Ash's Journal

[Marcus]

Hey Ash can you please explain Pinwheel curls to me? I've seen them on the DC list but can't picutre what they are?

[Ash]

Hey Ash can you please explain Pinwheel curls to me? I've seen them on the DC list but can't picutre what they are?

Use the same grip as hammer curls but you curl the DB in front of your body instead of at your sides.

Check out the diagram in post #11 on this thread:

http://www.intensemuscle.com/showthread ... heel+curls

[Marcus]

Thanks bud.

[jono]

its really good to see you have such a good workout man.

for hams you could do SLDL.

[Ash]

its really good to see you have such a good workout man.

for hams you could do SLDL.

Thanks - it feels good to be able to push hard on leg days again. I just have to be careful with my warm-ups and form to keep everything together.

I do SLDLs in addition to sumo leg press. SLDLs are a fantastic exercise and have made a big impact on my hams but I've had to modify my form to try and take my glutes out of the movement.

[jono]

its really good to see you have such a good workout man.

for hams you could do SLDL.

Thanks - it feels good to be able to push hard on leg days again. I just have to be careful with my warm-ups and form to keep everything together.

I do SLDLs in addition to sumo leg press. SLDLs are a fantastic exercise and have made a big impact on my hams but I've had to modify my form to try and take my glutes out of the movement.

yep keep that form rock solid. eventually you be back to pushing yourself untill it feels like time stops and all you can see/hear it this intense burning bright white silence. :grin:

[Ash]

Well it feels like something is happening. I haven't got the results of my latest blood test yet but I felt quite good today and managed to make good progress with everything. My bodyweight is up to 105kg and bodyfat looks like it's down a bit.

Today - chest, delts, tris, back width, back thickness

BB incline press

LT 77.5 x 13RP TT 80 x 12RP

Smith machine military press

LT 35 x 14RP TT 40 x 14RP

Skullcrushers

LT 40 x 18RP TT 40 x 20RP

Quite relieved to get some extra reps on this exercise. If I got 18 reps or less, I would have had to drop it and find a new tricep exercise for next time. I like skullcrushers, so I hope I can keep progressing on them for a while.

Wide grip pulldowns

LT 76 x 20RP TT 82 x 21RP

These felt great!

Rack deadlifts

LT 105 x 16S TT 115 x 11S

This was probably a bit of an ambitious weight increase. My form felt a little bit off and I would have been happier to be at 13-15 reps because of my back. I'll stay at this weight next time and increase the reps.

[jono]

nice work man

[Growth]

Solid wffort mate. Do you know what your BF is? Do you have calipers?

[Ash]

nice work man

Solid wffort mate. Do you know what your BF is? Do you have calipers?

Cheers guys, it feels like I am making real progress at last. I think that today's 80kg incline press is the most I've ever done. I may be wrong but as far as I recall, that's about it for me. Inclines have always been a weak lift.

BF%? No idea at all. I know that my BF is slowly dropping because I can see more detail and vascularity as the weeks go by. I've been able to get a glimpse of the top of my abs recently, which is a new thing for me. :grin:

[Ash]

My latest blood test shows my testosterone is up to 15.4, which could explain why my weights are going up quite nicely at the moment.

Today's workout:

Seated DB curls

LT 22.5 x 15RP LT 22.5 x 12S

Great set. Last time I did these, I was rest pausing them and I only managed 9 reps on the first RP set. Today I got 12 reps on the single straight set. Next time I'll go up to the 25kg DBs.

Wrist curls

LT 45 x 13S TT 50 x 11S

Leg press calf raises

LT 130 x 11S TT 140 x 12S

SLDL

LT 60 x 12S TT 65 x 15S

Leg Press

LT 240 x 20S, 240 x 20S TT 270 x 20S, 240 x 20S

These sets were harsh to say the least, particularly set #1. I was only aiming for 12 reps with 270 but got 20 somehow - I think I saw/heard jono's "intense burning bright white silence". :grin:

[jono]

My latest blood test shows my testosterone is up to 15.4, which could explain why my weights are going up quite nicely at the moment.

Today's workout:

Seated DB curls

LT 22.5 x 15RP LT 22.5 x 12S

Great set. Last time I did these, I was rest pausing them and I only managed 9 reps on the first RP set. Today I got 12 reps on the single straight set. Next time I'll go up to the 25kg DBs.

Wrist curls

LT 45 x 13S TT 50 x 11S

Leg press calf raises

LT 130 x 11S TT 140 x 12S

SLDL

LT 60 x 12S TT 65 x 15S

Leg Press

LT 240 x 20S, 240 x 20S TT 270 x 20S, 240 x 20S

These sets were harsh to say the least, particularly set #1. I was only aiming for 12 reps with 270 but got 20 somehow - I think I saw/heard jono's "intense burning bright white silence". :grin:

:grin: :grin: nice work man

[Ash]

:grin: :grin: nice work man

Thanks mate.

I think I would rather have the KGB and their 200W light shining in my eyes than the last few reps of those sets on the leg press. It seems like a much easier way to see burning white lights :shock:

[jono]

:grin: :grin: nice work man

Thanks mate.

I think I would rather have the KGB and their 200W light shining in my eyes than the last few reps of those sets on the leg press. It seems like a much easier way to see burning white lights :shock:

lol. good old legpress. well at least you know your training hard. now all you need to go is focus through the light on the hams on the way down then squeezing the squads as you push up :grin:

[Growth]

Mate! , have to commend you on that leg press work, 20 reps set are awesome, thats alot of weight for 20 reps, great stuff! :nod:

[Ash]

Mate! , have to commend you on that leg press work, 20 reps set are awesome, thats alot of weight for 20 reps, great stuff! :nod:

Cheers for that Growth. I would like to be able to do a heavy set in the 10 rep range and finish off with a 20 rep monster but my knees won't like that much, so I keep the reps high.

Bear in mind that the weights are misleading because the range of motion isn't all the way down. My knees are improving slowly but the pain is still there at the bottom of leg movements, so I have to stop a bit short.

[Ash]

I took an extra day off yesterday because this routine is kicking my butt. :pale:

You wouldn't think doing so few sets could be so damn demanding but I am taking far more strain training like this than I ever did when I was on a higher volume routine. Training each bodypart more frequently is probably what's doing the damage.

Maybe I should take up needlepoint or flower arranging? :grin:

I've decided to try an alternative split for a while to see if that improves things. I'll also be paying closer attention to my diet and see where I can add protein and calories.

The new split is:

Monday - chest/shoulder/tri

Tuesday - bicep/forearm/back width/back thickness

Thursday - calf/ham/quad

Friday - chest/shoulder/tri

Monday - bicep/forearm/back width/back thickness

etc etc

Today's workout - chest/shoulder/tri

Incline Smith Machine bench press

LT 52.5 x 9 RP TT 52.5 x 14 RP

Much better than the last time I did these which was a debacle of note.

Seated BB military press

LT 55 x 17RP TT 60 x 17 RP

These felt great - I easily added weight and got the same amount of reps as last time.

Close grip BB bench press

LT 80 x 18RP TT 85 x 16RP

Felt quite good on these as well. That's a new lifetime PB for me.

When you've only got to really give your all on 3 sets, then I guess it's not too hard to kick the logbook's ass. :pfft:

[jono]

really strong cg bench man

[Growth]

Hey ive tried that exact same split before! It was pretty good i stuck with it for a few months, got some good gains...

As jono said, the CG is pretty damn good mate. Awesome stuff.

[Ash]

Thanks guys - CG bench is coming up quite well, I've added about 20kg to it in about 10 weeks, so it's a slow but steady improvement.

I need to add 15 kg more to get to my goal but I like to keep the reps reasonably high, so any weight increases have to come at the same high rep range. I don't want to drop my reps just to get more weight on the bar - for me that's a sure way to get hurt. I am trying hard to keep my form correct as well.

[jono]

Thanks guys - CG bench is coming up quite well, I've added about 20kg to it in about 10 weeks, so it's a slow but steady improvement.

I need to add 15 kg more to get to my goal but I like to keep the reps reasonably high, so any weight increases have to come at the same high rep range. I don't want to drop my reps just to get more weight on the bar - for me that's a sure way to get hurt. I am trying hard to keep my form correct as well.

thats a good attitude man. saftey is #1 !!!! cant train if your hurt

[Ash]

thats a good attitude man. saftey is #1 !!!! cant train if your hurt

Absolutely! I am the undisputed grand champion of injuring myself just as I am starting to make good progress. :banging:

So this time I am trying harder than ever to keep all the various bits in one piece.

[jono]

thats a good attitude man. saftey is #1 !!!! cant train if your hurt

Absolutely! I am the undisputed grand champion of injuring myself just as I am starting to make good progress. :banging:

So this time I am trying harder than ever to keep all the various bits in one piece.

lol sounds like me.

stay safe man. train hard but smart

[Ash]

Today - back width, back thickness, bis, forearms

Hammer Pulldowns

LT 60 x 19 RP TT 65 x 18 RP

Machine Rows

LT 75 x 20 RP TT 80 x 18RP

BB drag curls

LT 35 x 19RP TT 35 x 10S

Just the 1 straight set for bis today but this exercise still feels very weird.

Since I stopped rest-pausing bis, I've noticed that they are growing again. Looks like I may have been overtraining them for a while.

Standing wrist curls

LT 52.5 x 11 S TT 52.5 x 13S

There were weight improvements on both back exercises but that could be because they were done at the beginning of the workout instead of after chest, delts and tris as per usual. Bis and forearms didn't feel all that great - probably because they were trained after back for a change.

[jono]

good to see you making progress ash. yeah back does take a LOT out of ur bis/forearms