Ash's Journal

[jono]

nice work man. good to hear the knees feel ok.

[Ash]

Chest, delts and tris today (with some traps) - I decided to stay with the last workout I did so that I can get stuck in with the new movements.

Decline BB bench press

90 x 16 RP

(Last time 85 x 17 RP)

I thought I would get more of an increase than that...mumble mumble

Seated DB press

25 x 10

25 x 9

25 x 8

(Last time 22.5 x 11, 25 x 8, 22.5 x 8, 22.5 x 8 )

These felt much better today.

Floor skullcrushers

30 x 22 RP

(Last time 30 x 17 RP)

DB Shrugs

25 x 15

25 x 15

25 x 12

25 x 10

[jono]

nice work there man

[deegee]

Good to see people getting back into the swing of things this year, mm should really start myself!

[Ash]

Saturday - back, bis, forearms

Hammer pulldowns

55 x 17 RP

(Last time 52.5 x 18 RP)

Horizontal grip machine rows

57.5 x 20 RP

(Last time 55 x 20 RP)

Standing cable curls

42 x 12

46 x 10

42 x 10

36 x 12

Standing DB wrist curls

25 x 14

27.5 x 10

(Last time 25 x 12, 25 x 11)

[jono]

nice work man..

[Ash]

nice work man..

Thanks jono - still trying to get up to full speed but making progress. I just have to keep eating more....

[deegee]

Nice work out ,You can alwys do with eating more!

[jono]

Nice work out ,You can alwys do with eating more!

i cant stress this enough...

eating 10 cals more than you need wont cut it.

[Ash]

eating 10 cals more than you need wont cut it.

That's why I eat at least 12 more than I need :wink:

[Ash]

Monday - Legs

Leg extension

37.5 x 16

37.5 x 15

37.5 x 14

(Last time 35 x 17, 35 x16, 35 x15)

Seated leg press

96 x 20

110 x 18

124 x 12

(Last time 101 x 20, 101 x 20, 110 x 18 )

I was aiming for 15 with that last set of 124 but the jump was just too much when combined with the pre-exhaust from the leg extensions.

Standing calf raises

77 x 10

83 x 10

83 x 9

(Last time 77 x 10, 77 x 10, 77 x 9)

Giving hams a break this workout.

As usual - some progress all round. Not as much as I would like but better than it has been with legs.

[2guns]

y only 3 exercises per workout and for chest your only doing decline bench wats with tht? sorry and db press but dnt u think u should add more variation? and wat r u trying to do buil mass or lean up?

[Ash]

y only 3 exercises per workout and for chest your only doing decline bench wats with tht? sorry and db press but dnt u think u should add more variation? and wat r u trying to do buil mass or lean up?

Keep an eye on the journal - my routine does vary (depending on the state of my back injury) but I generally stick with 1 movement per bodypart per session, which has proven to be plenty for me. Legs are an exception, at times I'll go with 2 exercises.

I've recently repeated 2 workouts in a row because I was working up new exercises around the public holidays where my gym was closed.

At the moment, I'm trying to put on more mass.

[2guns]

and is it working for u? r u putting on mass?

and do u change yr workout almst every sesion?

[Ash]

and is it working for u? r u putting on mass?

Yeah, it works well. When my nutrition is sorted, I make great gains but of course, when I don't eat enough - nothing happens.

and do u change yr workout almst every sesion?

The theory is to have a rotation of 3 exercises per bodypart and do one of those per workout, adding weight or reps (or both) every workout.

With my back injury and the limited range of equipment at my gym, I sometimes have to make do with 2 exercises per bodypart, 1 in the case of hams.

[Ash]

Tuesday - chest, delts, traps

Incline BB bench press

75 x 14 RP

(Last time 70 x 18 RP)

BB military press

50 x 18 RP

These felt great! It's really nice to have them back in the routine.

DB shrugs

25 x 16

27.5 x 13

27.5 x 13

27.5 x 12

(Last time 25 x 15, 25 x 15, 25 x 12, 25 x 10)

[jono]

good to see gains here man

[Ash]

good to see gains here man

Thanks jono - the weights are going up but I'm still very conscious of the old injuries, not to mention the recent ones, so I'm trying to keep my reps to at least 9 if not higher.

Sometimes I misjudge the 1st part of the RP set and can't quite get 9 or 10 reps but I'm not too fussed about it as long as I don't start dropping down towards 6 reps, which is where I really start to fall apart. :?

Still, there is some progress happening :grin:

[jono]

good to see gains here man

Thanks jono - the weights are going up but I'm still very conscious of the old injuries, not to mention the recent ones, so I'm trying to keep my reps to at least 9 if not higher.

Sometimes I misjudge the 1st part of the RP set and can't quite get 9 or 10 reps but I'm not too fussed about it as long as I don't start dropping down towards 6 reps, which is where I really start to fall apart. :?

Still, there is some progress happening :grin:

saftey is very important. and i think being very careful is a good thing!!

me personally i like low reps :grin:

however you train, train smart

[Varven]

Good work on the Inclines big guy.. hang in there with the diet too !

[Ash]

Thurs - back, bis and forearms

Close grip pulldowns

82 x 18 RP

(Last time 78 x 18 RP)

Floor medium grip pulldowns

72 x 17 RP

Incline bench rear lateral raises

17 x 12

17 x 12

17 x 11

(Last time 17 x 12, 17 x 10, 17 x 10)

Standing cable curls

48 x 18 RP

Standing BB wrist curls

40 x 15

45 x 12

47.5 x 9

(Last time 40 x 13, 45 x 11, 47.5 x8 )

[jono]

some nice progress there man

[Ash]

some nice progress there man

Thanks jono - my diet is OK at the moment but my sleep has gone to crap, which is holding me back, just can't seem to give it 100% at gym right now

[Ash]

I've been thinking about changing my workout routine for a while now and have finally decided to go back to a full body routine.

I really need a change - I think the rest-paused sets and the split routine have been hammering my CNS and I just never feel very recovered.

The new routine isn't set up how I would like it to be due to my back injury (no squats, DL or bent rows) but I'll give it a bash and see how it goes.

1. I'll train chest, delts, back, bis, tris, quads, hams all on 1 day, initially 2x a week

2. Traps, calves and forearms will be done on 1 of the off days

3. Aim for 3 sets of 10 reps per bodypart, when I can get 10+ reps for all 3 sets, I'll up the weight

4. Concentrate very heavily on form - at least 2 seconds for the positive and 2 for the negative with a peak contraction where applicable

5. Don't break form at all to do an extra rep

6. Pick 2 movements for each bodypart and alternate them each workout

7. I may only do 1-2 sets for bis and tris depending on how they respond

Today's workout felt great - I'm not used to doing so many sets and I was pretty hammered towards the end. The really slow form is a killer, I had to drop my weights dramatically in most cases....it's not "light weight baby", more like "baby weight" :grin:

Decline BB press

65 x 10

65 x 9

65 x 8

Close grip pulldowns

66 x 9

66 x 9

66 x 9

Seated DB press

20 x 9

20 x 8

20 x 7

Seated DB curl

12 x 10

12 x 10

12 x 9

Hammer tricep machine

50 x 10

50 x 8

Leg ext

40 x 10

40 x 10

40 x 9

Leg curl

30 x 10

30 x 8

30 x 7

The movements I did today aren't the final choices - I'm still working out the options.

[Pseudonym]

The really slow form is a killer, I had to drop my weights dramatically in most cases....it's not "light weight baby", more like "baby weight" :grin:

I know that feeling! A while ago a PT suggested I try 5secs up, 5secs down for incline bench. Nasty! I was using piddling wee weights, and I was still shaking like a leaf, struggling to get the weight up. It obviously looked like I was about to collapse at any moment, because everyone kept trying to spot me! :pfft: