if I am training solo, inclines too hard to get into position.

[I Declare War]

Damn shifting good weights big guy! Laughed at your comments re guys doing half reps on inclines.... Cmon man they just looked at their 140 and thought "that dude is only doing 120, we're killing him"

Yeah its a bitch getting the heavy DBS up without a decent TP. I pretty much only do flat DBS if I am training solo, inclines too hard to get into position.

Cheers mate. Not feeling that big though lol all that damn cardio - I've lost about 4kg in the last month, strength hasn't dropped off though... actually improving on some of the main exercisese such as Deadlifts.

Yeah that's the problem with fellas like that they're stuck in their crappy training methods. They must think they're doing it right or else they wouldn't do it that way. Haha

Yeah that's the problem... the incline is the killer. I might stick with 55s next week but try a very low incline... that sometimes actually makes it easier than doing it on the flat IMO.

[HarryB]

Damn shifting good weights big guy! Laughed at your comments re guys doing half reps on inclines.... Cmon man they just looked at their 140 and thought "that dude is only doing 120, we're killing him"

Yeah its a bitch getting the heavy DBS up without a decent TP. I pretty much only do flat DBS if I am training solo, inclines too hard to get into position.

Cheers mate. Not feeling that big though lol all that damn cardio - I've lost about 4kg in the last month, strength hasn't dropped off though... actually improving on some of the main exercisese such as Deadlifts.

Yeah that's the problem with fellas like that they're stuck in their crappy training methods. They must think they're doing it right or else they wouldn't do it that way. Haha

Yeah that's the problem... the incline is the killer. I might stick with 55s next week but try a very low incline... that sometimes actually makes it easier than doing it on the flat IMO.

Re: the low inclines, yeah easier sometimes but I just don't really enjoy doing them that way, I get a much better feeling across the top of my pecs when I do a high angle incline.

If you have just dropped weight but no power then you are doing something right!

[I Declare War]

Damn shifting good weights big guy! Laughed at your comments re guys doing half reps on inclines.... Cmon man they just looked at their 140 and thought "that dude is only doing 120, we're killing him"

Yeah its a bitch getting the heavy DBS up without a decent TP. I pretty much only do flat DBS if I am training solo, inclines too hard to get into position.

Cheers mate. Not feeling that big though lol all that damn cardio - I've lost about 4kg in the last month, strength hasn't dropped off though... actually improving on some of the main exercisese such as Deadlifts.

Yeah that's the problem with fellas like that they're stuck in their crappy training methods. They must think they're doing it right or else they wouldn't do it that way. Haha

Yeah that's the problem... the incline is the killer. I might stick with 55s next week but try a very low incline... that sometimes actually makes it easier than doing it on the flat IMO.

Re: the low inclines, yeah easier sometimes but I just don't really enjoy doing them that way, I get a much better feeling across the top of my pecs when I do a high angle incline.

If you have just dropped weight but no power then you are doing something right!

I'll keep that in mind... it might pay to stick to a higher incline then rather than to drop the incline for the sake of more weight.

Yep, I think so. I'll keep all the variables the same for a few more weeks or until the progress stalls...

[I Declare War]

Hobbling around today.. quads feeling worked.

Did a piss-poor effort on the crosstrainer this morning... 45 minutes at Level 4... better than not doing anything I think... also lets my legs recover a bit quicker due to increased blood-flow.

[I Declare War]

Those damn 55's took a bit of a toll on my shoulder. I think it's a bit entrapped or something from all the years of neglect (heavy benching and not enough stretching).

I've spent the last few days doing heaps and heaps of stretches. Seems I'm making progress, they're feeling a lot more limber already.

One thing I've found helps a lot is keeping my arms behind my back while on the crosstrainer, while pushing out backwards gently. Seems to give my triceps tendon and pec minors a nice good stretch.

I've made a change to my routine for this week to take into account all this shoulder stretching/rehab I've been doing. I've shifted my Shoulder workout from today to Saturday. Chest which would have been on Saturday will be skipped this week.

Back to normal split-wise next week. But for chest I will increase my working set rep-range up to 15, then lower it again over the weeks if my shoulders play nice.

[I Declare War]

Shit this morning was just one of those mornings, nothing was working and everything went wrong. Ended up stepping onto the gym floor 40 minutes late, stupid parking machines all around Auckland Central weren't taking credit card payment.

Ended up working out at LM City

My workout was rather short and way different from my normal routine... just improvised a bit today.

Wide-Grip Lat Pull-Downs

135lbs 10-12 for 4 sets. Contracted and held for 2-3 seconds

Stiff-Legged Deadlifts

100,120,140kg 10

Deadlifts

180kg 5 no motivation to do more reps. wtf! that's not me. next week do 20!

Next week I'll return to my proper back routine, if it's not one of those mornings again!!!!

[I Declare War]

Went back and did some more.

Seated Hamstring Curl Machine

22.5kg 100

Then up the stack to full stack doing 15 reps

90kg (full stack) 8 pretty good reps

Gritted my teeth on this shit and went for it.

Lying Hamstring Curl Machine

Up the stack to 67kg for 15

75kg 2 (fail - too heavy so said f it! and moved on)

Hyperextensions

BW 50

BW+20kg 12-15 drop-set BW 20

BW+20kg 12-15 drop-set BW 20

BW+20kg 12-15 drop-set BW 20

[I Declare War]

And then I went back a 3rd time...

Warmed up on Lat Pulldowns

57,67,77,87kg 15

97kg 7,6

Held and paused at the bottom

Close-Grip Double D-Handle Lat Pulldowns

67kg 15, 10, 8 (I didn't rest much between sets)

Paused contraction and really got a good stretch

Smith Machine Bent-Over Rows

1,2pps 20

3pps 10

Single-Arm Bent-Over Dumbbell Rows

50kg 10 each side

30kg 15 each side

Feeling a bit like an energizer bunny today! Have felt it creeping up on me for a few days now... since the inlaws came from Thailand bearing gifts.

Running 1 Pharm grade Proviron per day. 25mg

[I Declare War]

Damn it! When's my mean ass 100 US dollar lifting belt gonna arrive! I'm itching to start 5,6 plate deads! It had better come soon, or I'm gonna leave some bad feedback on eBay. Didn't pay $50 US for shipping for nothing. :-) Shit that's $150 US for a belt. haha

[I Declare War]

Feeling damn worked today after those 3 back workouts yesterday. Hammy's are fried as!

[I Declare War]

If you've been reading my journal you'll have seen that I talked about reseting my rep-range up to 15 for Chest and Shoulders. I'm doing this for a couple of reasons:

1. Become more honest with my form. I'm trying to keep it as full ROM as possible with increased time under tension and a 1/2 cadence.

2. Temporarily use less weight, while I build back up, and hopefully avoid aggravating my shoulder injury.

Over the weeks I'll keep track of my progress and I'll slowly drop my rep-range back down to the 6-8 range on my mass builder exercises.

Standing Dumbbell-Side-Raise, super-set with:

Standing Alternate Dumbbell-Front-Raise, super-set with:

Bent-Over Dumbbell-Rear-Raise

Worked up to 12.5kg for ~15

Hammer Strength Shoulder-Press

Worked up to 30kg per side for 14

Keeping it text-book makes this a bit harder!

Seated Military Dumbbell-Press

35kg 4 or 5

30kg 5

25kg 8

22.5kg 10

20kg 15

This turned into a bit of a drop-set - I wanted 15 text-book reps. 1 second up paused at the top then 2 seconds down and paused right at the bottom. The pause is the killer! And to think just a couple of weeks ago I was doing 15 reps with 40kg - keeping things text-book sure does allow you to get a good workout while avoiding using heavy weights. Hopefully I'll see some improvement here next Shoulder workout, though. Hahaha - what a weekling.

Smith Machine Seated Shoulder-Press

40, 50, 60kg ~15 reps

Smith Machine Flat-Bench Close-Grip-Press

50,60,70kg ~15 reps

I may have been able to hit 80 or 90kg for 15 reps but this is one exercise that has the potential to really aggravate my shoulder. Felt like a good workout though due to the increase in TUT.

Incline-Bench Single-Arm Dumbbell-Extension

20kg 15 right arm 8 (+ 7 negatives) left arm

15kg 15, 15 plus two more sets using negatives to get 15

Dip-Bar Triceps-Dip

Shit, I forgot to do this. Next time.

When I got home my girlfriend immediately commented on my delts saying they've improved a hell of a lot lately. So, I must be doing something right... She didn't even know I did shoulders in the gym today.

[I Declare War]

DAY 3: Quads, Glutes, and Calves

Seated Leg-Extension

12.5,22.5...72.5,82.5kg 15

Barbell Back-Squat

120kg 5,5,5,5 (paused for 2 seconds in the hole, as low as I could go).

45 Degree Sled Leg-Press

2pps 20

3pps 30

4pps 40

5pps 50

6pps 60 Had feet low on the platform until here. Rest-paused a few times.

7pps 70 Feet high on platform. Rest-paused mid-way though.

Barbell Front-Squat

82.5kg 15-20 (lost-count)

Energy level was low this morning, but the workout was damn fun. The Front-Squats are a perfect end to the workout. :-)

Still to do calves - this evening.

[HarryB]

Nice work bro and when you work your way back up to 40k db shoulder press for 15 with nice tight form your shoulders will be a LOT bigger!

[I Declare War]

Nice work bro and when you work your way back up to 40k db shoulder press for 15 with nice tight form your shoulders will be a LOT bigger!

Cheers Harry - yep that's the plan.

Cardio update (I only do Crosstrainer)..

I have been doing:

-No cardio on Back and Legs days.

-Two low intensity 60 minute sessions the day after back, and legs workouts. I stop when the machine displays 500 calories burnt.

-Two high intensity 30-35 minute sessions on non-workout days. I stop when the machine displays 500 calories burnt.

- One high intensity 30-35 minute session in the afternoon on chest, and shoulders workout days. I stop when the machine displays 500 calories burnt.

[I Declare War]

Shoulders

Standing Dumbbell-Side-Raise, super-set with:

Standing Alternate Dumbbell-Front-Raise, super-set with:

Bent-Over Dumbbell-Rear-Raise

Worked up to 9kg for ~15

Really paused and held the contractions... felt great.

Hammer Strength Shoulder-Press

40kg per side 16

Seated Military Dumbbell-Press

34kg per side 11

32kg 8

30kg 7

28kg 6

26kg 7

24kg 8

22kg 8

20kg 12

18kg 16

This was done as a down-the-rack drop-set. I wanted 15 textbook paused on the shoulder reps... no resting here just re-racked and got the next db's and back to the seat and go. Good improvement over the session a few days ago.

Smith Machine Seated Shoulder-Press

60kg ~15

Smith Machine Flat-Bench Close-Grip-Press

60,70,60kg ~15 reps

Tweaks my shoulder injury a tiny bit... but done nice and slow so got some good work out of it.

Incline-Bench Single-Arm Dumbbell-Extension

20kg down the rack to 12kg for 15 reps using negatives to hit 15 if failed beforehand.

Dip-Bar Triceps-Dip

~15

Had no rest was running out of time so pretty much ran over to the dip bar from the last exercise and did a quick set.

Bring on 40kg db's for 15 nice paused reps! Will do shoulders again on Saturday.

[loveggs]

nice sholder workout :nod:

im aiming to get 35kg dumbells for 8 reps im at 32.5kg atm 40kgs are dam heavy!!!!

do you get them up yorself or do u have assistance?

[I Declare War]

nice sholder workout :nod:

im aiming to get 35kg dumbells for 8 reps im at 32.5kg atm 40kgs are dam heavy!!!!

do you get them up yorself or do u have assistance?

cheers mate.

good luck on that aye, takes a lot of hard work. luckily I like training shoulders best out of all my workouts.

yep, i get them up myself... bounce 'em up with my thighs... works okay for me until about 45kg then it becomes a mission, half ur energy is gone before you start pushing. lol

[loveggs]

nice sholder workout :nod:

im aiming to get 35kg dumbells for 8 reps im at 32.5kg atm 40kgs are dam heavy!!!!

do you get them up yorself or do u have assistance?

cheers mate.

good luck on that aye, takes a lot of hard work. luckily I like training shoulders best out of all my workouts.

yep, i get them up myself... bounce 'em up with my thighs... works okay for me until about 45kg then it becomes a mission, half ur energy is gone before you start pushing. lol

hahah yeah takes alot to get em up! 45kg shit!!! strong az bro!

[I Declare War]

I got my belt! Now to start lifting some real weights...

Only problem is... they sent me the wrong damn colour!!! I wanted black but guess what colour(s) they sent me. Red-White-Blue! I might have to wait until after the AB's - France game to wear it. lol

CRAIN - Xtreme Power Belt with LEVER, that's the one I got.

The Frenchies were actually working out at Les Mills Britomart yesterday... as I was leaving the gym I saw them walking onto the floor. I wonder how their weight training sessions are...

[I Declare War]

I did Back today. Hamstrings are still tight as hell from last weeks onslaught so I'll give them a rest from direct work this week.

Sure enough as soon as I entered the gym, a couple of fellas commented on my new belt - "Mate, those are the wrong colours." said one, then the other quickly added "Bro, you're supporting the wrong team!". Hahaha :shifty:

Wide-Grip Lat Pulldowns

Worked up to 180lbs for 6 slow reps.

Deadlifts

180kg 20

Rack Pulls

140kg,180kg,220kg,260kg 5

220kg 10

180kg 20

Hyperextensions

About 5 sets, body-weight only.

Close-Grip Lat Pulldowns

200lbs,160lbs,110lbs 6-10

Single-Arm Bent-Over Dumbbell Rows

50kg, 40kg 10

30kg 15-20 (didn't count)

I feel like I could go for a second round. My lower back doesn't feel like it's been driven over by a truck like it usually does. Loving my (french) belt!