Ash's Journal

[Growth]

Nice machine rows Ash.

What exactly are drag curls?

[Ash]

What exactly are drag curls?

Well it's quite simple - grab an XXXL frilly pink dress and a barbell and you're all set. :grin:

Nah - actually you just drag the BB up your body with your elbows back instead of keeping them at your side.

First movement on this page:

http://makeashorterlink.com/?D2A114A6B

They do them with a reverse grip in that link but you can do them with a normal grip as well.

[Growth]

lol :pfft:

Ahh now i see, do you find them to be a good exercise? Ive never actually tried them...

[Ash]

lol :pfft:

Ahh now i see, do you find them to be a good exercise? Ive never actually tried them...

I think they are much better as a reverse grip movement - they hit the forearms brilliantly.

This is the first time in many years that I have done them with a normal grip, I'm not 100% convinced as yet. If I could do normal BB curls without my lower back taking strain, I would definitely do them instead of the drag curls.

I need a preacher bench big time.

[Growth]

I find if i do any type of reverse grip curl that my wrists get a beating, had to drop them but yeah, i think reverse grips hit the forearms quite well.

[Varven]

Ash, good to see all the figures going up, Test Levels, Lift pundages and Im sure Body weight too.

Impressive weights on Leg Press and tricep work, great to see DC stuff working for you.

[Ash]

Ash, good to see all the figures going up, Test Levels, Lift pundages and Im sure Body weight too.

Impressive weights on Leg Press and tricep work, great to see DC stuff working for you.

Thanks V - yep making progress slowly but surely.

Believe it or not, I am thinking about dropping the rest-paused sets from my training for a while to see if I make more gains in size and strength.

Even though my strength is currently increasing, it feels like my overall recovery ability is taking strain. I have a feeling that a single straight set to failure might be enough to keep me growing and allow me to recover even better than I am at the moment.

[Ash]

Today I had a weak attempt at a workout, just couldn't get focused and lifting more weight than last time wasn't going to happen.

Not really how you want to feel when you're trying to train legs. :oops:

I think I am a bit overtrained right now and I need a break, so I am going to take it easy until the middle of next week :cry:

[Growth]

Good idea mate, happens to all of us, sometimes you just dont have the motivation that day.

[jono]

enjoy the time off

[Ash]

Yeah - I think I really need the break. It looks like 4-5 weeks is all it takes to push me into overtraining on this routine.

When I get back into training next week, I'll be pushing my food intake right up. I have a feeling that I am still not eating enough :doh:

[Varven]

Ash, I presume your following the Blasting and Cruising concepts ?

How exactly do you seperate the cycles, i.e. 4 weeks blast, 6 weeks cruise ?

And during Blast main focus is on increasing lifts every week but during cruise its maintaining weights but raising reps. Or have I got that tottaly wrong ?

[Ash]

Ash, I presume your following the Blasting and Cruising concepts ?

Very much so. There's no way I can maintain this intensity indefinitely.

How exactly do you seperate the cycles, i.e. 4 weeks blast, 6 weeks cruise ?

The cruise is never as long as the blast (unless you drop a 50kg DB on your foot). :pfft:

I go by what my body is telling me and while I would love to make 6-8 weeks hard out and 1 -2 weeks cruising, it just doesn't work that way for me. The last 3 blasts have been around 5 weeks with a week cruising.

And during Blast main focus is on increasing lifts every week but during cruise its maintaining weights but raising reps. Or have I got that tottaly wrong ?

During the blast you beat the logbook every time if possible, if not you switch exercises and find one to keep progressing on. During a cruise, it's much more relaxed. No rest paused sets and no beating the logbook, either in weight or reps. It's a recovery period and everyone does it differently.

[Ash]

Warning - very strange workout below. Avoid if you don't like reading heresy. :grin:

I've been on a break since last week, just taking it easy and not eating anywhere near enough. Time to get back into things but in the course of the rest, I've been thinking about my training.

As you may have noticed, I am on a low volume routine where a single set is done for most bodyparts but quite a few of the sets are rest-paused, which is an evil way of driving up the intensity until you just about blow an o-ring. It may sound strange but the intensity of this routine has been harsher than anything else I've ever done at gym. The rest paused sets and the frequency of training are brutal and I've only been able to train for 4-5 weeks at that level before I start to feel like crap.

So I've decided to drop the RP sets completely this time around and see if a single straight set to total failure is enough to stimulate growth while allowing me to train flat out for longer.

It sounds kind of strange to do just 1 set for a bodypart and call it quits. At the very least, it's going to be an interesting experiment.

So today's workout was - chest, delts, tris, back width, back thickness.

I didn't eat enough before training today - jono will be displeased! :gunfire:

Incline BB press

LT 80 x 12 RP TT 77.5 x 8

I pushed like a madman on this set - just missed getting 9 reps by the narrowest of margins before I totally failed. Dropped the weight a bit to try and make sure the rep range was over 8 for the set. I could have probably gone with 80 and been OK.

Seated smith machine military press

LT 40 x 14 RP TT 40 x 8

Same again - just couldn't get to 9 but it was damn close.

Skullcrushers

LT 40 x 20RP TT 40 x 11

Wide grip pulldowns

LT 82 x 21RP TT 82 x 12

Rack Deadlifts

LT 115 x 11 TT 110 x 11

Dropped the weight slightly today to concentrate on form. Felt much better and I should be able to go up to 115 or 120 next time.

After the workout, I definitely feel that I pushed hard but I don't feel as shattered as I usually do, so maybe this single set stuff will work.

[jono]

well i hope you had fun during your time off. cos now the fun is over :grin: :grin:

well i guess we'll see if this 1 set / dbpt works good 4 u or not man. i dont think i could bring myself to do that .. i would feel like i hadnt done enough.

incl bench looking solid man.

rest pause training will put a heavy strain on your recovery ability, so im interested to how this turns out for you

[Marcus]

When I first switched to DC training I thought it wouldn't be enough also. I do the 2 rest pauses in each set & I have to say I have found it so much more intense than standard training.

The extreme stretching helps me to recover on time & good doeses of glutamine.

It does test your mind because most people are used to training with more sets. I'm glad I started with conventional training, but I know that I am training smarter now & my body is responding.

[Ash]

When I first switched to DC training I thought it wouldn't be enough also. I do the 2 rest pauses in each set & I have to say I have found it so much more intense than standard training.

The extreme stretching helps me to recover on time & good doeses of glutamine.

It does test your mind because most people are used to training with more sets. I'm glad I started with conventional training, but I know that I am training smarter now & my body is responding.

Marcus - I initially felt the same but the rest pauses soon convinced me that it was more than enough.:shock:

I am pretty much convinced that most of my inability to maintain the routine for more than 5 weeks is due to not eating enough. If I was getting 450-500grams of protein a day and a lot more calories, I suspect I would be fine.

Strangely enough - my strength just keeps going up but my body conks in. If I keep pushing, I'll end up getting sick. You would think if I was overtraining, I would hit a strength plateau as well.

Until I can get that sorted out, I'll be trying the straight sets.

[Marcus]

Fair enough man. I can usually get to 6-7 weeks before my body needs a break.

How did you train before you started DC? I had long workouts with lots of sets, & for some reason my body has responded very well to DC training after a long period of treading water. I find this training is much easier on my mind because I only have one big set to fire up for. Not to mention the satisfaction of hitting PB's everytime I workout.

How was your body after you started rest-pausing? I think you could be right about the lack of protein. I've changed my diet around a lot since DC & I finally think things are coming together. I think you need to focus on your diet & the training will follow.

Just follow the straight sets for a bit then maybe try to incorporate one rest pause before increasing the weight.

Do you follow the rep range guidelines on Intense Muscle? I have them written in the back of my log book & I won't increase the weight until I hit the upper level of reps recommended. Maybe you could aim for say 8 reps of an exercise. Then once you hit 8 reps, instead of upping the weight, throw a rest pause in there. Just an idea?

[jono]

Fair enough man. I can usually get to 6-7 weeks before my body needs a break.

How did you train before you started DC? I had long workouts with lots of sets, & for some reason my body has responded very well to DC training after a long period of treading water. I find this training is much easier on my mind because I only have one big set to fire up for. Not to mention the satisfaction of hitting PB's everytime I workout.

How was your body after you started rest-pausing? I think you could be right about the lack of protein. I've changed my diet around a lot since DC & I finally think things are coming together. I think you need to focus on your diet & the training will follow.

Just follow the straight sets for a bit then maybe try to incorporate one rest pause before increasing the weight.

Do you follow the rep range guidelines on Intense Muscle? I have them written in the back of my log book & I won't increase the weight until I hit the upper level of reps recommended. Maybe you could aim for say 8 reps of an exercise. Then once you hit 8 reps, instead of upping the weight, throw a rest pause in there. Just an idea?

i can make pbs every workout without DC training. its all about diet

[Ash]

How did you train before you started DC?

I was doing a pretty standard volume routine - about 12 sets for bigger bodyparts and about 9 for smaller ones. I hadn't made any progress for a long time and my strength wasn't increasing. Admittedly I was eating badly at the time (calories way too low trying to lose fat) and I was doing a lot of high intensity cardio. Having said that, even when I was eating well, my progress wasn't as good as it has been on the DC routine.

I think you need to focus on your diet & the training will follow.

Yes indeed. I really do know that, I am just finding eating to be a bitch. I can get to 4000 calories without too much trouble but any more than that on a regular basis is proving hard. I'll try do better before jono arrives to sort me out for breaking rule #1 (first worry about the damn food, then train!) :grin:

[Marcus]

i can make pbs every workout without DC training. its all about diet

What I meant was with DC you have to progress every workout or you drop that exercise & find another one.

I can get to 4000 calories without too much trouble but any more than that on a regular basis is proving hard.

Maybe put an extra scoop or two of whey into each shake? Thats what I've done. Also added in 2 tbsps of flax oil after each shake.

It's interesting your body isn't handling the rest pauses, yet you got through a reasonable volume the way you used to train. Must be something to do with your diet. You should also look at the foods you are currently eating & see if you can substitute them with anything that might be more beneficial to your body.

Also I've noticed a difference by not mixing fat & carbs in my meals.

[Ash]

Maybe put an extra scoop or two of whey into each shake? Thats what I've done. Also added in 2 tbsps of flax oil after each shake.

I already just about live on whey...you might say my diet is "whey" out there (groan) :roll:

I need to take a much closer look at my whole food protein sources. I'll crank up my flax and olive oil intakes as well.

[Varven]

Ash, one word : MEAT .

The only way I can see you getting in more protein without using whey is by consuming meat.

[Ash]

Ash, one word : MEAT .

The only way I can see you getting in more protein without using whey is by consuming meat.

V, two words : NO WAY :grin:

Thanks for the suggestion mate but it's not happening. Getting 400g can be done - it's just more of a mission than it would be if steak, tuna and chicken were on the menu.

[jono]

Ash, one word : MEAT .

The only way I can see you getting in more protein without using whey is by consuming meat.

V, two words : NO WAY :grin:

Thanks for the suggestion mate but it's not happening. Getting 400g can be done - it's just more of a mission than it would be if steak, tuna and chicken were on the menu.

lol :grin: eat that beef !!!!!!!!

haha. damn i couldnt be a vegetarian. hmm 400g without meat .. sounds like a struggle to me