Rookie: Road to rippedness and first comp

[mike27]

another 12kg loss! :shock:

go hard!! :nod:

nice spot of benching

[HarryB]

Good work rook.. got to expect some down days energywise but just keep on smashing it as hard as you can. Sounds like your coach has you sorted as well mate, you diet down until everything is conditioned.

[genetic freek]

Whats the theory behind lots of volume?

[Rookie]

another 12kg loss! :shock:

go hard!! :nod:

nice spot of benching

Cheers, yeah around 12kgs to go.

Good work rook.. got to expect some down days energywise but just keep on smashing it as hard as you can. Sounds like your coach has you sorted as well mate, you diet down until everything is conditioned.

Cheers bro, yeah with all the extra cardio etc. He reckons since I've got a slower metabolism/hold fat easily I can afford to do more cardio without the fear of muscle loss.

Whats the theory behind lots of volume?

Bro since I'm not at peak strength, he reckons I need another way to stimulate the muscles, by doing some extra work.. won't be going over 16 though. Like you said I'll leave the 20+ sets for the off season.

[HarryB]

Good man. you have to follow one idealogy and plan when you are doing your first comp. Too easy to get sidetracked by a million different ways of achieving you end result. You are lucky to have someone on hand every day who has a good eye and has taken other people where you are trying to go.

[genetic freek]

So if you got 12kg to go, what does that see you at on stage?

[Rookie]

So if you got 12kg to go, what does that see you at on stage?

:shifty: lol quite light bro

[Rookie]

Today was quads:

Squats:(warm ups- 60x10, 60x10) 160x2, 140x6, 120x10, 100x12- Strength dropped a bit on the top set, but went as hard as I could on every set. Quads were pumped, then onto the LP

Nautilus 45 degree LP: 3PPSx12, 3.5PPSx10, 4PPSx12-DS-3.5PPSx10-3PPSx10-2.5PPSx15-2PPSx25-1PPSx30

Fucking quads were pumped to bits, rolled out of the machine could barely stand.. then onto a few sets of high rep lunges

Constant tension lunges: 100reps per legx1 set each leg- These were done by doing as many reps consecutively till I got to 100 reps so was like 30, collapse, 20, collapse, 20 collapse, 15 collapse, 10 collapse, 5 collapse- did this on both legs then did a set of as many reps continuously on both legs (got to 20 reps just on each leg).. Sweat soaked shirt and pouring down my face, quads felt like jelly= successful quad session

Although reps dropped a bit on squats, I was able to smash the quads with more reps on the dropsets for the LP and high rep lunges got them good.

Will be adding in underhand chin ups on Thursday for back, look forward to training back- should be a goodie

Tomorrow is a rest day so am and pm cardio will be done

Rookie

[HarryB]

Sounds like a crazy workout man, good luck walking today! Lol

[Rookie]

Sounds like a crazy workout man, good luck walking today! Lol

Quads are sore as bro, was hard doing morning cardio lol

Today was back/tri's:

Felt a little low on energy today but still managed to have a good train.

Back:

Underhand chin ups (around shoulder width):

BWx8 PB, BWx6, BWx4, BWx3- All reps were from a dead hang and got a good stretch in the lats while chin cleared the bar on execution of every rep. Lats felt nice and pumped, bit fatigued lol. All sets to failure

Tbar rows: 2plx10, 3plx10, 3.5plx10, 4plx9, 3.5plx5, 3plx7- Since its a fixed tbar row the feeling is different to a bar in the corner tbar but still felt it in the lats. Happy with how top set went even though its only up a rep, because I made one preceding set heavier than last week, that would have fatigued the lats a bit. Last 4 sets to failure

Front pulldowns: 90x10, 90x10, 95x8, 95x7- All sets to failure, lats were fried so just tried to focus on using the lats well with good form. Cheated a bit on the last two sets but nothing major, lats were pumped

Hammer rows: 25x10, 35x10, 40x10- Fark me days, got the form down on these- watched a few Dorian dvds and focused on keeping the work on the lats the whole time and getting a full stretch and a fast squeeze. Lats were on fire

SAPD: 40x10, 40x9

Back was fried and I was too

Tri's: Dips: BWx10, 10kgsx10, 10kgsx6-DS- BWx6 Tri's were getting pumped, sternum was cracking and hurting like a mofo so didn't do any more sets

Flat bench skullcrushers: bar+10x10, bar+20x7, bar+20x6- haven't done these in a while but they felt good, need to keep smashing it

Over head/bent over rope extensions: 30x10, 35x10, 40x10- tri's were pumped

DONE

All in all it was a good session, happy with the chin ups and just the feeling in general. Body fat is coming down, waist is coming in and starting to see some lines in chest etc

Keeping a close eye on diet with carbs only after cario and pre/post w.o

Eating the same shit day in day out is not easy but just gotta HTFU and do it!

Tomorrow is pchain/delts, should be a good one

Rookie

[HarryB]

Keep chipping away!

[Rookie]

Yesterday was pchain/delts:

Felt ok, back was sore as a mofo (doms) from thursday which is a good ting since I found it really hard to get sore lats

Deadlifts: 60x10, 100x5, 140x3, 160x5, 140x10- Light deads since it was heavy squat week, lower back pumped to bits

RDL: 100x10, 130x5, 130x4- building up on these again, doing a slower eccentric works way better I think, going by how sore my hamstrings are today.

Hamstring curls (seated): 72x10, 76.5x10+5 partials, 81x8+5 partials, 81x6+4 partials- hamstrings were pumped

Reverse pec deck: 55x10, 60x9, 60x8- good pump in the rear delts, kept the tension on the whole time

Machine presses: 67.5x12, 90x6, 80x5- 90 was prob a bit too heavy, was aiming for 8-10 reps, delts still got pumped on these

Lat raises: 15x10/12.5x10/10x10- Did this triset x2

12.5x10, 10x10, 7.5x12- Did this once

:shock: Side delts were on fire

That was it, energy levels seem to come on go, so trying to train as hard as I possibly can

Diet has changed up a bit, taken one carb meal out and no carbs in post w.o shake. Getting some BCAA's to take before PM cardio on rest days

Back on Monday with chest/bi's

Rookie

[Rookie]

Fark me days, dropping a carb meal sure has its affects lol

Today was chest/bi's, felt really low in energy today so changed things up a bit.

Started with some band pull aparts and external rotations, got the rotator cuffs warmed up

Flat bench: 40x15, 60x8, 70x8, 80x5, 90x6, 90x3, 80x6-DS-60x7- f*ck what a pump. Since I wasn't feeling 100% today thought I'd work up to 90 and rep out as many as poss, work down and dropset at the end. 2nd set of 90 was a bit pointless lol, coach told me I should've only done 1 set at 90 and worked down- "focus on using the muscles and not just thinking about moving weight" lol

Incline DB: 25x8- these felt awkwardly heavy, 35x7, 30x7- dropset to 20x8

Chest felt worked but I just felt flat in general...

Hammer strength wide chest: 40x10, 40x8, 40x6- Chest was fried, was feeling flat as pancakes so just got 3 good sets on 40kgs a side

Pec deck: 60lbsx10, 60lbsx8- felt ok

DB hammer curls: 15x10, 20x12, 20x10-DS-15x10 pumped hard

DB scott curls: 12.5x10, 12.5x8 bi's felt good. Didn't see the point on doing much more since I felt pretty fucked

*I need to get rid of my want to lift "heavy" at all costs in terms of losing form etc. Got told BBing is about straining the muscle etc etc hear the same shit time and time again so time to put it into practice. Could work on form/forgetting about ego now so it has a positive effect after the comp in terms of growth

Tomorrow is quads

Rookie

Rookie

[HarryB]

Did you sign off twice cos you're doubly shredded now? lol

Your coach is half right... you do need to focus on just hitting your muscles, but you also need to do your best to keep your number up. Not at the expense of form but you still got to do your best to keep your numbers moving in the right direction. You need to be keeping a decent load on your muscles or your body will cannibalize that muscle for fuel. I would let my volume drop before I let my numbers drop.... but that's just me. I actually try and keep both up as much as possible.

I am sure I am not the only guy who notices an improvement in the gym when I am dieting. It's the mental game, if you expect things to drop they will!

[Rookie]

lol I forgot bro, its the carbs bro the carbs!

Yeah man, get what you're saying.. He didn't mean go light lol, balancing the form and weight. Trying to go as heavy as I can in my current situation on low cals etc.

Will keep that in mind bro, re numbers and volume..

Rookie

[Rookie]

Today was quads :shock: Insane session!

Had a black coffee pre w.o, good advice from Big John

Focused on absolutely exhausting the quads today and straining the shit out of them till I was wobbling lol

Quads:

Started off with a few sets of extensions to warm up then onto the Nautilus LP:

LP: 2PPSx15, 3PPSx12, 3.5PPSx10, 4.5PPSx6+2 forced reps-DS-4PPSx8, 3.5PPSx8, 3PPSx10, 2PPSx20, 1PPSx25, 0PPSx30

:shock: fark me days, quads were shaking and absolutely pumped. Did better than last week because reps were a lot better in terms of quality, each reps was at good depth and not one half rep, one full rep like last time. A good mate of mine said full ROM=full development so put this into action.

Took the weight off LP and onto constant tension squats right away

constant tension squats: 80x12, 80x10, 80x10- all sets non lockout about 60 sec rest between sets, quads were shaking and had an intense pump

Constant tension lunges: 120 reps per leg- same approach as last time, as many to failure and keep going till I hit 120 on right leg then switch to left and go for 120. Absolutely fucked by this stage, sweating like a rapist- knees shaking lol

Finished with a few sets of abs on the machine...

Done and dusted, the black coffee helped big time- new mind set to absolutely thrash the muscle worked too. Doms are gonna be a bitch for the next few 4-5 days

Few minor changes in diet again, only having 1 lean steak meal now which will be pre w.o and the rest will be fish/chicken breast

Tomorrow is a rest and thrashing back on Thursday

Rookie

[Dr Squat]

One thought I just had bro. I know you flagged the powerlifting comp due to cost. How does this stack up with the cost of your clean food and also other costs such as posing trunks, tan, etc? I would have thought a bodybuilding show was very expensive in comparison?

[Rookie]

One thought I just had bro. I know you flagged the powerlifting comp due to cost. How does this stack up with the cost of your clean food and also other costs such as posing trunks, tan, etc? I would have thought a bodybuilding show was very expensive in comparison?

Good point bro, the food isn't really much of an issue since I'm eating less than before. The PL comp would've been around $200 NZ for the day including transport and rego since the venue was out of town. The show is a bit cheaper in comparison, trunks and rego are cheaper and since its local doesnt cost me any $ to get to the venue.

Thought I'd take the opportunity to do the show here as well since I've got the chance to get help from a BBer. Just think its good because 1) I have something to work towards 2) I'll lose the excess body fat this time around without having to do anything too drastic in the future

[Dr Squat]

One thought I just had bro. I know you flagged the powerlifting comp due to cost. How does this stack up with the cost of your clean food and also other costs such as posing trunks, tan, etc? I would have thought a bodybuilding show was very expensive in comparison?

Good point bro, the food isn't really much of an issue since I'm eating less than before. The PL comp would've been around $200 NZ for the day including transport and rego since the venue was out of town. The show is a bit cheaper in comparison, trunks and rego are cheaper and since its local doesnt cost me any $ to get to the venue.

Thought I'd take the opportunity to do the show here as well since I've got the chance to get help from a BBer. Just think its good because 1) I have something to work towards 2) I'll lose the excess body fat this time around without having to do anything too drastic in the future

Wasn't questioning your decision bro. Just interested in the monetary side of things.

[Rookie]

All good bro, was just cheaper eh.

[soundsgood]

Don't lie Rook, you just wanna look good for the Jap sluzza's aye

[Rookie]

Don't lie Rook, you just wanna look good for the Jap sluzza's aye

They make me feel :shifty: lol.

[Dr Squat]

All good bro, was just cheaper eh.

I know talking to people like Lisa Bailey and Lee Lynch that it can pretty expensive in the last few weeks with fish and other food. I suppose you will be munching on top quality whale over the bro? Just saying... :pfft:

[HarryB]

Well eating is expensive.. I always find dieting cheaper cos you buy in bulk and fish is cheaper than good steak that's for sure. Half way there then you can go back to burgers and fries bro! lol

[Rookie]

All good bro, was just cheaper eh.

I know talking to people like Lisa Bailey and Lee Lynch that it can pretty expensive in the last few weeks with fish and other food. I suppose you will be munching on top quality whale over the bro? Just saying... :pfft:

lol the fish is cheap here bro, only if I could afford whale (looks exactly like a porterhouse steak) :shifty:

Well eating is expensive.. I always find dieting cheaper cos you buy in bulk and fish is cheaper than good steak that's for sure. Half way there then you can go back to burgers and fries bro! lol

Haha my diet will be a lot cleaner when I look to grow after the comp.. BK post training lol