NZ's most Aesthetic Powerlifter

[thatwaslight]

imo for upper traps its weight first, rom second, i have developed an decent set of traps from just using heavy weight and squeezing whatever rom i can and it def worked (we are all diff of course) i never do shrugs anymore they just get thrashed from racks (better anyway imo)

no doubt your traps look great mate!

How much of that do you think is from having a higher insertion point? or was it a muscle group that you always liked and trained hard out from an early age?

I can do either heavy (8pps) or light (2pps) and walk away feeling like I've done a good workout.

I would pick variance for better growth of any muscle group personally...that coming from someone who has spent the last 6 months in the higher rep range I know LOL

insertions always play a role bro, but from when i first started training they were something i desperately wanted i always thought they are what make someone look like a bodybuilder rather than a fitness model (phag lol semi srs) but i agree man many ways to skin a cat.

[Android]

Nah that's cool I thought it was a bit of both.

You've said on another thread you thought Traps made a BB'er look like a BB'er so just figured you gave them a little extra attention sometime.

SG,

I always feel like not rolling and just shrugs up and down from the side (which is what I currently do) is for making the traps as high as possible from the front view.

Rolling is good as well though, to me it feels like I am shifting focus down the back of the traps as I roll (a great thing given lots of Trap muscle is in the middle of the upper back).

What I do is incline dumbbell shrugs for the middle back. So I have been doing straight up and down shrugs separately from the rear trap work.

Rolling incorporates both imo, so all good as well mate. I just thought how many muscle groups do I only do a single exercise for and expect "a lot" of growth from...not many, if any

[soundsgood]

Sounds like I will have to incorporate both methods in my training then.

Today was chest day

Warmed up on bench press w sets at 60kg, 100kg and 140kg.

First working set was 165 kg x 6

Then loaded up 175kg and did 3 sets of 3 singles. Slow down to chest, pause, explode up. Focused on constant speed up and keeping butt and feet firmly planted. First 2 of sets were good. Third rep on last set my forearm felt sore again and the bar drifted backwards just before lockout and I called spot just for precaution.

Assistance work was just 4 sets of incline DB press. 100lb DBs for between 18-20 reps per set.

And 3 sets of DB flies. 12 reps per set using 50lb DBs. Right forearm was causing me a lot of grief again so I had to call it a day there.

I have been wondering about the use of Liquid carbs as a carb source. Ie powerade. Are the 50g of sugar in this drink just as valuable to gaining size as a cup of oats. Damn IIFYM!!!

[soundsgood]

Yesterday was Squats and bits and pieces

Warmed up in the squat rack with sets w just the bar, 60kg, 140kg, 180kg

Added a belt and did a set at 225kg.

Added knee wraps and loaded up 270kg. Did a good triple.

Wasn't feeling really strong but thought Id go for the 300 anyway.

Loaded up 300 and put knee wraps on pretty tight.

Unracked bar and took a pace backwards each side. Damn it was feeling heavy. Didn't quite have my feet in the right place but you don't want to f*ck around shuffling your feet with that much weight on your shoulders.

I videoed it side on. You can see how I drop down with alot of control and break depth. I Kept going to make sure of it and unfortunately I didn't bounce I almost paused before coming back up. No explosion and consequently after only a few inches I had to bail on the lift. So the big 3 hundy still eludes me. I need to do a few more heavy walkouts to get used to the weight, and get foot placement bang on. I also need to work on ensuring I get a decent pop at the bottom. I know I have enough strength to do it its just a mental thing now.

Next I did 5 sets of Leg extensions. 5 sets of Ham curls. Some lunges and finished on calf raises.

Arm is still giving me arseholes. Has been playing up while working too. Such a pain in the butt. Oh well, not long till I can start playing with baby weights again. Can't wait.

[steak]

:clap: for giving a ride bro. you'll get that sooner than any of us

[startinfromscratch]

awesome bro!

im the last c*nt that should give advice on anything, but one thing oldbull taught me when i hit up PH is the '3steps' approach. practice getting from the unrack position to the ready position in 3 steps. it saves a fair amount of energy, i found it to be really good anyways. If you are already doing it, ignore this

the first 2 streps are moving each foot back, the 2nd foot back should be where its gonna start for your squat. the third step is more just an adjustment to get you square/even..

edit - easy to do this in a power rack, hard to do if you are squatting out of an angled rack as you need to move back more to clear the rack.

[soundsgood]

Cheers steak.

And that is solid advice SFS! Thanks for passing it on (cheers OB too)

Today was supposed to be more benching. Just working on keeping form.

Warmed up with sets at 60kg, 100kg and 140kg

Used 170kg and did a set of 5. My right bicep and forearm were absolutely killing me during this set so I gave up there rather than aggrevate it.

Did some high rep low weight machine flies and called it a day.

This injury is really bugging me. I'm going to try convince my missus to give me a deep tissue massage on it tonight. If that doesn't work I might have to hacksaw it off lol.

[steak]

heat pack, some karma love oil and attack it with a screwdriver handle. If that dont help...eat more red meat, drink more milk, take more fish oil and squat more :grin:

[thatwaslight]

Cheers steak.

And that is solid advice SFS! Thanks for passing it on (cheers OB too)

Today was supposed to be more benching. Just working on keeping form.

Warmed up with sets at 60kg, 100kg and 140kg

Used 170kg and did a set of 5. My right bicep and forearm were absolutely killing me during this set so I gave up there rather than aggrevate it.

Did some high rep low weight machine flies and called it a day.

This injury is really bugging me. I'm going to try convince my missus to give me a deep tissue massage on it tonight. If that doesn't work I might have to hacksaw it off lol.

FUARRRK!

[soundsgood]

Almost a full week off to give my arm a chance to heal. Can't remember the last time I hadnt at least gone in and done a bit of cardio at least for a week.

Took a double scoop of mesomorph pre workout then headed in to Flex.

Warmed up in the squat rack with sets at 20kg, 60kg and 100 kg.

Added belt and warmup sets with 180kg and 225kg

Added wraps and Loaded up 265kg and did 2 sets of 3, making sure I was breaking depth every rep (had a mate judge from the side to make sure)

Felt like ramping it up the last working set so loaded up to 275kg.

Did 4 rock solid reps which is a 4 rep PB (4 x 275kg)

Was straining so hard on the last rep I started bleeding from somewhere on the top of my head and it trickled down my forehead :shock:

That was squats done, no widow maker today, forearm was starting to play up again

Moved onto the Leg press and did the old

2pps for 20

3pps for 30

4pps for 40

5pps for 50

6pps for 60

Had to rest pause a couple of times on the last set but got all the reps out. No 7pps for 70 today! Started feeling a little bit sick in the belly like high reps always does to me.

Moved onto leg extension. Set the pin to full stack and I didn't have much in me. Only did 4 sets of 12 - 16 reps. A bit down on what I usually do but quads felt hammered from the leg press.

Finished off on 5 sets of 20-30 seated calf raises w full stack.

All done.

Went home and the mesomorph started to wear off. The comedown can be a bitch. But as my TP reminded me, the crash is worth the glory.

I'm not sure if it's worth training again before The PL comp on Saturday? Would hate to aggregate my arm any further.

Why haven't I seen a physio yet? Because I know they will tell me not to do the comp. yeah I know. Maybe im stupid but I just want to do it then get my arm sorted. Im not silly, Im not going to push it any further than I'm comfortable with. Going to have to scale the bench back a bit and deadlifts are pretty much written off. I just want to hit a good squat and I'll be happy

[soundsgood]

Went into Flex tonight to test my arm and see if it could handle a little bit of benching.

Took a couple of panadol, and rubbed a bit of voltaren emulgel all over my right arm to try and loosen it up.

Warmed up on the bench with sets at 60kg and 100kg.

Then got into some paused singles

1 x 125kg

1 x 140kg

1 x 150kg

1 x 165kg

1 x 170kg

1 x 183kg

All solid lifts without any problem.

Loaded up 192.5kg

Unracked it and got about halfway down when I felt pain throbbing through my forearm and shoulder so I pushed into back up and racked it.

Hmmm not to sure where to start on saturday.

Maybe open on 183, then go 187.5 and then 192.5 on third? All depends on how my arm feels. Its obvious I'm not going to PB so I'll take what I can get.

After the benching I did 3 sets of 18-16 incline DB press with the 100lb DBs. Fortunately they didnt make my arm feel to bad so that was a good sign.

Finished with 5 sets of 12 DB incline flies with the 50lb DBs.

Not a big session at all, just testing the waters. Obviously not even close to 100% but I will give the comp a crack anyway.

I will attack a big squat, then get what I can on the bench. The deadlift will be a writeoff. I have already made a gentlemans agreement with my TP that I won't beat his Gym comp record of 247kg. I'll only match it at best and at this stage it seems unlikely I will even attempt it. Its his early xmas present lol.

[southernsamurai]

Very very strong there man! Goes to show you can look good (no homo) and be strong as well.

Crazy thickness in those legs (avatar pic) if that is you! Must be strong as mentally to have earned a set of wheels like those! As the young men would say mirin!

[soundsgood]

Cheers Southern Samurai :grin:

Yep my Avi is of me backstage at the national qualifiers this year. I'm one of those weird guys that loves training legs lol.

[southernsamurai]

Awesome bro!

Good to see you're not just another Jonny Bravo :pfft:

Next time I train legs I will use yours as motivation since I want a pair big f*ck off quads :nod:

In your off season do you usually just do lots of heavy squats or mix up the rep range and hit diff angles etc?

[Optimass]

imo for upper traps its weight first, rom second, i have developed an decent set of traps from just using heavy weight and squeezing whatever rom i can and it def worked (we are all diff of course) i never do shrugs anymore they just get thrashed from racks (better anyway imo)

no doubt your traps look great mate!

How much of that do you think is from having a higher insertion point? or was it a muscle group that you always liked and trained hard out from an early age?

I can do either heavy (8pps) or light (2pps) and walk away feeling like I've done a good workout.

I would pick variance for better growth of any muscle group personally...that coming from someone who has spent the last 6 months in the higher rep range I know LOL

insertions always play a role bro, but from when i first started training they were something i desperately wanted i always thought they are what make someone look like a bodybuilder rather than a fitness model (phag lol semi srs) but i agree man many ways to skin a cat.

IMO traps are like legs - you have the right shape or you don't.

there is no real benefit physiologically rolling your shoulders. how ever - full ROM is a factor - if you cant make your traps touch your ears at the top of the movement you not contracting hard enough. The only other variables for development are your hand position and what position you put your head in.

i.e - for maxx ROM ... lock your chin on your chest for the entire movement ... if you are using d/bells pronate your hands so that they are fully rotated (back of hands touching your thigh) ... these two actions full open the traps and will allow you to get a full contraction (straight up and down) using every fibre in the movement.

locking your chin down using a pronated grip on both hands with d/bell and heavy is my fav.

like calves weight + ROM + strict form = development. so if you dont use a powerful concentric phase and a slow eccentric phase your not getting the most from the move - 1 sec up hold for one second and then down 2-3 seconds. 5sec reps.

like to do upright rows and d/b rear delt exercises to pre-exhaust before doing shrugs. tooo.

sorry to hijack your journal SG ... :grin: bummer about your forearm - not enough warmup possibly but given the amount of mass you have it's probably one of those freak injury things ... if you get an empty 5lb tub of protein powder and fill it halfway with sand or stones you can use it by opening your hand inside it and lifting it off the ground for a static contraction ... I do this regularly to relieve pain at my elbows but it works for my forearms too. work/ice/rest/work/ice/rest ... the riddle of steel as Conan put it :nod:

[soundsgood]

Solid advice there Optimass! Full ROM being the key. I watched 'Warrior' last night. It's an MMA movie with Tom Hardy in it. He's not a massive guy but f*ck his traps are like Batistas! Genetics obviously plays a massive role in it.

Southern Samurai you can go back over my journal and see EXACTLY whet my leg trains consist of. But basically I mix the rep range up a lot in the same workout to keep my quads guessing.

[soundsgood]

Today was my PL comp. Had very little appetite yesterday and today so didn't eat much leading into it but felt okay.

Squats were obviously up first. Belt and Knee Wraps.

First Attempt was @ 280kg. Down and up without any drama.

Second Attempt was 295 kg which is a PB. Unracked, 3 pace walkout , got the call and dropped to depth. Blasted back up, bit of a grind halfway up, dug deep and popped up. Pass!

Third Attempt was 307kg. (7pps with 45lb plates plus collars).

Dropped into it, popped up about 4 inches, stalled and bailed.

Didn't quite manage the 300 I wanted but happy with 295. Unfortunately my right forearm was really aching by now. I was the last lifter so There was only a little bit of time before we got started on the bench. Rubbed heaps of Voltaren Emulgel on to try cool it down.

First Attempt on the bench was 165kg. Popped up no dramas.

Second Attempt was @ 183kg. Again i got it without any probs but my arm was pretty sore.

Third Attempt I tentatively set at 188kg. Unracked it, brought it to my chest then my arm gave way due to the pain. Missed it.

Pretty average bench, would have liked closer to 200, but realistically that was never going to happen with a bung arm so I'll take the 183.

Deadlifts were next. Was going to be hit and miss to see what my arm could handle. To be on the safe side I went 230kg as opener. No probs.

Second attempt set at 251kg. Surprising easy.

Third Attempt was set at 265kg. And I nailed that one too.

So I ended up going 743kg @ 112kg which was good enough for first place.

Although I bombed the bench I'm not unhappy with the total. Too be honest I'm glad it's over and I get back to training to look good instead of training for strength although you do look pretty awesome with 300kg+ on your shoulders :pfft:

Edit: turns out we had misloaded the 295 squat. It was in fact 301.5kg! So I did get the 300 squat and my total was 749.5.

[steak]

Wicked raw total bro :clap: :clap: :clap:

[Optimass]

found your second calling bro .... strong total at your bodyweight. :clap:

[Grover]

:clap:

well done

[tomleegolf]

Damn, u strong

[soundsgood]

Thanks alot guys :grin:

Itll be a while before i have another crack i think Opti. Focusing on looking good now lol.

Checked the photos today and it turns out we had misloaded the 295kg squat. It was actually 301.5kg! So I did get the 300 after all! And that takes my total up to 749.5. Yay stoked!

[thatwaslight]

Thanks alot guys :grin:

Itll be a while before i have another crack i think Opti. Focusing on looking good now lol.

Checked the photos today and it turns out we had misloaded the 295kg squat. It was actually 301.5kg! So I did get the 300 after all! And that takes my total up to 749.5. Yay stoked!

Fuark awesome!!! big is strong

[I Declare War]

:clap: :clap: mean, that's a good surprise for you. now, start being a bloody bodybuilder again eh!

[Gym rat]

Well done dude :clap: :clap: :clap: