joelk

Cool! I like motorbikes. My brother has a nice one, I would like one when I stop competing - my dad keeps talking me out of it - he says one crash will ruin my career in bodybuilding. I guess he speaks from experience, he came off a few times but I guess riding sensible is not too risky. Glad you had a nice rest day

I personally don't really like most of the commercial pre workout drinks. Working within the sports nutrition industry I have tried a lot of the pre workout drinks over the last few years and I think there are precious few that are any better than using an espresso and creatine monohydrate before a workout. I think just stick to the real basics (I just use spirulina, branched chain amino acids, creatine and now yerba mate - weaned myself off coffee for the most part) and I think you will have enough of a strength and energy boost with out all the expense. That being said, I really want to try the Vega sport pre workout drink but can't get it from veganproteins.com yet.... Good luck trying the free weight exercises, it will pay off for you over time. Seeing as though you have had back problems, try and make sure you keep your abdominals and the rest of your core strong and it will reduce some of the stress on your back. If you can get someone knowledgable to look at your form and make sure you don't get ahead of yourself with the weight - for me it was easier said than done when I began! Your diet doesn't look too bad, bit light on the protein possibly. Try and add a small serving of a protein source to your salad, like chickpeas or tempeh or similar (I like lentil burgers too) and even add some sort of seeds, like pumpkin when you eat your pear and nuts. It will just help with recovery if you're getting a little more protein and should help with increasing muscle mass. Looking good though mate, sorry I didn't join your journal till this late.

Thanks everyone!! I have a little pig on my left wrist and the human freedom/animal liberation symbol on my right wrist. Haha, the shirt is hotter!! My right arm measures more but my left arm has more bicep peak. I'm right handed though... don't get it!

Here is a pic from MVS on the weekend. Noah took some photos of us modelling the new Vegan t-shirts for Uproar, a new vegan/animal rights website being built - they're up on facebook too, so become a fan of them if you have a facebook account. Maybe next time I will have to go out in the sun a little more, I'm about as white as the t-shirt is! http://i664.photobucket.com/albums/vv3/Kirk1000/untitled.jpg

Nice box jumping! I'm trying to resist having a go at these workouts... will be great for helping me lose all the weight I need to for my bodybuilding comp

Burritos are awesome... Nice food journal

Sssshhhh, don't give away all your secrets!!! Oh, I doubt anyone would be quick enough to block that left hook haha! I know what you mean about trainers' not focussing on their athletes enough, happens in a lot of sports unfortunately. I guess fighting is a lot more personal though, so the coach needs to really be in tune with what's going on. I'll be giving this deadlift challenge a go after the powerlifting comp, a few MVS boys are doing it so we will have to try it after we compete. Thank you, kind of disappointed I didn't get 140 but I guess I can try and bring that out for the comp. Yeah the shoulder is probably one thing you don't want to rush!

That's interesting, I've never tried it with barbells. Might have to have a go at it. Thanks for the idea mate

I'm glad your back is a little better, hope it continues improving quickly

Awesome workout! I'm puffed out just reading it... The patience thing... I don't know if I'm the one to help.. I'm like you and don't know when to slow down Anyway, glad you're getting it all back to your high standards!

Pasty white is cool. I guess for women it highlights your make up and for me well... when I put my fake tan on I instantly look leaner, reducing the need for extra cardio. It's a win-win Octo you have a monster back, those weights for the cable rows are heavy!

Trained at MVS this evening, it was a good night and there was a great turn out. I set an MVS pb for myself on the bench but didn't have a good night with squats and deadlifts. I've been invited to compete in a powerlifting comp in two weeks which I have accepted to we'll see how it goes - should be interesting and am already nervous! Anyway, we started on deadlifts and the cold weather made it difficult outside (sorry to those who live in cold climates, us Aussies complain whenever we get into single digits!) I don't know my warm up progressions but made a 180kg rep without too much trouble, although it wasn't as easy as i have done it before. Failed at 195kg, which would have been my all time pb. Failed again at 193.5kg. Must have been a fluke during the week for my 192.5kg rep! Bench press was next. Worked up to a fail at 140kg, managed to get 135kg and 137.5kg. 140kg was close but just out of my reach today. Reasonably happy though... Squats were last and I got a 160kg with no problem but failed twice at 180kg, was spewing because I should have got it... nevermind. Failed again going for a second rep at 160kg, which again was a bit upsetting because I have done that weight for a triple not too long ago. I guess you win some and you lose some, tonight was motivation to not give up. Meals were ok today, except I'm eating some vegan nachos this evening as my last cheat meal before i jump on my diet for my bodybuilding comp.. and now the powerlifting comp too. I want to be as light as possible and maintain my strength. Meal 1 - Ultimate meal shake Meal 2 - Lentil burger, wild rice, beetroot, chickpeas Meal 3 - Lentil burger, green beans, avocado oil Meal 4 - Same as meal 3 Meal 5 - Ultimate meal shake Meal 6 - packet of vege chips, bowl of vegan nachos I was again one meal short but had to rush to MVS after work and anyway, the last meal made up for any calories lost. Now I will start to prepare for the powerlifting meet. I don't like losing so no more mucking around for now..

Yeah, you know I honestly used to have a big problem with deadlifts too. I would always pull with just my lower back and was never able to lift an appreciable amount of weight, also got injured quite often too. I started to really just focus on the form and trying to get my glutes and hamstrings working together with my back and the weight I started lifting improved. Also trying to work all the core, like the abdominal muscles has reduced my lower back injuries and made the whole deadlift movement feel more stable. Just give it time mate. Learn to get each bodypart moving in sync and not get ahead of yourself with weight till your body can handle it, you'll boost your numbers up over time. One thing I learnt recently from Noah at MVS is to keep my hands positioned close to my legs and keep my arms in tight near my body, it has helped me further boost my lift and I attribute my recent pb's to his advice. I'm sure there will be some filming of the madness going on!! We have Phil from Queensland training with us this arvo so there should be some more pb's set, hopefully we can get some of it on film. I'll have some new photos posted up sometime this week, want to get some pics taken of myself just before I start my diet so people can see me as I transform over the next few months before my comp. Should be riveting stuff.......

Huge lifts mate, there goes my spot on the table!!

You can't be so hard on yourself. You'll get back there soon. Hope it didn't fire you up too much, you're meant to be practising patience aren't you?

Nice one! Could have you know, the movement is more like me kneeing someone. Could I have a future fighting Muay Thai??? I agree with you on the cheap "sports" drinks, most just plain suck. I'll try the coconut water, I know where I can get it. Just though coconut chocolate butter would be good enough..... Bad joke I know Yeah that would be awesome if you became accredited. I don't know how it is where you live but here we have personal trainers coming out of our proverbial **** and most know next to nothing about proper training, having someone like you guiding clients and challenging them in a productive manner would be a great asset to anyone and honestly the way I think a trainer should be. Oh yeah I remember you talking about the road races a while ago, that sounds like a positive thing to do. Haha, I have been in a few fights and I have never seen anyone use proper fighting technique in a streetfight. I always went straight for the hook to the jaw and then a take down, no great technique used, maybe I panicked but handled myself ok. I had a full knee reconstruction about 5 years ago but still worry that it will buckle again because it 'clicks' sometimes and catches a little bit. That will be one to try this weekend. Could become an MVS challenge too!

That's shit, hope it feels better soon. You are starting to get really good with your running again

My geography of my country isn't very good either, we have a lot of land here for not too many inhabitants - compared to North America. It would be awesome if you could get back into your fighting, or at least the serious training for it because you seem to really have the passion. It's hard to resist it if you have the passion anyway. What would you do if you weren't able to get back into it? I guess you have the time to decide, seeing as though you are not able to go back straight away. You make a great point, well many actually.. I think the movement of boxing is what I like, not just straight movements, more tactical and using the angles and stuff but I do see where you're coming from with what you say and you're much more knowledgable than I am in regards to kickboxing. My opinion is more of a laymans opinion! Personally I don't think I could bring myself to use kicks in a fight, hence for me kickboxing would be out of the question. I can kick a soccer ball and kick the bags at the gym but I don't know how my knee would hold up to getting kicked and also the pressure when pivoting to kick powerfully. Kind of makes me cringe when I think about it because my knee gave me so many problems before I had surgery on it and I still have that fear that it could always buckle on me again.

Could be low iron levels. I had restless legs all last night too and I know there is a link between iron deficiency and restless legs. Could also be electrolyte imbalance, I train a lot and it is usually warm so I would lose a lot of sodium, which I don't always replace. I'll keep plugging away and keep more of an eye on potential triggers. Yeah I have a new favourite exercise!

I like sublingual tabs. B12, DHA, CoQ-10. I think i have more stuff to add but that's it for now. Don't think protein is worth it, same with BCAA's, unless it is a seperate supplement, too many pills required to be effective. BCAA's or EAA's could be put in a seperate supplement with some greens and berry powders or something.

Haha! Agreed!! Platz 1 Munzer 2 in my opinion too, he was just peeled to the bone. Don't think anyone can argue against Platz being number 1. Quads and hamstrings were outstanding.

Awesome, love reading the profiles

Deadlift to 423.5lb. Bodyweight is about 185 now but will keep dropping as i diet

Do you do dumbell pullovers, or with a machine? I used to love doing dumbell pullovers and supinated grip stiff arm pulldowns till i started doing rollouts. All are awesone for the lats. Keep up the training mate!

I would have eaten that before I managed to take a picture of it