Rookie: Road to rippedness and first comp

[Rookie]

Mean p chain session, back on the grind with the box squats, today was just to see where I am on the box squat.

Intensity: 4- Just got the feel with the box squats, no chains felt weird but a good gauge of where I'm at. the last single was hard but wouldnt say it was a :shock: set, had a spot and got told I couldve had 190 easily- prob couldve, but plenty of time to get it up

Box squats: 60x5, 80x5, 100x5, 140x3, 160x1, 180x1- I know if I keep at it, a 220-230+ box squat will be on the cards by May. The 240kgs I mentioned in this journal a while back may have been a bit optimistic. As long as I can hit a 180-190kgs power squat I'll be happy, hey maybe even more. The good thing about the box/bench is that it is just below parallel for me, which is perfect for comp prep.

RDL:

100x10, 110x10, 120x10- happy with these, a lot easier on the lower back than SLDL's

Hammy curls:

63x10, 63x10, 67.5x8, 67.5x8- these felt good, emphasized the negative to keep the work on the hammys

That was it for today, short-ish and was gone after the box squats, very happy that I still somewhat "have it" on the box squats. Will be adding 5kgs a week where possible.

I know my dead will be very similar to my best box squat (that was with chains, so could be more if I hit a higher PB without chains)

Will remember to do speed deads next week :doh:

I will be looking to build more size by May (muscle/fat)- unfortunately it won't be visible This is because as I've experienced, when my BW increases, my strength does and vice versa. Hence why being a certain bf level is irrelevant to me. The main focus now is to get stronger each week and see what my body wants to do, I will provide with the food needed to do its thing

Quote of the day: "90% of the people you meet are negative pricks, make your goal so vague so the only thing they can do is wish you luck"- Dave Tate

[Grover]

Mean p chain session, back on the grind with the box squats, today was just to see where I am on the box squat.

Intensity: 4- Just got the feel with the box squats, no chains felt weird but a good gauge of where I'm at. the last single was hard but wouldnt say it was a :shock: set, had a spot and got told I couldve had 190 easily- prob couldve, but plenty of time to get it up

Box squats: 60x5, 80x5, 100x5, 140x3, 160x1, 180x1- I know if I keep at it, a 220-230+ box squat will be on the cards by May. The 240kgs I mentioned in this journal a while back may have been a bit optimistic. As long as I can hit a 180-190kgs power squat I'll be happy, hey maybe even more. The good thing about the box/bench is that it is just below parallel for me, which is perfect for comp prep.

RDL:

100x10, 110x10, 120x10- happy with these, a lot easier on the lower back than SLDL's

Hammy curls:

63x10, 63x10, 67.5x8, 67.5x8- these felt good, emphasized the negative to keep the work on the hammys

That was it for today, short-ish and was gone after the box squats, very happy that I still somewhat "have it" on the box squats. Will be adding 5kgs a week where possible.

I know my dead will be very similar to my best box squat (that was with chains, so could be more if I hit a higher PB without chains)

Will remember to do speed deads next week :doh:

I will be looking to build more size by May (muscle/fat)- unfortunately it won't be visible This is because as I've experienced, when my BW increases, my strength does and vice versa. Hence why being a certain bf level is irrelevant to me. The main focus now is to get stronger each week and see what my body wants to do, I will provide with the food needed to do its thing

Quote of the day: "90% of the people you meet are negative pricks, make your goal so vague so the only thing they can do is wish you luck"- Dave Tate

Love the quote!

Great move putting up your alter ego "Rookie01"

just kidding, but may start something!

[HarryB]

I am enjoying reading this journal, I think it's important to focus on basic strength and large compound movements. I think too many beginners are so focussed on the end result they miss the steps it takes to get there. You are definitely making great progress.

Bf is relative, you were 35% and now 20% that's awesome and your strength gains are great.

[tinytraps]

Mean p chain session, back on the grind with the box squats, today was just to see where I am on the box squat.

Intensity: 4- Just got the feel with the box squats, no chains felt weird but a good gauge of where I'm at. the last single was hard but wouldnt say it was a :shock: set, had a spot and got told I couldve had 190 easily- prob couldve, but plenty of time to get it up

Box squats: 60x5, 80x5, 100x5, 140x3, 160x1, 180x1- I know if I keep at it, a 220-230+ box squat will be on the cards by May. The 240kgs I mentioned in this journal a while back may have been a bit optimistic. As long as I can hit a 180-190kgs power squat I'll be happy, hey maybe even more. The good thing about the box/bench is that it is just below parallel for me, which is perfect for comp prep.

Vid or it didnt happen Good to see you back on the box. Although I cant see how your free squat is less than your box squat?

[HarryB]

Vid or it didnt happen Good to see you back on the box. Although I cant see how your free squat is less than your box squat?

ROM is how the box squat is more than his free squat.

[Rookie]

Vid or it didnt happen Good to see you back on the box. Although I cant see how your free squat is less than your box squat?

ROM is how the box squat is more than his free squat.

This! bro my wide stance squat will always be higher than my close stance high bar! My last comp lift was deeper than the box I'm using atm. This should be a higher crossover once I get the numbers up since its just weight and no chains.

I am enjoying reading this journal, I think it's important to focus on basic strength and large compound movements. I think too many beginners are so focussed on the end result they miss the steps it takes to get there. You are definitely making great progress.

Bf is relative, you were 35% and now 20% that's awesome and your strength gains are great.

Thanks mate, yeah I just focus on variations of the big 3 (squat, bench and deadlift). You couldn't be more right about that, I just do the simple things that need to get things done, a quote which fits in there: "a sculpture can not be polished unless it has been carved"

If you did all the isolation work in the world with no compounds, there would be minimal growth in comparison to if you focused on compounds and did some assistance work- in regards to both strength and size.

For me its all about getting stronger each week. Cheers for the support!

Rookie

[Rookie]

Yesterday was delts, server was down when I tried to enter my session last night.

Intensity: 3.5- Work rate wasn't bad, needs to be a lot faster though. Felt a bit flat due to lack of food but strength was there. Might do 10sets of laterals and 4 sets on the machine next week. I think the best delts sessions I've had were when food is on point and rest periods are no longer than 60secs between sets. Although I wasnt pumped as I hoped for, still got a good burn in the delts

Planning: 3- Was slack on pre w.o nutrition since I had to go town to sort some things out. Will make sure this doesnt happen again. Had vague goals in mind to increase weight/reps on each exercise

Execution: 4- did everything well, only if my nutrition was better my training/execution would've been better, still felt the burn in the delts which is a good sign

Delts:

Db rear delt raises:

10x15, 12.5x15, 12.5x15, 15x12, 15x10- these were good, allows my delts to get a lot warmer before pressing which is good/safe

Arny press: 17.5x10, 17.5x10, 22.5x10 PB, 22.5x6- Happy with these, first of arny press killed me, delts were burning hard

DB laterals: 10x20, 10x15, 12.5x12, 12.5x12, 15x10PB, 15x8- These were awesome, I want to hit the 10sets method again, love the pump, 4 extra sets make a huge difference. Def time to bring it back in.

Machine lat raise: 4x10, 4x10, 5x8PB, 5x8PB Love this machine, can always get a good burn in the side delts, more focus on that area IMO, emphasise the negative and burns like a mofo

All in all it was a good session, didn't do front raises because I forgot :doh: Getting delts stronger is helping A LOT with benching/Incline DB's

Today is arms

Rookie

[Rookie]

Awesome arms session today with PB's all over the show

Intensity: 4- arms were pumped, good work rate however then CGBP rooted me and the skullcrusher/BB curl SS. I am enjoying supersets since they allow me to do a good amount of work in a shortish time and still use reasonable weights.

Planning: 5- all goals were clearly outlined, know what I wanted to achieve and walked in the gym knowing I will achieve the goals. Nutrition was all good, eating a few meals before training does wonders for pump/energy IMO.

Execution: Did everything well, need to sort out form for overhead ext's, hits the tri's but not able to get a full stretch :?

Arms:

CGBP: 60x10, 60x10, 70x8, 82.5x6 PB, 82.5x5 PB

Skulls: 15+barx12, 17.5+barx12 PB, 20+barx10 PB, 20+barx6 PB

BB curls: 35x12, 35x12, 40x9 PB, 40x8 PB

OH rope ext: 35x15, 40x12, 40x11, 45x8

DB curls: 15x10, 15x10, 17.5x10, 17.5x9

Nautilus Tri: 60x12, 60x11, 60x10, 60x10

Nautilus Bi: 70x20, 70x12, 80x8 PB, 80x8 PB

All in all was a good session, not stressed about the small stuff, happy that I was able to add 2.5kgs on the CGBP- this will be done on a weekly basis till it stops going up.

Happy with the pump and the strength, but not my best arms session, need to push it more and more. If I dont feel the OH ropes anymore, pushdowns will come in.

Stoked with how curls are coming along too, will be happy to curl the 20kg DB's soon- full stretch/squeeze and negative: don't see the point in excessive swinging or dropping the weight and not doing the negative

Tomorrow is quads which should be great fun, love training them atm.

Tip of the day: Some people say they squat ATG, when in reality they only squat to parallel, half squats are great for ego but not good for growth/strength thats for sure.

Strength is the best indicator for progress, weight is not. People rattle on about gaining a kg or two in a week :pfft: I could force feed myself and gain 4 in a week if I wanted to.... also could drop 2kg in a day. The point is weekly strength gains indicate progress, not gain in water weight

Rookie

[Rookie]

Today was quads, had some screwed up shit happen on the squats :shock:

Intensity: 4.5- Squats were crap since I had a very very very bad headache onset by squats :? felt like shit after that, couldnt get the reps I wanted it hurt so bad- close to fainting. Had to chill and hit it hard on the LP and extensions after that. Work rate was quickish considering all that crap going on at the start

Planning: 4.5- New what I wanted to, clearly outlined. Pre w.o nutrition wasn't that great, went in a bit dehydrated too

Execution: 3.5- Did well but not satisfied, that headache was a big setback prob held me back a good 4-5reps. Legs were very pumped during the 10x10 leg press, once again with 60sec rest in between

Quads:

Squats: 60x10, 60x10, 80x10, 80x10, 90x10, 105x12 PB for weight- headache was fucking me up, felt like head was gonna explode, 105x15 PB for weight

Nautilus 45 degree leg press: 2.75PPSx10x10- this machine is a hard so only go up in small increments and you feel the difference, quads were so sore and heavy- mean pump. Will move to 3PPS for 10x10 hoping all reps come out.

Extensions:

65x16, 65x14, 60x16, 60x14- legs were so gone from the squats and 10x10 LP that I could barely extend much. Still got a mean pump.

Not too stressed about the extensions, I know it would go down since the LP fucked me up big time. Triceps are aching hard from yesterday, not sure if it was the CGBP- technique was a lot better or the skulls, they both hit my triceps hard.

Quote of the day: "Aint nothing to it but to do it"

Tip of the day: Do not train with only have a few glasses of water prior :doh:

Rookie

[Grover]

Hey Rookie not sure whether I agree with exercising as hard with a headache!

But certainly shows mental toughness especially pumping out PB's

:clap:

[tinytraps]

Bro something I found that helped with my hi bar squat was using clubbing shoes ( ) with a good heel. Helps with getting that arse to calves movement going on, feels pretty safe on the knees too.

Headaches are sometimes a sign of something worse. I would say get your BP checked just in case, better to be strong and alive right?

[Dr Squat]

Headaches are sometimes a sign of something worse. I would say get your BP checked just in case, better to be strong and alive right?

Reminds me of that little kid off Kindergarten Cop:

"It might be a tumour".

[Best Bench]

It's not a TUNA!

[Rookie]

Headaches are sometimes a sign of something worse. I would say get your BP checked just in case, better to be strong and alive right?

Reminds me of that little kid off Kindergarten Cop:

"It might be a tumour".

:pfft: Don't want it to happen ever again... worst feeling I've ever had.

Bro something I found that helped with my hi bar squat was using clubbing shoes ( ) with a good heel. Helps with getting that arse to calves movement going on, feels pretty safe on the knees too.

Headaches are sometimes a sign of something worse. I would say get your BP checked just in case, better to be strong and alive right?

LOL at clubbing shoes, yeah I can go quite low with them but not quite ATG- def well below parallel though.

Yeah I thought it was something to do with BP but damn man it was not a pleasant feeling I can tell ya! Will get a health check soon!

Hey Rookie not sure whether I agree with exercising as hard with a headache!

But certainly shows mental toughness especially pumping out PB's

:clap:

Thanks mate, yeah I felt like ending it there but I don't leaving things half done so did my best at that time. Will def go for more reps next week as long as that damn headache doesn't come on again

It's not a TUNA!

lol Alf, how's training bro? What are the plans for this year benching wise?

[HarryB]

The headache could have been from all kinds of things, if it becomes recurring then you best get your butt to the dr and work out why it's happening. Might be from compression across your traps from changing to a high bar squat.

With regard to pre workout nutrition, I always think of earting today for tomorrows workout. So your preworkout nutrition starts after every workout in preparation for the next one.

More carbs the day before legs and back... if you try and rush the food in prior to working out your body hasn't assimilated it properly and it will impact negatively.

[PeterDolan]

Talking to my massage therapist, she says about 70% of head aches are caused by tight fascia over the skull

[Phedder]

Talking to my massage therapist, she says about 70% of head aches are caused by tight fascia over the skull

How the hell do you fix that :shock:

[Tygrrh]

Talking to my massage therapist, she says about 70% of head aches are caused by tight fascia over the skull

How the hell do you fix that :shock:

Drink a lot of water and either myo-fascial release or skin rolling, a massage also works. While skin rolling can initially be painful, it is really good because it is a massage technique that loosens the fascia from your muscles allowing the muscle to move freely. When done correctly you can actually feel the fascia popping as it releases.

Rookie, headache maybe caused by your traps pulling your thoracic spine out of alignment. Don't know where you are but try and get to an osteopath (they can do both spinal adjustments and muscle work). It could be very beneficial to you. Don't leave it too long before getting it checked out. It'll just exacerbate over time.

[Rookie]

Cheers for the advice people, I have regular appointments at a chiropractor who also does acupuncture etc and will tell him the issue I've been having next time I see him.

PD: True, I'm not sure normal headaches and training induced ones are the same? Felt like I couldnt breathe that well with the high bar compared to low bar.

Today was chest:

Bench:

40x15, 60x8, 80x1, 100x4 PB, 100x3 PB

Incline DB:

30x8, 32.5x8, 35x8, 37.5x5- ok sets, last set was crap in terms of delts took over too much :? strength wasnt exactly high too, felt weak

Flat flyes:

20x12, 22.5x10, 22.5x10. 22.5x9- Mean sets, good stretch and squeeze

HS Wide Chest:

37.5x10 PB, 37.5x10 PB, 37.5x9, 37.5x9- good sets, good contractions/feel

5sets of pushdowns: 45x15, 45x15, 45x12, 45x12, 45x11

Tri's were still very very sore from last Friday :shock: so I had to tone it down, more than just hardening up, they cramped up so bad

Notes: Since working long hours and training 6x a week, my body has started to slow down, not able to progress week to week smoothly and just feel weak in the gym after long days.

Will reduce training to 4days a week as of next Monday, my body is telling me something so I need to rest up and keep going. Keen to know what progress people have got from reducing workload etc eg from a 6x a week to a 4 a week routine

Rookie

[Shutupandsquat]

or it's a tuna!

[Phedder]

Nice PB on bench :clap: your lead up had way less volume than usual, do you think that left you with more for the top sets?

Good on ya for realising you're overreaching a bit and toning it down a little. Would be a rookie mistake to try and just push through it :shifty: Already sorted how you're going to set up the 4 a week sessions, or still thinking it through?

[Rookie]

Nice PB on bench :clap: your lead up had way less volume than usual, do you think that left you with more for the top sets?

Good on ya for realising you're overreaching a bit and toning it down a little. Would be a rookie mistake to try and just push through it :shifty: Already sorted how you're going to set up the 4 a week sessions, or still thinking it through?

Cheers Phed, yeah def had a big impact I reckon. Not feeling as shagged before top sets, just warmed up hence why I was able to do ok compared to other times.

Yeah everything works for a while and starts to slow down I reckon, well from what's been going on lately. LOL nice pun mate, I think my body/joints will like the rest.

Yup, will be: Chest/Back, Pchain, OFF, Arms/Shoulders, Quads, OFF, OFF Repeat.

Will use the same techniques of 2x10, 2x8, 2x5-6 on things like back to increase volume while not dragging the session on too long.

Like Gregg Valentino said: "When you're hungry you eat, when you're tired you sleep, when you've had enough- you've had enough STOP! You're body's telling you something"

Rookie

[PeterDolan]

PD: True, I'm not sure normal headaches and training induced ones are the same? Felt like I couldnt breathe that well with the high bar compared to low bar.

Probably not but just felt like putting out an interesting factoid. There's a few "sensitive" muscles in that area that could do it and hopefully ya man can pin point it but sometimes these are just one off things that don't really mean anything at all other than it was one of those shitty days were maybe you were a little under hydated, didn't have your favourite food and just had the bar sitting in the wrong position

[tinytraps]

I would say take a down week where you cut the volume in half, then drop the weights back 10% and start building up again. Your gaining awesome bro why change? No one ever got better by doing less. maybe eat more sushi :pfft:

[Rookie]

I would say take a down week where you cut the volume in half, then drop the weights back 10% and start building up again. Your gaining awesome bro why change? No one ever got better by doing less. maybe eat more sushi :pfft:

haha bro I took a week off not too long ago :pfft: Nah bro, when I wasn't working I felt all good with 6x a week. Since working long hours bro it affects progress, well feels that way. Just feel like performance isn't at its best, my perception anyway- usually I can progress week to week (I was able to before work).. Eating plenty of sushi mate :pfft: Just need to look at the big picture and long term progress etc