Give me strength, or give me death!

[OnlyHuman]

Phed!

Get your physio mate do an Ober's test (or a modified Ober's) on you to asses TFL tightness. I would not be surprised if you come up positive for it. Also bust out some foam rolling on both your Tensor Fascia Lata and your Ilio Tibial Band.

(Even better, get something like a cricket ball (but a bit softer) to work into your TFL.)

Also stretch your quads out.... I have a feeling these will do you right in a few days and be able to squat again. Believe me... I looked into my crystal ball and seen the future.

[Phedder]

That sounds pretty similar mate. I don't think my quads are that tight, well they could be but I never had any issues before Saturday. I was doing a keg stand and got dropped, both knees smashed onto the rim of the keg. Only the right knee is still sore, but that's what initiated the pain. Will try giving the quads a good stretching though, cheers

OH, my TFLs are tight. Haven't done an Obers test, but they always feel tight and I try use a hard rubber ball on them twice a week or so. Will start doing it daily and see if that makes a difference, thanks for the reminder :nod:

[poos_n_wees]

Sucks about the knee bro.. All the best with the rehab'ing.

A big group of mates and I had bought some coupons for a weekend partying in Queenstown and finally decided on the weekend of the 6th and 7th of August as that also coincides with my flatmates 21st.

JEALOUS. I love Queenstown! Sounds like it'll be a blast.

[samuelNZ]

Phed, being a student also, can you give me an insight into how you go about gaining weight on sweet feck all money? Regarding nutrition that is.

I probably have about $50 max a week that I can spend on food. Chicken is atleast $20/kg on special :shock: so thats pretty much out of the picture.

Only meals I can really think of/cook are mince based, so things like homemade mince patties, burritos (although they end up being expensive too) and spaghetti bolognese - probably my main staple food.

I usually do oats and a shake in the morning, with a couple of bits of toast with PB, but really struggle with decent meals from then on lol. I don't really like rice, but have no problem eating it if theres a half decent amount of flavoring/sauce in there too, but really struggle for ideas.

Give me some of your brilliant ideas you have for mass meals and keeping food in the engine room

[Phedder]

Sucks about the knee bro.. All the best with the rehab'ing.

Cheers, is actually feeling a lot better today. Had my girlfriends 21st yesterday so never made it into the gym, nor today :oops: So maybe it really did need a good rest. Will be going in tomorrow to do some leg work, mostly glutes and hammies but if all feels well will chuck a few squats in and gauge it.

JEALOUS. I love Queenstown! Sounds like it'll be a blast.

It always is! :grin: Going to be a great weekend, that I'll no doubt be paying for with the body and the bank

Phed, being a student also, can you give me an insight into how you go about gaining weight on sweet feck all money? Regarding nutrition that is.

Sure thing mate. I feel the key factor for me, is to not be afraid of fat. I make sure to get in plenty of protein and carbs, but I definitely make up calories with quite a bit of fat too. Olive oil and Peanut butter are cheap life savers for me on a budget. You could always try pack down a tonne of oats instead but I don't like to go too nuts on the grains.

My average daily diet would go something like this, I've been roughly intermittent fasting for the last month or so too as it suits my uni schedule really well.

Big 'breakfast' smoothie - Recently posted it here for more details

and on a training day I'll also have a big hazelnut spread and peanut butter sandwhich, using 3 pieces of bread, 1 separating the two spreads.

After training I'll have a protein shake with some milo or milkshake mix - been meaning to get some dextrose as its very cheap.

I'll quickly follow that with a meal of between 200-300g meat and similar amount frozen vege with 1 cup of uncooked rice.

Dinner will be whatever is being cooked in the flat, usually either stirfrys, currys, mexican or roasts. Again roughly 200-300g meat and plenty of veges and carbs, and I'll have roughly 100g of cottage cheese after that. I usually have a few hard boiled eggs handy in the fridge for if I don't feel I've eaten enough after any meals, easy and cheap to throw back a few of those a day as well.

I probably spend roughly $75 a week on food, $35 goes into a flat kitty which covers dinners, and stuff like breads, spreads, rice etc.

Your situation is a bit tougher, $50 a week is damn tight. Bread and rice will be your best bet for carb sources, and just buy whatever meat is cheapest for the week and maybe some canned tuna or salmon too when it's cheap. Use the meat with some frozen veges and cheap sauce of your choice to make up stirfrys to last a few days, and cook at least 1 cup of rice for every time you have some of the stirfry. If you're managing to get in enough protein and carbs to support muscle growth and give you energy, I'd honestly just add more fats to up the calories. Drizzle olive oil over any veges you have, add it to stirfrys and shakes or smoothies etc, and nailing the peanut butter too. Keep hard boiled eggs handy too, another cheap and easy food to add to bump up your intake. When I don't have any stirfry prepare I'll usually have a tuna or salmon melt in its place, 1 large can on 2 bits of bread with thick slices of cheese melted over the top. A big bowl of oats with PP and peanut butter melted into it is also cheap and reasonably calorie dense.

Not sure I should be giving you nutrition advice though, if you start eating more your lifts might get even further ahead of mine

[hhhh1]

Chicken is atleast $20/kg on special

buy whole chickens. $5/kg on special. eg size 22 ~2.2kg for $11. eat the whole thing including bones

[Phedder]

Yep, whole chook on special is great. Roast it up with a tonne of potatoes and kumara, not sure about the bones though :shock:

Finally made it into the gym today, meant to go in on Sunday and Monday but the snow got in the way. In retrospect I shoulda just braved the cold and went in, snow's a lot easier to walk in than todays melted and re-frozen snow going down my hill. Slick ice the whole way down. My room got down to a temperature of 3 degrees Sunday night, WHO says anything below 15 degrees is inhumane :pfft: Here's what our backyard and sleepout were like yesterday morning;

Anyway todays session... Week 4 - deload week.

Overhead presses

10xbar

5x30kg

5x40kg

10x3x50kg

SS 50kg sets with

Chin ups

10x5

Seated Cable rows

5x15xhalf stack

Lateral raises - very strict and slow

4x10x8kg

Face Pulls

3x15xP10

[Phedder]

Week 4 - deload week

Deadlifts

10x60kg

5x60kg - cleaned

5x100kg

5x3x140kg - speed reps here, first set double overhand but the rest were mixed grip for safetys sake

Power cleans

2x5x60kg - meant to do more but a squat rack freed up so I pounced

Squats - Knee felt fine here \:D/ weight felt heavier than expected but no worries.

5x60kg

5x85kg

5x105kg

2x2x115kg

10x60kg

Good Mornings

2x5x50kg - Nah. Not a movement I like at all.

Stiff leg deadlifts - off pins just below knees

10x50kg

2x5x100kg

[drizzt]

Holy hell! I thought about uni in Dunedin at one point, but the cold I experienced when I went down for a visit made me chicken out :shifty: But that pic looks way worse!

Nice training mate 8)

[Phedder]

The cold's not all that bad, easy enough to layer up. It's only when the wind picks up that it's a real problem. Although waking up in the morning with condensation on my top blanket occasionally can be quite annoying The snow was great fun for a few days, less fun once it semi melted and re-froze to the slick ice. It's all worth it for the student lifestyle and vibe down here though, absolutely love it :grin:

[Phedder]

Week 4 - deload

Bench

lots x bar

10x60kg

2x10x80kg

3x90kg

Close grip

5x80kg

7x70kg

2x8x60kg

Chin ups

10

8

7

3+11kg ds 3 bw

single arm DB military press

5x20kg

2x5x22.5kg

Face Pulls

3x15xP8

Tricep pull downs

5x10xP10

Bicep cable curls

3x10xP10

Seated cable row

3x10xhalf stack

[tomsammce]

How much do you weight Sam?

[Phedder]

Gym scales saying a tad over 96kg lately, so in reality probably 95kg flat. The weight room scales are a bit generous. Going to chuck some pics up in the next few weeks as I haven't taken any since summer.

[poos_n_wees]

..Although waking up in the morning with condensation on my top blanket occasionally can be quite annoying

Don't know how you guys cope with the snow and cold down there. If I ever win lotto, I'm gonna follow the sun for the rest of my life lol.

ANYWAY, good to hear the knee is feeling better with squats! \:D/

[tomsammce]

Gym scales saying a tad over 96kg lately, so in reality probably 95kg flat. The weight room scales are a bit generous. Going to chuck some pics up in the next few weeks as I haven't taken any since summer.

thatll be great look fwd to it... im making a film for nzbb bro... gonna top rattys films... tomrat 1 - training in the gym vol1! no shit bro... watch this space! you know any good editers?

[Phedder]

Don't know how you guys cope with the snow and cold down there. If I ever win lotto, I'm gonna follow the sun for the rest of my life lol.

ANYWAY, good to hear the knee is feeling better with squats! \:D/

I naturally seem to run a bit hot anyway, I absolutely die in the heat back up north over summer :flames:

Cheers Tanz, just going to slowly work my way back up but keep the frequency high. Still want to give the smolov base a shot :shifty:

thatll be great look fwd to it... im making a film for nzbb bro... gonna top rattys films... tomrat 1 - training in the gym vol1! no shit bro... watch this space! you know any good editers?

Big John has been turning out some quite theatrical ones lately. If you're serious It'd be good to see the intensity you put into training :nod:

[Phedder]

Deload week - squats and done.

Did a solid 20 minute warm and stretching, usually only do 5-10.

Squats

lotsxbar

5x60kg

5x80kg

3x100kg

2x110kg

1x120kg

2x1x130kg - Really happy how these felt given the knee and lack of squatting recently.

2x120kg

3x110kg

5x100kg

10x60kg

Ghetto GHR negatives

5 reps - still some bruising on my knee which made it very uncomfortable so just did 1 set.

Another 10-15 minutes stretching out and left. Hopefully make it in again tomorrow for some more squats, still trying to build up the frequency.

[Phedder]

Week 1 day 1 - overheads

Racks were busy so did a prolonged warm up + 60 face pulls and 15 chin ups.

Overhead Press

10xbar

8x30kg

5x40kg

5x45kg

5x50kg

5x55kg

2x60kg

Add leg drive

3x70kg PB

1x75kg PB

Chin ups

5x5 SS between OH sets of 50kg+

Rear delt fly machine

3x10x61lb?

One arm military press

8x15kg

4x27.5kg - PB - My left shoulder is so much weaker. Used a slight leg drive for the left, and managed them strict with the right :-s

5x22.5kg

Face Pulls SS Chin ups

3x15xP10

3x5

Some rotator stuff.

[samuelNZ]

Solid session bro. Overheads are getting strong, well done with the PB's.

Keep it up.

[crazyfacials]

nice session with a few PBs dude :clap:

[Phedder]

Cheers guys Didn't expect it to be a good session judging from the warm up sets, the 5 at 55 was my target for 5/3/1 and it felt way heavier than expected. Somehow managed to keep upping the weight though

[Phedder]

Have had a week off training. Thursday I had to finish an assignment so I could go to Queenstown for the weekend. No time to train on Friday before we left, and yesterday was spent recovering from one of the best weekends of my life :grin: Back into it today.

Week 2 day 1&2 - Deads and Overheads.

Deadlifts

5x60kg

5x60kg- cleaned

5x100kg

3x130kg

3x150kg

4x170kg -PB

5x140kg

Overhead press - Strict

10xbar

5x30kg

5x40kg

5x50kg

5x57.5kg - PB

Push press

2x2x70kg

Strict

5x50kg

Squats

10x50kg

5x80kg

2x5x100kg

Chin ups

2x8

Really happy how this session went as I'm still feeling pretty beat up and tired but managed to pull out something half decent.

[Phedder]

Gah! Woke up this morning with a god awful throat, being out and about in the cold air today hasn't helped at all. I have to go to a cocktail party tonight, so I'm going to skip todays session and down a tonne of green tea and honey in the meantime. Will try cram both sessions in tomorrow if it's improved at all. I never get sick but the last 2 weeks my entire flat and my girlfriend have all been sick, maybe my immune system just can't hold them all off

[Phedder]

Week 2 day 3 - Bench

Bench press

lots x bar

8x60kg

5x70kg

3x80kg

3x90kg

5x97.5kg

3x2x100kg - drop set down after last set

5x90kg

15x60kg

Neutral grip chin ups

9

8

8

6

Cable Seated Row

3x10xhalf stack

Incline DB press

4x10x20kg

One arm DB push press

2x5x20kg

5x25kg

Face Pulls SS Chin ups

3x15xP11 SS 3x5

[samuelNZ]

Cold as hell down south at the moment is it mate? Hows your training been going?