Jetpacks' (E S P) road to somewhere

[e s p]

Today's as good of a day as any to start this shit:

20 Press ups

20 Curl ups and then 3 x 10 

3 x 10 Lying Leg Curls at 32kg

3 x 10 Seated Leg Extension at 32kg

3 x 10 Stiffed Legged Deadlift at 40kg

3 x 10 DB lunges 8kg each hand 

2 x 10 Squats at 25kg

All I ate was junk pretty much all day:

4 pieces of wheatmeal toast with PB and Marmite

BK for lunch 

Half a cup of Brown Rice

3 pieces of Broccoli

200g of steak

1 whole fried egg

half a carrot

 

Got on the piss hard on sat night after the rugby, regretting it thoroughly - Think I've nearly made the decision to quit drinking altogether.  

Work was a nightmare, we're consistently short staffed and now I am covering two other peoples jobs and neglecting my own.  Tried to take this frustration out on my muscles which worked a little bit but quickly lost focus.

Watched a three part series on Kai Greene - Which I found hugely motivating.  I love his principles and calmness.  He reiterated the whole time just nailing those basics; preparing food, sleeping, warming up and cooling down.  Pretty incredible individual, if I could be like anyone it would be him!

I've been posting these up on Facebook for the last 6 weeks but feel like all my information is getting lost in the FB web.  So I'll see how I get on with this journal.  So far the Gymnation crowd have been nothing but helpful, so I'm happy to be here

[FellowshipOfTheRon]

good start man and glad you found the kai greene series, someone posted it up here a while ago and it really got me going too. the guy is like some crazy philisopher of a bodybuilder ...or something like that..

 

yup this sites heaps better than FB just because its all organised in to one easy to find/read thread. good luck and im sure few months down the track youll look at the front page of this log again and go in to shock at how far youve come

[e s p]

5.5km warm up on bike

2 x SS of 20 Press ups, 20 Curl Ups, 20 Back Arches

Assisted pull up wide grip as many as I could with half my BW knocked off - about 20? or something?

Assisted pull up wide grip x 10 at 75% of BW

Flat Bench Press 15x30kg, 10x40kg, 10x40kg

Incline Bench Press 15x30kg, 10x35kg, 10x35kg

That was it - I had it in my head before I went in that I'd do DB presses but for some reason I just didn't feel confident enough to jump in and do it - The gym was pretty busy and I just lost faith in myself.

Despite the short workout, my muscles feel pretty taxed across the top of my chest and shoulders - although I'm so inexperienced I hardly know if this is the right feeling.  My legs after yesterday are fairly painful through my hamstrings, but surprinsgly my quads and lower back only feel tight, rather than painful.

4 bits of toast with PB and marmite

a large Chicken kebab on rice split in two three hours apart

half a cup of brown rice, small piece of steak, 2 fried eggs, 2 bits of broccoli with table spoon of soy sauce.

Have recently bought Cellucor C4 Extreme preworkout - first few times I have used it I noticed a marked difference in my energy levels.  However, I noticed that timing is everything, if I take it too early before workout it really doesn't do anything for me, if I take it too close to workout, I seem to come down pretty hard about halfway through.  Also part of my preparation to feel comfortable in the gym is to do cardio before weights - so usually most of my energy has been burnt off before I even start weights.

Have got protein powder also, but need to be more organised and have it ready to go immediatly post workout - last couple of times I've had it during dinner which isn't doing my insides any favours.

Feeling like the only thing holding me back at the moment is feeling uncomfortable in the gym.  

[FellowshipOfTheRon]

With the cardio making you lose all your energy before your weights session :

- Keep it light and get some more carbs in to your pre workout meal!

- Warmup cardio should just get your body warm but you shouldn't be getting tired from it (slightly fast walking). Check your heart rate on the machine make sure it's no higher than 150bpm for warmup.

- Shouldn't take you more than 20min to get warm and in the zone in your head... or until your PWO kicks in *crazy*

- If you want to do cardio for fitness as well as weights then separate the sessions (go for run/cycle in morning, weights in afternoon type of thing) and get good carbs in between especially pre workout. Alternatively consider including some circuit routines in your schedule

- Lastly it might just be the most obvious but overlooked thing - are you getting enough water? Drink at least 3L of water throughout the day you should start to feel less tired through gym sessions

[e s p]

That;s some really great advice Ron thank you - probably the biggest help there was the water - made such a massive difference to my motivation levels. 

 

Today I walked for 10 mins at 4.5kmph at a 14% incline as my warm up "get in the zone"

Started with Barbell Bench Press 15 reps just the bar.  I've been doing a heap of research lately (off the back of seeing a Kai Greene training video) and the general consensus seems to be that focusing on the contraction rather than bottoming out with weights that are too heavy is the smarter way to train.  I then moved on to 4 sets of between 12-15 reps at 30kg concentrating on squeezing my pecs together.  It's interesting, I've read a lot about the Mind/Muscle connection and when doing my bench presses today I realised that I can't even sense the contraction of my pecs at all, so I have a lot to work on!

Moved on to machine seated flyes at about 25kg - again focusing on the movement and contraction rather than just trying to move as much weight as I could.  First thing I noticed is that in the second set of 12 - 15 reps my right side became weak very very quickly.  I stopped and though about it for a moment, wondering why it was so much easier to move my left hand and realised I was so busy focusing on the centre of my chest that I neglected to think about moving my hands at the same time.  It sounds dumb I know, but I'm so inexperienced with these sorts of movements that I just didn't think about it hard enough.  Once my thoughts were in the right place I managed to get through another 3 sets moving the weight evenly on boths sides.  In between each set, I did as many push ups as I could, usually between 5 and 10.

Next was Seated Arnold Presses 3 sets of 12 - 15 at 8, 6, and 4 kg with a set of DB lateral raises inbetween at 4, 2, and 2 kg.  In enjoyed this superset immensly,  I could visualise each muscle moving as I completed each contraction, and started to realise the importance of form if you want to target those muscles entirely without bringing in others to help.

Lastly I did Tricep pull downs with a rope grip 3 sets of 15 - Again I enjoyed this exercise practicing keeping my elbows at my side and trying not to incorporate my shoulders too much.  Made it a heap more difficult but a very positive feeling at the end.

I finished off with some basic stretches and a protein shake.

Food today was good:

Meal 1: 4 bits of wheatmeal toast with PB and Marmite + Lift Plus 500ml (i know i know... I've got one more left in the fridge, after that no more!)

Meal 2: 2 Muesli bars 

Meal 3: Chicken, Brown Rice, Broccoli, 1 whole egg

Meal 4: Same as above + Handful of Almonds

Pre-workout 1 scoop of C2 Extreme with water

Post workout 1 scoop of Whey Protein

Meal 5: 250g Brown Rice, 150g Chicken, 3/4 cup broccoli, 1 whole tomato, some string beans, 1 whole fried egg

 

These updates will get shorter - I just feel like it's important to chronicle my learnings so I can build on them each day.

Thanks for listening

[e s p]

10 min warm up on treadmill 4.5kmph 14% incline

Assisted Wide Pull ups 35kg on 3 x 12 - I am still struggling with this exercise but I'm told that the best way to get better at it is to do lots of them.  Need to do a bit more research and practice on form, with my knees on the pads I'm finding that when I get tired I lean forward through my chest, but consequently it feels like I get more out of the exercise.

Lying Leg Curl 3 x 15 at 35kg - Focus was on the squeeze at the top, and a slowish solid stretch back out. 

DB Bent Over Row 3 x 15 at 12.5, 10, 10 - I was trying to focus on keeping my torso horizontal, this was difficult as I was standing with a slight bent in my knees and stabilising arm on the end of a flat bench. Next time I will try this with one knee on the bench.

DB Shrugs 3 x 15 at 15kg - I enjoy this exercise.  I've seen some people doing this with some heavy ass weights (thanks for the new saying RC) but really throwing their arms up.  I question the effectiveness of doing this exercise like this because it seems like your arms are doing more of the work.  Then again, I'm a noob, so who am I to question form and technique!

Seated DB Curls 3 x 15 at 10, 9, 7 - Clearly I've had too much "alone time" and my left arm was causing all sorts of problems while trying to do both arms at the same time.  It wasn't until I dropped the weight and really tried to nail keeping my elbows tucked and flexing at the same time that I really began to feel the exercise.  I will do this one again a few times but may revert to standing single arm alternating curls which I feel does more for me.

Med Ball Twists 3 x 50 (25 each side) at 5kg - Not much to report really.  Initially I was doing these carefully but I've found that if I take less time between moving the ball from one side to the other I maintain tension on my abs throughout the movement.

In between each set of the above I did Curl Ups 3 x 30 - I must note that only the first set I made it to 30 without stopping, each subsequent set I did with short gaps between 5 and 10 reps until I reach the target.

Lying Leg Raises 3 x 12 - I'm so inflexible through my hamstrings that I struggled to get any true worth out of this exercise.  I am going to research and practice some stretches that might help with this.

Meal 1: 4 bits of white toast with PB and Marmite, 350ml Lite Milk

Meal 2: cup of brown rice, 3/4 cup of chicken, 1 tomato, 1/2 cup of broccoli, handful of string beans

Meal 3 - Basically the same as above

Pre-workout 1 scoop of C4 Extreme

Post-workout 1 scoop of whey protein, 3g of creatine (I don't know much about this but it was free with the protein, I'll spend a bit more time understanding loading/maintanence etc)

Meal 4 - Nice bit of steak, 4 medium potatoes, cup of broccoli, 1 whole tomato

Today I didn't get to eat on regular intervals because of work getting in the way.

[e s p]

No gym today - Feeling a bit sore from the last two days but a marked difference in the reduction of DOMS through stretching and cool down.  

4 bits of toast PB and marmite

chicken, rice, broccoli x 2 during the day

steak potatoes and broccoli for tea.

 

[e s p]

10 min warm up on cross trainer.  Made sure heart rate didn't go above 140.

Bench Press

1 warm up set bar only x 20

3 sets of 15 at 30, 33, 38 + drop sets on last set removing each set of plates until failure on bar

Seated Machine flyes + Pushups super set

3 sets of 15 at 35kg + push ups to failure

Full squats 

3 sets of 15 at 30kg, last set 35kg

Seated DB Arnold Press + DB lat raises super set

3 sets of 15 at 10, 9, 6kg + lat raises 3 sets of 15 at 2kg, 2kg, 1kg

Seated Leg Press + DB lunges super set

3 x 15 75kg + lunges 3 x 10 (each leg) 8kg, 8kg, 6kg

Seated Leg Extension

3 x 15 at 25kg (legs were pretty worn out at this stage)

Lots of stretching

Foam roller on my hammys, trying to nail the really sore bits

M1: 2 bits of toast PB Marmite

M2: Chicken Kebab on rice

M3: Chicken toasted sandwich

M4: Muesli Bar

Preworkout C4 Extreme 1 scoop

Postworkout Whey Protein 1 scoop

M5: 1 cup egg whites, cup broccoli, 1 tomato, 3 mushrooms, and 1/3 Avacado made into an omelette yuuuuuuuuuuuuuum

Found today that drinking water in small amounts over course of day has better effect on energy levels than trying to down heaps at once, you live you learn.

Amping for tomorrows workout

[e s p]

1 min warm up on x trainer

assisted pull ups wide grip 3 x 15 25kg

DB bench rows 3 x 15 each arm 10kg

Dead lift 3 x 15 30kg, 30kg, 40kg

Lying Leg Curls 3 x 15 35kg, 35kg, 25kg

Shrugs 3 x 15 15kg

Close grip pull ups 2 at BW 10 at 25kg, 10 at 35kg

3 x 20 Curl Ups

Lots of stretching

 

[FellowshipOfTheRon]

so hows your progress going now man? hope you're still keeping things consistent!

[FellowshipOfTheRon]

so hows your progress going now man? hope you're still keeping things consistent!