Rob's High Intensity Training Log

[HIT Rob]

I would say yes mate, though there is deadlifts and BB Curls in the power rack (with the bars set up to perform only the top 1/2 or 1/3 of the movement). Muscle fibers are recruited sequentially, they laterally shift up through the gears/fiber types until they reach the highest order fibers necessary for moving maximum loads, with DS's, you can actually feel this happening. You apply maximum effort, but It takes a split second before anything happens, then suddenly BOOM, the weight takes off.

 

Give them a try:))

Rob

[HIT Rob]

This mornings workout,

 

1. Underhand Pulldown (with 2 second contracted hold each rep)

65kgs x 5 reps

80kgs x 5 reps

105kgs x 5 reps (up 10kgs)

2. Smith Machine Deadstart Shoulder Width Grip Bench Press (top 1/3 of the movement only)

90kgs x 5 reps

120kgs x 5 reps

170kgs x 5 reps (up 15kgs)

3. Kneeling Cable Rope Crunch

50kgs x 2 sets of 12 reps (up 5kgs)

 

Happy enough with today's workout, though probably should have left it for another 2-3 days, progress may have been even better. I'll now begin training once every 9-10 days to allow for the increasing intensity.

[HIT Rob]

Last 2 weeks workouts

 

Home Back & Chest workout

1. Superslow Underhand Pulldown

2. Flat V-Grip D-B Bench Press

3. One Arm D-B Row (on a slightly inclined bench, making sure to keep strict form)

4. Incline D-B Press

 

Home Leg (quad dominant) /Ab workout

1. Bulgarian Split Squat (to pre-exhaust the thighs, forgot how good these are)

2. BB Bench Squat (worked up till only a moderate weight. Bench was just above parallel, that depth being the position i can hold still hold a tight back and not round the shoulders. Instead of buying a leg press machine, i might well just buy a safety squat bar http://www.roguefitness.com/sb-1-rogue-safety-squat-bar, looks much easier on the shoulders than the traditional straight bar)

3. Donkey Cable Calf Raise

4. Kneeling Cable Rope Crunch

 

Home Shoulder & Arm specialization workout

1. D-B Lateral Raise (From the sides)

2. Incline Bench Rear Delt D-B Raise (after only a couple of workouts of these i can see improvement in my rear delts already:))

3. Seated Bi-Lateral D-B Curls (keeping a straight back, no swinging)

4. Lying Triceps Extension

5. D-B Hammer Curl

6. Triceps Press-down

7. Standing D-B Wrist Curls (weights by my sides flexing the hand inward, after going to failure on these i could just gnaw my arm of at the elbow, kinda love/hate relationship with these lol)

 

Home Leg (hamstring dominant) & Ab workout

1. Weighted Hypers

2. Trap Bar DL (still getting used to these, just working up to moderate resistance for now)

3. Donkey Cable Calf Raise

4. Kneeling Cable Rope Crunch

 

Loving the home workouts at present, since am working longer hours at the moment and as its coming into the colder weather soon I've decided not to commute to the pay as you go gym i'd been going to. I've also switched back to a slightly more frequent workout pattern (2 days per week), a HIT buddy of mine advised me not to train as infrequency as i had intended to for a few good reasons. Moving forward i intend on working on my main weakness instead of avoiding them (ie my low back problem).

 

Diet wise things have not been so good lately, with working longer hours this weather am reaching for convenience foods a bit too much, that and caffeine fixes, i'll have to break that habit asap! Weight right now is 252lbs.

[HIT Rob]

Training's been going really well this weather, been making some good strength gains. I've also been attending an arm wrestling club once a week (something I've always fancied a bash at as my forearm and grip strength are good), that's been real interesting, just getting to grips with the different techniques, early sign's show am a good "hooker". I've added some forearm and grip work (though not too much) to my training, ie farmers walk, Standing BB Wrist Curl, and heavy hammer curls. Current weight is 245lbs.

[HIT Rob]

Last few workouts....

 

23-9-14 Upper Body / Arm focus

1. Underhand Grip Pulldown

-main set - 110kgs x 5 reps to failure

2. Seated Dip Machine

-main set - 120kgs/stack x 7 reps to failure

3. BB Curl

-main set - 50kgs x 7 reps to failure

4. Close Grip Bench (EZ-Bar)

-main set - 75kgs x 8 reps to failure

5. D-B Hammer Curl

-main set - 2x26kgs x 10 reps to failure

6. Standing BB Wrist Curl

- main set - 60kgs x 8 reps + 6 partial's to failure

 

28-9-14 Lower Body

1. Seated Leg Press

-main set - 250kgs/stack x 15 reps to failure

2. Static Hip Belt Squat (performed immediately after the seated leg press)

-BW x static hold to failure (did not time)

3. Seated Calf Press

-main set - 150kgs/stack x 16 reps to failure

4. Weighted Hypers

-2 work sets x 12 reps holding a 20kg disc

5. Static Crunch (performed on a pull-down machine)

- main set - 75kgs x static hold to failure (did not time)

 

Current eating plan is a metabolic diet approach (Low carb / high fat 5-6 days per week, then 1-2 high carb / low fat days per week), been doing this for the last month and quickly getting to were i want too be.

 

Yesterday was a high carb / low fat day

Breakfast

-Large bowl of Porridge's oats with a scoop of whey thrown it

-2 banana's

Lunch

-Large tuna and hard boiled egg white salad with low fat coleslaw

-blueberry muffin

Dinner

-Vegetable curry and white rice

-whey protein shake (48 grams)

Supper

-peanut butter on whole meal bread toast

 

Today was a high fat / low carb day

 

Breakfast

- 4 omega 3 enriched egg vegetable omelette, cooked in coconut oil

- one cup of coffee with heavy whipping cream

Lunch

-Whey Protein Shake (48 grams), handful of mixed nuts, and blueberries

Dinner

-8oz of Mackerel, large salad with olive oil

Supper

-cottage cheese n walnuts

[HIT Rob]

Bit reluctant to post here anymore, as weeks of people posts have been deleted with no explanation as to why...

 

Last few workouts...

 

24-10-14

Abbreviated HIT Workout

1. Seated Leg Press

2. Parallel Grip Chins

3. Hammer Chest Press

4. Cable Curl

5. Seated Dip Machine

one set to failure per movement, after a 10 second rest, a static hold to failure as well on exercises 1, 2, and 4 (resistance held in the position of maximum motor arm).

 

20-10-14

Arm Wrestling club, had to hard fought bouts against 2 other heavyweight club members, one loss, one win....

 

17-10-14

Abbreviated HIT workout

1. Seated Leg Press

2. Hammer Row

3. Shoulder Press Machine

4. Cable Curls

5. Seated Dip Machine

one set to failure per movement, and after a 10 second rest, a static hold to failure on exercises 1, 2, 3 and 4

 

13-10-14

Arm Wrestling club, working on techniques, no bouts...

 

Diet wise, things could not be better, feeding just 2 and at most 3 times per day, today was...

 

11AM

5 poached omega3 enriched free range eggs

mushrooms (cooked in butter)

blackberries

 

4pm

tub of full fat cottage cheese

1 apple

1 pear

almonds

 

9pm

wild Salmon

potatoes

Vegetables

[esqinchi]

Hey man, re: lost posts, I PM'd one of the mods about my lost posts, and the explanation was they were gone due to the server migration. Seemed like an honest error.

 

I wanted to ask you a question though, and I'm sure you'd have a great explanation. . . Some days after training, especially after doing some really intense full body training, I wake up almost feeling like I've contracted a cold (stuffy head, aches - not DOMS, post nasal drip, etc.). What's up with that? I'm betting you'll say it's systemic, and I get that, but what about the training is causing these particular symptoms? They usually subside within a few hours. It's really strange!

 

Hope you are doing well!

 

Chris

[HIT Rob]

Hey Chris,

 

Sorry mate, i just noticed your post...

 

I did the same, diffo an honest mistake:)

 

To answer your question: With HIT, you're performing at tremendous amount of work per unit of time, its a threatening form of intense physical stress, which is turn sparks a host of chemical reactions and systemic fatigue within the body. The sensation you get the morning after training intensely the day before, i guess could be referred to as a workout hangover, and the severity of the symptoms, not too mention how quickly you'll recover will depend heavily on just how many units of intensity you exposed yourself to in a given time frame. Hope that that make sense?

 

Best

Rob

[esqinchi]

No worries, Rob. Yeah, that makes sense to me. I thought maybe it could be an immuno-response to training. Almost like a shock to the body, which provokes an increase in white blood cells. That sounds crazy to me, but maybe possible?

[HIT Rob]

Been really busy this weather so haven't been posting as much...

 

Been back to max/static contraction training this last month, training once every 4-5 days and hitting each bodypart once every 2 weeks.

 

Current routine...

 

W/O A

Chest

1. MCT Pec Deck

superseetted with..

2. Static Chest Press Machine

Shoulders

3. MCT Machine Lateral Raise

supersetted with

4. Static Shoulder Press Machine

Triceps

5. MCT D-B Kick-Backs

supersetted with

6. Weighted Negative Only Dips

 

W/O B

Back / Biceps

1. Weighted Parallel Grip Static Chins

2. Smith Machine Static Bent Over Row

3. MCT BB Shrugs

4. MCT Back Extension

5. MCT Preacher Curl Machine

 

W.O C

Legs

Tri set

1. MCT Seated Leg Curl

2. MCT Leg Extension

3. Static Leg Press

Calf's & Abs

4. MCT Calf Press

5. MCT Static Crunch

 

- With all compound exercises, resistance is held in the position of maximum motor arm, with isolation exercises, the resistance is held in the position of full contraction.

- After warm-ups, one set to static failure on each exercise, 10-20 second holds on upper body movements and 25-40 second holds for legs.

 

Still Arm wrestling as well, contemplating on entering a local open comp in April, the max contraction and static contraction training has really helped improve my strength. That being said, due to the high stress nature of MCT, am going to switch to another less stressful (though still brutal:) HIT technique called 30/30/30. Its a 30 second, negative, 30 second positive and then a 30 second negative, i may experiment with the time under tension, maybe 20/20/20, but i'll give it a go.

 

Diet wise, I've reduced my daily fat intake and increased my carbs a bit again. I've also eliminated dairy from my diet, but am still consuming some eggs and fish. Feeling good.

 

Rob

[HIT Rob]

Hi All,

 

Hope everyone had a great Xmas and is having a great new year:)

 

I've shifted my focus again to hypertrophy specific techniques again, specifically Zone training / J-reps, my focus is also purely on rotational / isolation movements. On these movements the bottom position doesn't irritate my injuries the way compound movements do. Am currently using a 3 way split, training once every 3 days.

With each cycle of the 3 way split, i'm switching up how i perform the movement, the last cycle i did, i performed the bottom/stretched zone of the movement first, then took a 10 second rest pause and then followed up with the top / fully contracted half of the movement to failure (2 sets to failure per movement). On the next cycle i'll reverse this, performing the top/fully contracted half of the movement first, then the bottom/stretched half. On movements were the ROM is short, ie calf presses, shrugs etc, i just use a normal fully ROM.

 

The last cycle was...

13-1-15 - Legs

1. Leg Extension

2. Lying Leg Curl (bottom half) - Seated Leg Curl (fully contracted half)

3. Hip machines

4. Calf Presses

 

10-1-15

1. Pullover Machine

2. BB Shrugs

3. Preacher Curl Machine

4. Low Back Machine

 

7-1-15

1. Pec Deck Flye

2. Machine Lateral Raise

3. Rear Delt Machine

4. Triceps Press-down

 

Despite the fact am only using 70-75% of the resistance of my fully ROM, the level of fatigue and the level of congestion within the muscle is far superior than when using a normal full ROM. Tonight's leg workout left me feeling light heading and sick for a good while after the workout. Forgot just how effective and intense this technique is:)

[HIT Rob]

22-1-15

Legs(Zone training 1/2's)

1. Leg Extension (bottom half, then top half) 2 x working sets - last set to failure

2. Seated Leg Press (bottom half, rest pause then top half) x 2 working sets - last one to failure

3. Seated Leg Curl (top half, then bottom half) x 2 working sets - last one to failure

4. Calf Press Machine (top half, then bottom half) x 2 working sets - last one to failure

 

25-1-15

Back/Chest (Zone training 1/2's)

1. Pullover machine (bottom half, then top half) 2 working sets - last one to failure

2. Hammer Rows (top half, then bottom half) 2 working sets - last set to failure

3. Pec Deck Flye (top half, then bottom half) 2 working sets - last set to failure

4. Dips (bottom half, then top half) 2 working sets - last set to failure

 

Happy with how training is going this weather, utilizing zone training and pre-exhaustion has help reduce the stress of my workouts, though their still providing growth stimulation.

 

Diet wise, still consuming eggs and a little dairy again, but I've eliminate the fish.

[HIT Rob]

Today i made the choice to eliminate the eggs and dairy from my diet, and once again go fully vegan. I recently watched some videos that really annoyed me and got to me. After watching it, i just cant bring myself to eat by-products. The last time i went vegan it was for health reasons, this time its for ethical reason's.

[esqinchi]

Good for you mate! Also, you've been busy lately!

[HIT Rob]

Good for you mate! Also, you've been busy lately!

 

Hey Chris, thanks mate:)

 

Its been on my mind for a while now, eating eggs and dairy has not produced any better gains than being 100% plant based diet, though, even if it did, its not fair that a animal must suffer for me. I also think us vegans are more creative when it comes to food, you think more about what foods to eat and combined. Its a more varied and thus balanced way of eating.

[esqinchi]

Good for you mate! Also, you've been busy lately!

 

Hey Chris, thanks mate:)

 

Its been on my mind for a while now, eating eggs and dairy has not produced any better gains than being 100% plant based diet, though, even if it did, its not fair that a animal must suffer for me. I also think us vegans are more creative when it comes to food, you think more about what foods to eat and combined. Its a more varied and thus balanced way of eating.

 

Absolutely mate. It's interesting you mention gains with respect to consuming eggs. There are so many people out there misinformed that they must consume eggs and chicken breast like religion in order to accomplish any kind of progress. It's not much of a sacrifice anyhow to go without, and certainly better for everyone. I don't think I'll ever be able to eat meat again; I just find it so repellent.

[HIT Rob]

Been performing the following workout this last few weeks...

 

Once every 5-7 days...

 

Leg Presses (accentuating the negative so as not to go too heavy or high in reps)

Hammer Rows (love this machine)

Negative Dips (negative only as am having issues with my shoulder)

+ 2 varying isolation movements

First workout - Pec Deck Flye & Stiff Arm Pulldown

Second workout - Curl & Press-downs

Third workout - Calf Presses & Weighted Back Extension

 

- Just one set to failure per movement, done and dusted in a mere 20 minutes.

[HIT Rob]

Strong workout today...

 

1. Hammer Incline Press - 140kgs x 5 reps to failure + 2 negatives

2. Machine Lateral Raise - 80kgs x 8 reps to failure + static hold

3. Weighted Negative Dips - BW (245lb) + 25kg x 7 superslow reps

 

Resorted back to my old 3 set workouts, 3 way split as they allow me to maximize intensity better, though I enjoy a good full body workout, for me it becomes too much in one sitting after only a few weeks. Happy with todays workout, the negative Dips are thickening up my triceps and frontal delts like nobody's business:) Upper arm is sitting at 17 1/4", forearms are 15 1/2". I believe my forearms have increased in size due to no longer using wrist straps....should have burned them things long time ago!

 

Enjoying being vegan again, my recovery from the workouts seems better, moreover my back and joints don't seem to be flaring up as much, I guess my body isn't as inflamed:0

[esqinchi]

Hey man, was wondering if you could be of some assistance for a bit...

 

Lately, during training, I begin to feel nauseous. Doesn't seem to matter what exercise I'm doing (i.e. inverted/standing/seated), or the level of intensity. I try to limit eating prior to training out 30-40 minutes. Only thing I could guess would be that I'm dehydrated. Any other thoughts? It's getting quite frustrating, as it saps my mental focus and causes me to rest too long between sets. After a little research, I'm afraid I'm at a bit of a loss.

[HIT Rob]

Hi Chris,

 

Nausea while training is usually the result of glycogen being burned out of the muscles, the muscles then attempts to continue contracting by manufacturing more glucose out of the lactic acid that has been building up within the muscle, resulting in ph levels dropping (especially when using compound movements were several large muscles are working in concert). What you can do, is when you feel the nausea coming on, pop a tea spoonful of sugar under your tongue, it'll very quickly bring up your ph levels, I find it works well. Also you could take a slightly longer rests between sets and /or exercises.

 

Hopefully that helps:)

Rob

[esqinchi]

Hi Chris,

 

Nausea while training is usually the result of glycogen being burned out of the muscles, the muscles then attempts to continue contracting by manufacturing more glucose out of the lactic acid that has been building up within the muscle, resulting in ph levels dropping (especially when using compound movements were several large muscles are working in concert). What you can do, is when you feel the nausea coming on, pop a tea spoonful of sugar under your tongue, it'll very quickly bring up your ph levels, I find it works well. Also you could take a slightly longer rests between sets and /or exercises.

 

Hopefully that helps:)

Rob

 

Dude, this totally worked! Thanks! At first sign of nausea today, I ran upstairs and got myself a teaspoon of sugar, just like you recommended. Within a few moments the symptoms subsided, and I could go back to training. Thanks again!

[HIT Rob]

Happy days Chris, good stuff, I've had to do it a good few times myself. It was a wee tip I heard in a John Little interview a few years ago:)

 

26-2-15

Back / Biceps

Underhand Pulldowns (1 1/4 reps)

One Arm Hammer Row

Stiff Arm Pulldowns

BB Shrugs

 

1-3-15

Legs / Lower Back

Leverage Leg Press

Calf Press Machine

Weighted Back Extension

 

One set to failure per movement

[HIT Rob]

Getting my hands on a copy of Brian Johnston's new book aimed at the natural trainee looking to optimize hypertrophy book next week, it called "high density training" (by high density, he refers to techniques and methods that produce more contractions per unit of time). If its anything as good as his variation book/dvd combo I'll be well chuffed. I liked his recent post on the Dr Darden HIT forum entitled "How NOT to bodybuild".

http://www.drdarden.com/readTopic.do?id=665842&pageNo=0

 

4-3-15

CHEST / SHOULDERS / TRICEPS

1. PEC DECK FLYE (Zone training) **

2. HAMMER INCLINE PRESS (piston/rhythmical high reps) **

3. NEGATIVE DIPS (BW only) *

4. MACHINE LATERAL RAISE (Zone training) **

5. ONE ARM LEANING D-B LATERAL RAISE (Regular full range) *

6. TRICEPS PRESSDOWNS (Zone training) **

7. LYING TRICEPS EXTENSION (Straight bar) *

* 2 working sets to sub failure

* 1 set to failure

 

6-3-15

BACK / BICEPS

1. MACHINE PULLOVER (Zone training) **

2. UNDERHAND PULLDOWN (Zone training) *

3. SEATED CABLE ROW (Piston/rhythmical high reps) **

4. BB SHRUG (Regular full range) *

5. PREACHER CURL MACHINE (Zone training) **

6. D-B HAMMER CURLS (Regular full range) *

7. WEIGHTED BACK EXTENSION (piston / rhythmical high reps) **

*2 working sets to sub fail

* 1 set to failure

 

Both workouts completed within 30 minutes.

 

Diets going well, found a good source of organic brown rice protein powder, didn't realize what a great amino acid profile it has.

 

Todays munching...

1. Oatmeal with 2 scoops of rice protein mixed in + 2 chopped banana's

2. Chocolate flavoured almond butter on Ezekiel bread

3. Two black bean and quinoa stuffed peppers + one scoop of rice protein + a handful of walnuts

4. 3 portions of fruit (grapes and melon)

5. CHRIS SALSA AND BROCCOLI SALAD (hat tip to him:)

6. 2 scoops of hemp protein and some mixed nuts

[esqinchi]

Yes mate I love it! Salsa belongs on everything! Well, most everything.

[HIT Rob]

Salsa's the bomb:) Trying to be a wee bit more adventurous in the kitchen, started experimenting with different flavoured "energy balls" and flaxseed muffins etc. Yum Yum:))

 

8-3-15

LEGS

(After warm-up sets)

1. SEATED LEG PRESS

Zone training - 1 working set to failure

2. CALF PRESSES

Zone training - 1 working set to failure

3. WEIGHTED BACK EXTENSION (Hams & Glutes)

2 working sets to sub-failure