Rossco's journal

[vegan_rossco]

Thanks chaps!

 

All good my end cheers rob, how's things with you?

 

 

Training was sub par today.. No one seemed enthusiastic (myself included) and I just didn't give it my best at all. Anyways,

 

Barbell bench press (after warm ups)

40Kg x 15 reps

50Kg x 12 reps

70Kg x 8 reps

75Kg x 7 reps

90Kg x 3 reps

45Kg x 21 reps

 

Barbell Squats

(After warm ups)

50kg x 15 reps

90Kg x 9 reps

110Kg/ 242lbs x 5 reps

50Kg x 12 reps

 

Did some proper dips but barely bust out around 6 or 7 reps per set, for about 4 sets..

 

Seated dumbbell shoulder presses

15Kg x 20 reps each arm

22.5Kg x 8 reps each arm

22.5Kg x 8 reps each arm

 

Triceps extensions

22.5Kg x failure (lost count)

Skull crushers

22.5Kg x failure (20 ish...)

 

Going to the park with friends on Thursday to do loads of calisthenics and sprints,

Hopefully that'll break up the Minotomy of my current training routine.

[esqinchi]

Aha the prodigal son returns! Good to see you on here mate, and glad you are well. Congrats on the engagement, but I think I already said that! Looks like you are doing well. What else is new? Glad your training has been going strong. How's work? What else?

 

You guys going to have a big wedding? Ours was about 50 people. Perfect size in my opinion. Must be a very exciting time!

 

Good to see you back again mate!

[vegan_rossco]

Sup Chris! Aha yeah you did thank you it's so exciting but a little scary, neither of us our in a strong financial position but we may never be so fuck it it's what we wanna do aha, nah nice and small I think, maybe a big reception with just drinks and dancing.

Will pop over to your journal shortly dude would be cool to see what you're throwing around these days

 

Nothing much else is new really bud just same old, looking for a better job and spending time with the family, things okay your side of the pond? One of my best friends is living in New York at the moment and got himself a wife and baby, so me and Charlotte are pretty desperate to come over to the states haha

[HIT Rob]

Bar my lot (loyalists) letting themselves down rioting again during marching season, that and were not getting much in the way of a summer..all good:)

 

Do you still look after the bats? Been doing a lot this weather to help with the stray sea front cats in my home town (Bangor), the local council has been dying to get them put down for years now, however because a group of us have claimed them and look after them they cant touch them:)

 

Take it easy mate (by the way, dem pipes are getting bigger ).

Rob

[vegan_rossco]

Oh shit you not getting good weather? I swear the Isle of Wight seems to have its own micro climate it's been like 25-30 Celsius most of the time bar the last few days being a bit drizzly and overcast.

 

I'm still in contact with the bat hospital and am still pursuing a career in animal rehab and rescue but haven't had a chance to go help out with them for s while now

That's so cool man, think you mentioned that before, such a rewarding and selfless thing to do you guys got funding or is it off your own backs?

 

Haha thanks man yeah I've noticed some nice size gains! Trying to develop my rear delts and back atm

[vegan_rossco]

Today was nuts, calisthenics also kind of cardio,

After a 6 hour shift I walked with a friend for about 5 miles to a park with loads of high bars/parrarlel bars and stuff like that,

 

This is all rough estimation as I totally lost count of everything

 

Pull ups

X 8 reps

X 7 reps

X 6 reps

X 6 reps

X 4 reps

 

Negatives

X 5

X 5

X 5

 

Parrarlel dips

X 6, x 6, x 6, x 6, x 6

 

Aussie pull ups (inverted rows)

X 12, x12, x 10, x 12, x 13!

 

Horizontal dips

X 7, x 7, x 7!

 

Push ups (slight decline)

X 15, x 15, x 15, x 15!

 

All was fine except for grip problems (dam my tiny wrists) and we had no chalk..

Also, kids everywhere... So annoying, they were swinging around the bars, getting in the way and generally staring and distracting.. Need to do these kind of workouts later at night..

Also could have done more if it wasn't for work and the walk before hand..

 

Anyways, deadlift day on Saturday!

 

Dinner tonight is

3 large sweet potatoes, loads of kale, and a couple of veggie style fish cakes!

Protein powder, bcaas and 'super greens' powder.

[esqinchi]

Are you secretly Frank Medrano? That's some decent work there man, you must be shredded! Good luck going into deadlift day.

[vegan_rossco]

Ooooosh frank medrano is a beast! I did actually try to do a muscle up.... Impossibly hard haha

 

Had a deadlift only day with a couple of friends on Saturday and went out about 2 hours later to my 2005 reunion (not high school just the guys I hung out with whilst in high school) maybe il post a couple of photos haha..so I was soon hUngover yesterday and despite this my girlfriend had to manage her dance academy at Rythm tree festival and I had to go with, was nice to see her perform though! And there was a lot of veggie food, (Rythm tree is a crusty hippy festival lol) so not all bad!

 

Anyways,

 

Deadlifts!!

 

After s lot of warming up....

 

50kg x 20 reps

90kg x 1 rep

100kg x 1 rep

130kg x 1 rep (286lb)

145kg x 1 rep (320lb)

165kg x 1 rep (363lb)

90kg x ... Not sure, a lot though, kind of just burnt myself into oblivion and had the biggest head rush ever, at least 15 reps though!!!

 

I tried the lighter weights with semi sumo deadlifts like my hero ed coen! It's pretty comfortable and seems to help with my rounding back... Il work on it!

Should be train bench today, maybe squats..

[vegan_rossco]

Euuuurggghhhh... I spent all morning on the sofa and flaked on training with my friends...

It was pissing down with rain all morning (still is) and my head was and still is pounding... But I absolutely refused not to at least do something today.

 

Despite the rain, I trained my semi sumo stance on deadlifts and tried to get some flexibility in my hips, I still fucking brought it though!!! No chalk, no belt, in sheet rain with bare feet shorts and vest haha!!

 

60kg x 5 reps

90kg x 5 reps

110kg x 5 reps (242lbs)

110kg x 5 reps

110kg x 5 reps

110kg x 5 reps

130kg x 1 rep (286lbs)

130kg x 2 reps (286lbs)

 

 

I can't stop thinking about cutting some fat.. I feel a bit self conscious at times and always consider getting my abs visible again...

And then I think about food and say fuck that.

 

So here's a little update on my lifts, weight etc.

 

Bench press is up to 105kg (231lbs) this is definitely an absolute max at the mo.

 

Squat is up to 140kg (308lbs) but I'm very confident I can hit at least 155/160kg (340/352lbs)

 

Deadlift is still at 175kg (385lbs) but that's all I have in terms of weights at home...

Next month at some point I'm getting a day pass at my friends gym and going to test my max, I keep telling my friends I could hit 200kg (440lbs) but in reality I think I could hit something like 185kg (407lb)

 

Currently my body weight is sitting around 85kg (187lbs) but at one point I was 92kg (202lbs) haha

[vegan_rossco]

Both my training partners bailed on me today so motivation was low and energy was too...

I had to bench with my spotter catchers on which I dislike.. Makes me feel uncomfortable... But whatever.

 

Bench press

20kg x 20 reps

50kg x 10 reps

75kg (165lbs) x 5 reps

75kg x 5 reps

75kg x 5 reps

75kg x 4 reps

50kg x 15 reps

 

Close grip bench,

20kg x 15 reps

40kg x 12 reps

40kg x 13 reps

40kg x 13 reps

40kg x 13 reps

 

Finished up with some overhead pressing and some dips, didn't track any weight or reps though!

Hoping to get some squats in at the weekend but I have a feeling it'll have to wait until Monday... I'm hoping to hit s new 1rm on squat so need both my training partners!!

[esqinchi]

Dude monster numbers you're putting up there - impressive! Also, dude, I'm currently on a cut and it fucking sucks. I want to eat all the time. Stay the hell away from this plan! lol

 

I bet your neighbors think you're crazy doing deadlifts in the driving rain, no? Hopefully those were short-shorts!

[vegan_rossco]

Ha thanks Chris, yeah one of he houses that overlooks my garden shut their windows pretty hard.. I guess I was making too much noise haha

Also I know how ha feel, I would like to do a proper cut at some point but.... Food...

 

Squat day!! Heavy.

After warming up

115kg x 3 reps

115kg x 3 reps

115kg x 3 reps

125kg x 1 rep (275lbs)

130kg x 1 rep (286lbs)

135Kg x 1 rep (297lbs)

 

Squat Assistance exercises,

Now I normally don't bother too much with squat assistnance but I wanted to try some new things.

 

Front Squats (fuckyoufuckyoufuckyou)

I hate them.

 

50Kg x 10 reps (110lbs)

50kg x 10 reps

50kg x 10 reps

 

Good mornings,

Now I didn't feel like I was doing them correctly... Will have to work on them, I won't bother posting the weight and reps until I know what I'm doing.

 

Finished up with some stretching and light farmers walks.

 

I'm trying out a heavy week/light week with my powerlifting lifts,

So 3 sets of 3 reps and 3 sets of 1 rep one week,

And 3 sets of 10 reps and 3 sets of 8 reps on the other.

 

Assistance will be pretty much the same as I've always done,

Deadlift assistance is likely to be rows of some kind, a pull up variation and grip/bicep work

Bench assistance is likely to be shoulder pressing of some kind, dip variations and tricep work

[esqinchi]

Aha front squats man they are brutal! I was up to 130lbs on them, but using the EZ bar was such a pain to muscle that shit up to my shoulders so I gave up. I should probably put those back in the rotation eh?

 

And yea, food man. It's all I think about lately. Been eating a ton of almonds too, which is always fun when they are coated in a bit of sugar and a load of cinnamon. I bought this stovetop smoker on Amazon that I've been using to make mesquite cashews - they are the shit! Highly recommended purchase. Speaking of almonds.... lol

 

Looks like you are doing well buddy.

[vegan_rossco]

I've always had an issue with them, was speaking to a guy a while back that said they were great as they force thoracic extension which forces good posture, unfortunately in the process they make your back sore as hell.. And in my case my wrists.. Gonna switch the, out for Olympic squats, paused squats and squats to a chair, I wanna get some chains but fuck they're expensive.

 

Oh man I find it hard to eat a lot of nuts, cashews I can snack on but pistachios are the only nut that I can eat a lot of.. They're my favourite cinema snack!

Wait, Weren't you making your own mesquite cashews that you were thinking of selling??? I would totally buy a bunch!

[esqinchi]

Yes dude - The Snacktory ! I'd share the recipe with you if you're interested. I want to try smoking some other things as well, maybe watermelon, or some other . . . uh.... stuff. lol Suggestions?

 

Pistachios are excellent too. I made some curried pistachios last year that turned out just ok. I need to get back into that more often. Was going to make some pistachios with lavender and lemon. Thought that would be interesting.

[vegan_rossco]

Awesome! Yeah that would be cool mate thanks, il give them a try for myself

Lol watermelon, that could be interesting.. How about a mix up of walnuts and mammoth pecans?

[esqinchi]

Fuck yes. Funny you should mention pecans. Last winter I made pralines, which is a sweet from the South. Ever heard of them? Basically like an insanely sweet cookie that melts away on contact, with pecans. Decadent!

[asparagus]

Hey Ross - good to see you back.

 

Sorry about your diet issues, but glad you are still at it.

 

I mostly do front squats these days, as I suck at them, but regularly work high bar back squats. No more low-bar powerlifting for me!

 

For me a cut would be easy, I hate eating!

 

I won't be making a 2015 strength table. I don't have the desire to keep it up.

[vegan_rossco]

Fuck yes. Funny you should mention pecans. Last winter I made pralines, which is a sweet from the South. Ever heard of them? Basically like an insanely sweet cookie that melts away on contact, with pecans. Decadent!

Well I've had praline filling before.. I guess it's probably the same thing haha

 

Hey Ross - good to see you back.

 

Sorry about your diet issues, but glad you are still at it.

 

I mostly do front squats these days, as I suck at them, but regularly work high bar back squats. No more low-bar powerlifting for me!

 

For me a cut would be easy, I hate eating!

 

I won't be making a 2015 strength table. I don't have the desire to keep it up.

 

Boooo get back to those low bars dude

 

Well I'm tempted to make the 2015 table, but I'm not sure where to start.. I do have a wilks coefficient calculator online though, it's just making the table itself I can't figure out haha

[vegan_rossco]

Bench day started off great and ended in disaster...

 

Bench press:

After warming up;

80Kg x 3 reps (176lbs)

80Kg x 3 reps

80Kg x 3 reps

 

90Kg x 1 rep (198lbs)

Felt sooooo easy

 

100Kg x 1 rep! (220lbs)

This felt so easy.. Which led me to get cocky and try a Pb of 107.5Kg...

 

107.5Kg x 1 rep... (236.5lbs)

But, afterward my spotter admitted he helped a bit... Which is annoying so I won't count it..

So I tried again with no help.

 

107.5Kg x ... Fail.

And in the process I screwed my right lat and upper back.. So pissed off with myself aha.

 

 

Assistance;

Close grip bench press

60Kg (132lb) x 12 reps

60Kg x 12 reps

60Kg x 10 reps

60Kg x 10 reps

 

Tricep extensions

20Kg x 15 reps

20Kg x 15 reps

20Kg x 14 reps

20Kg x 12 reps

 

Just stretched from here, trying to sort out my back and figure out what I've done to it...

[vegan_rossco]

God dammit, everyone seems to be cutting at the moment and it's been playing on my mind..

I went out with the family today and a photo taken of me looked pretty fat around the gut... Made me really self conscious..

I'm condsidering carb backloading for a couple of months and keeping as much strength and muscle size as possible.

Possibly buying a rowing machine off a friend too so I can do some high volume low intensity training..

Anyways, deadlifts tomorrow and my backs feeling fine!

[vegan_rossco]

DEADLIFTS!!!!

had almost no carbs at all before this ( still haven't ) but I've got sweet potatoes in the oven!

Totally smashed today, and I'm gonna spend the evening at a wedding reception with loads of sweets and cider out in the beautiful sunshine! Fuck yeah haha!

 

Conventional deadlifts:

After warm ups

90Kg (198lbs) x 8 reps

130Kg (286lbs)x 3 reps

130Kg x 3 reps

130Kg x 3 reps

145Kg (319lbs) x 2 reps

150Kg (330lbs) x 2 reps

157.5Kg (346.5lbs) x 1 rep, could have got a second but I was seeing stars!!

 

Assistance/hypertrophy work

Barbell rows

60Kg (132lbs) x 10 reps

70Kg (154lbs) x 8 reps

70Kg x 8 reps

 

Chin ups,

x 8 reps

X 4 reps, noticed a twinge in my lat from my failed bench attempt last session so I called off chins just in case I made it worse..

 

Shrugs

70Kg x 15 reps

70Kg x 12 reps

 

Finished off with some bicep curls...

[esqinchi]

Holy spitballs man that's some impressive deadlifting! If you want to cut, I'd recommend moving out to the garage since you'll probably drive your lady crazy lol. Way to crush it today mate. I'm off to enjoy some pints myself, and check out an animal sanctuary this afternoon. Should be awesome!

[vegan_rossco]

Haha yeah just going low carb and slightly lower calories has made me impossible to be in s room with! Going to ignore it he whole thing to get some drinks in lol, sounds awesome dude!! Hope you have an awesome weekend, make sure you post some photos on Instagram of the animal place

[vegan_rossco]

The wedding was great! Drank a little too much and spent most of yesterday dehydrated and hungover..

Even went out on little pedal boats on the river which was lovely

 

Been virtually no carb all morning and work was so difficult...

 

Didn't have any spotters today as friends were busy... So couldn't go too heavy

 

SQUATS! (Low bar, back)

After warm ups and stretching

 

90Kg (198lbs) x 5 reps

90Kg x 5 reps

90Kg x 5 reps

95Kg (209lbs) x 5 reps

95Kg x 5 reps

95Kg x 5 reps

All felt easy, but better safe than sorry.

 

 

Assistance/hypertrophy:

Olympic squats (high bar, back)

60Kg (132lbs) x 12 reps

70kg (154lbs) x 10 reps

70Kg x 10 reps

70Kg x 10 reps

 

Good mornings

I still don't think I've got them perfect so went pretty light.

60Kg (132lbs) x 12 reps

60Kg x 12reps

60Kg x 12 reps

60Kg x 12 reps

 

Calf raise drop set torture!!

With 20Kg plate then 15Kg then 10Kg then 5Kg, didn't count reps but... Ouch.

 

Looking forward to bench pressing on Wednesday!