Ash's Journal

[jono]

great work ash, very solid.

[Ash]

wohoo 2pps on Decline bench, good stuff.

Cheers V. I was surprised to get 11 reps with that on the 1st RP set. Felt great!

great work ash, very solid.

Thanks jono - good to see you posting again. How goes it with you?

[Ash]

Another good workout.

Standing DB curls

22.5 x 17 RP (LT 20 x 20 RP)

Standing BB wrist curls

52.5 x 12 (LT 52.5 x 10)

Standing DB calf raises

19 x 10 (LT 19 x 8 )

I also did a set of standing smith machine calf raises to see if it's worth adding to my routine. Felt quite good - so I'll go with it as of next week.

DB shrugs

40 x 21 RP (LT 37.5 x 20 RP)

Seated leg curl

37.5 x 21 (LT 35 x 21 RP)

Abductor

125 x 16 (LT 115 x 13)

Adductor

110 x 14 (LT 105 x 12)

I'll be rest pausing these next time out, I wanted to get used to them first. As it was, I was hobbling around after doing them again last week.

[Ash]

I had an absolutely bloody brilliant workout today :grin:

I assume the creatine in the EAS Betagen is one of the main factors pushing the strength increases, even though it's a low dose. Once it's finished, I'll try some CEE.

Incline DB bench press

35 x 24 RP (LT 32.5 x 22 RP )

This was an amazing set - I would have been happy to get 20 with the 35s but it went very well.

Hammer shoulder press

60 x 18 RP (LT 55 x 18 RP)

My previous max reps with 60 was 14 (last year) - so I've made some good gains here. It's not a PB in terms of weight but I'm very happy to have added reps on this.

Seated overhead EZ Bar triceps extension

30 x 28 RP (LT 30 x 23 RP)

Hammer pulldowns

60 x 19 RP (LT 55 x 18 RP)

Close grip floor pulldowns

63 x 23 RP (LT 60 x 20 RP)

[Varven]

solid chest work.

whats eas betagen and cee ... creatine /stimulants/ energy drinks ??

[Ash]

solid chest work.

whats eas betagen and cee ... creatine /stimulants/ energy drinks ??

Per serving, Betagen is:

2g of Creatine

2g of L-Glutamine

1g of HMB

500mg of Taurine

I'm only taking 2 servings a day, so the amounts I'm getting are low but even 4g of creatine a day will probably do something.

CEE is Creatine Ethyl Ester - basically creatine monohydrate with an ester attached. That theoretically equates to better absorption and lower doses. I've heard a lot of good things about it.

I'm also getting a bottle of the Cell Biology Muscle Liquid later this week - about time I got some Tribulus back into my system :nod:

[Varven]

ash didnt you used to buy taurine somewhere cheap?

I got creatine mono and Lglutamine, Im sure I could wack in some Taurine and sugar and make my own pump/power up drink.

Care to share source of Taurine ?

cheers.

[2guns]

ash have u tried nfs kre alkalyn?

and y such high reps for yr traing is this some sort of trial or u just trying to cut down?

[Ash]

ash didnt you used to buy taurine somewhere cheap?

I got creatine mono and Lglutamine, Im sure I could wack in some Taurine and sugar and make my own pump/power up drink.

Care to share source of Taurine ?

cheers.

Nope not me. I'll see if I can track some down if you like?

[Ash]

ash have u tried nfs kre alkalyn?

Yep - it used to be my one of my favourite supplements until they stopped selling the powder and went to caps only. I can't be bothered to separate the caps but it did work very well for me.

and y such high reps for yr traing is this some sort of trial or u just trying to cut down?

I'm not intending to cut at all - trying to gain as much muscle as possible ASAP.

I'm trying to stay at the higher end of the DC rep ranges (or even above) to avoid injuries and protect my joints - generally aiming for 10 - 12 reps on the first of the 3 rest paused sets. So for example, today's DB press was 14, 6, 4 for a 24 rep total.

Sometimes, the strength increases catch me out and I'm underestimating the weights I should use. I thought the 35kg DBs would be plenty today and I'd get about 10 reps but I cranked out 14.

[ExpensiveUrine]

What's the update on injuries and weight increase/decrease?

[Ash]

What's the update on injuries and weight increase/decrease?

I'm pretty much in 1 piece at the moment - the higher rep work is proving to be great for staying injury free. The major issues are my back getting tight after workouts (regular stretching is helping) and my knees are a bit tender.

It's almost 6 weeks since I got back onto a DC type routine - in that time I've gone from 103kg to 107kg and lost a bit more fat. I'm basically at my leanest ever and getting leaner all the time but there's still some way to go before I can see any abs. I'd like to get another 2 weeks out of this blast but I'm moving up to AKL soon, which may force me to cruise for a week or so.

[deegee]

What's the update on injuries and weight increase/decrease?

I'm pretty much in 1 piece at the moment - the higher rep work is proving to be great for staying injury free. The major issues are my back getting tight after workouts (regular stretching is helping) and my knees are a bit tender.

It's almost 6 weeks since I got back onto a DC type routine - in that time I've gone from 103kg to 107kg and lost a bit more fat. I'm basically at my leanest ever and getting leaner all the time but there's still some way to go before I can see any abs. I'd like to get another 2 weeks out of this blast but I'm moving up to AKL soon, which may force me to cruise for a week or so.

Higher rep work has done wonders for me in the last few weeks, will change back soon but I have been feeling much better.

[Ash]

My back started tightening up badly after the fist 4 exercises today, so I decided to put off legs until tomorrow rather than take a chance and end up with an injury.

Standing cable curls

66 x 23 RP (LT 60 x 23 RP)

DB reverse curls

17 x 15 (LT 15 x 15)

Standing calf raises

131 x 10 (LT 131 x 8 )

Hise shrugs

130 x 28 RP (LT 130 x 26 RP)

[Varven]

nice work dude, hope the back sets itself right.

higher reps worked wonders for me too.. my joints have thanked me for it

Hey ash once ya get bak to aucks and settle down lets catch up and you can put me through one of your dc sessions.. im curious about how ill cope !

[Ash]

Another good but strange workout. In every exercise, the warmup sets felt really hard - for example, when I was working through 50kg on inclines, I only got 8 reps and they were difficult. Once the old oil got flowing through the joints, things got better (thank goodness).

Incline BB bench press

80 x 16 RP (LT 75 x 17 RP)

4 more reps than I got with the same weight last year :grin:

Seated BB military press

60 x 18 RP (LT 57.5 x 18 RP)

Even though it's not a weight PB, it's 2 more reps than I got with this weight last year. Making good progress.

CG bench press

85 x 17 RP (LT 85 x 15 RP)

Rack chins

18 RP

I've decided to rest-pause these even though they're meant to be a straight set. It doesn't make sense to me to start adding weight and drop my reps back down to single figures.

Floor pulldowns

75 x 18 RP (LT 72 x 18 RP)

[Ash]

Good workout but very draining - it's getting harder and harder to maintain the weight or rep increases but as long as it's still happening, I'll keep at it.

Seated DB curls

20 x 25 RP (LT 19 x 24 RP)

Standing DB wrist curls

30 x 12 (LT 30 x 11)

Standing DB calf raises

22.5 x 8 (LT 19 x 10)

Seated leg curl

35 x 24 RP (LT 35 x 21RP)

DB shrugs

40 x 23 RP (LT 40 x 21 RP)

Seated leg press

131 x 10 (LT 131 x 10)

103 x 19 (LT 103 x 17)

[deegee]

I'm on my last week of higher reps and found it difficult to get much inrease after time nest week I should get back to my journal I hope. How long are you going to spend on a high rep programme?

[Ash]

I'm on my last week of higher reps and found it difficult to get much inrease after time nest week I should get back to my journal I hope. How long are you going to spend on a high rep programme?

Forever? :grin:

The rep range of my first rest-pause set is usually between 10 - 15, so the weights aren't as light as they appear. I'm generally way better off in terms of injuries compared to when I'm doing 6 -8 reps in the first RP set.

I'm also putting on size quite nicely at the moment, so the higher reps don't seem to be bad for me.

[jono]

great work ash. good to see you are getting some nice gains

[Ash]

Very good workout today :grin:

Decline BB bench press

105 x 18 RP (LT 100 x 19 RP)

Seated smith military press

40 x 17 RP (LT 40 x 15 RP)

Skullcrushers

40 x 17 RP (LT 40 x 15 RP)

Wide grip pulldowns

84 x 19 RP (LT 78 x 20 RP)

Vertical grip machine rows

75 x 21 RP (LT 70 x 20 RP)

[ExpensiveUrine]

Decline BB bench press

105 x 18 RP (LT 100 x 19 RP)

Wide grip pulldowns

84 x 19 RP (LT 78 x 20 RP)

105 kg on decline? That's pretty strong man. Pulldown's are definately strong too. I think switching from whatever you were doing before, lower rep stuff, to high rep stuff was a wise choice as far as the rate of injuries is concerned. Good stuff and keep eating.

[Ash]

105 kg on decline? That's pretty strong man. Pulldown's are definately strong too. I think switching from whatever you were doing before, lower rep stuff, to high rep stuff was a wise choice as far as the rate of injuries is concerned. Good stuff and keep eating.

Thanks EU - things are moving along quite nicely.

Of course the bodypart that I've been using slightly lower reps for has come back to bite me - my knees are going downhill again. I'll go back to 15+ reps after they ease up.

[ExpensiveUrine]

105 kg on decline? That's pretty strong man. Pulldown's are definately strong too. I think switching from whatever you were doing before, lower rep stuff, to high rep stuff was a wise choice as far as the rate of injuries is concerned. Good stuff and keep eating.

Thanks EU - things are moving along quite nicely.

Of course the bodypart that I've been using slightly lower reps for has come back to bite me - my knees are going downhill again. I'll go back to 15+ reps after they ease up.

Did you try the wraps for them?

What were you doing (exercise wise) and at which point during that exercise (concentric/eccentric) did you feel the pain?

[Ash]

Did you try the wraps for them?

What were you doing (exercise wise) and at which point during that exercise (concentric/eccentric) did you feel the pain?

They were getting much better, so I didn't source any wraps :cry: I will get a set of wraps and some neoprene sleeves ASAP.

I've been using the Life Fitness seated leg press machine - the foot position felt like it was very easy on my knees.

The odd thing is that I never felt any pain while I was training them but the right one has been getting slowly worse and worse. I tried a different foot position to see if it helped but that just aggravated my old left knee injury.

I'll be at a new gym soon because I'm moving up to Auckland. Hopefully they will have a decent range of leg equipment and I can find a few that work for me.