HIT Rob

Hey bud, yeah havent been on for a while, bit stressed at the mo, my depression has come back, been of work for almost a month now, but still hammering it at the gym and making dem gainzzz:) The gym keeps me sane, and ma misses and 6 cats lol. Hope your doing good mate, time for the log fires again;) Last rotation... 9-11-16 Incline smith machine bench press 80kg x 5 100kg x 5 120kg x 5 145kg x 4 + 2 forced reps Pec deck flye Stack x 2 max static holds to failure Leaning Cable Curls 1/2 stack x 8 3/4 stack x 9 + static hold to failure after a 10 second rest pause 7-11-16 Hammer Pulldown 80kg x 5 100kg x 5 120kg x 8 + static hold to failure after a 10 second rest pause Shoulder Press Machine 65kg x 5 80kg x 5 95kg x 7 + 2 forced reps Seated Chest Supported Row Machine 125kg x 10 rest pause reps to failure (5 second rest pause between reps) 5-11-16 Leg Extension (pre exhaustion) 80kg x 5 100kg x 5 125kg x 11 + static hold to failure after a 10 second rest pause Seated Leg Press Stack + training parnter applying manual resistance on the negative x 14 reps to failure Calf Presses Stack x 12 reps to failure ( 5 second holdcin the contracted position of each rep) Weighted Hypers BW + 20kg x 2 sets of 12 (2 second hold at the top of each rep) - Ive kepted the compounds, but my workouts are back to 100% machines, which I feel are better for tension and isolation. Been eating clean as f#€k, no more oils in my diet, bar a brown rice and hemp protein powders, mostly just whole foods, a lot of raw foods as well!!

Took a few days off, much as I was enjoying making good strength increases over the last several weeks on compound lifts, im refocusing on single joint holds / exercises (seemed to get a better hypertrophic response with isolation work, whereas I seem to be just becoming more skilled at compounds). Going to take another few days off, just to let the biochemical resources replenish a bit more, after which, its max contraction time again:) Did a 20hr fast today, didnt eat until 5pm, had a huge fat fat salad with avocado, chopped walnuts, flax oil, chopped sundried tomatoes and peppers, grated carrots and cucumber, all mixed / bound together with homemade hempseed yoguart (easily 2000+ calories) 10pm was tofu cooked in coconut oil anx steamed veggies with sweet chilli sause drizzled on them.Then something bad happened, I opened the cupboard andl there before my eyes was a packed of those new mint flavoured oreo cookies, god dammit, I went into a zombie like trace and before I knew it there I was with a mug of tea and and empty cookie wrapper. Oh well, its Halloween, gotta have a treat (albeit a whole packed of cookies;) Happy Halloween everyone:)

24-10-16 Chest 1. Flat DB Bench Press (v grip / better contraction and less impingement) 2x40kg x 5 2x50kg x 5 2x60kg x 5 (YESSSS!!) 2×50kg x 11 2. Pec Deck Stack + 20kg (172.5kg) x 2 max static holds, immediately followed by BW Dips 3. Concept 2 rower 3x500 sprints 25-10-16 Legs BB Squat 60kg x 5 100kg x 5 140kg x 10 DB Stiff Legged Deadlift 2x40kg x 3 sets of 15, 12, 12 Calf Presses Stack x 2 sets of 15 26-10-16 Shoulders DB Lateral Raise 2x15kg x 3 sets of 12, 10, 10 supersetted with Standing Military Press (strict) 70kg x 3 sets of 7, 6, 6 5 minute rest, then One Arm DB Overhead Press 40kg x 2 sets of 5 Havent had a day off in a few weeks now I think, feeling real good.

22-10-16 Shoulders 90kg x 2 100kg x 1 (went light headed lol) 70kg x 2 sets of 8 DB Lateral Raise 2x15kg x 3 sets 10 2x12.5kg x 3 sets of 10 23-10-16 Back Hammer Pulldown 80kg x 5 100kg x 5 120kg x 2 sets of 8, 7 (2 second hold in full contraction) Bent Over BB Row 100kg x 5 120kg x 2 sets of 5 Short n sweet workouts, given that am training virtually everyday now ive when back to a bodypart split (I know, I know, I change my mind more than the wind changes direction lol) Chest tomorrow, gonna shoot for the gyms biggest bells (60kg / 132lbers), knowing my luck ill probably drop them on a toe or something:) Have a new favourite post workout shake, it rice protein powder, half an avocado, frozen berries, kale and almond milk. Num num num

No doubt, lack of good quality sleep is a gains killer, never have I realised this more than this last week. Get some ZMA in ya an hour or so before bed, it helps...I think;)

Tonights workout BB Squat 100kg x 5 150kg x 6 (tough, but doable, maintened good posture throughout) 120kg x 8 Hip Belt Calf Raises BW + 75kg x 2 sets of 12 DB Stiff Legged Deadlift 2x40g x 3 sets of 12 (not coming all the way up so as to keep constant tension) Bouns exercise - Seated Leg Press Stack (200kg) × 3 sets of 25, 20, 18 Piston like reps / continuous tension Tomorrows standing strict press, hammer pulldown, standing one arm DB strict press and incline ez bar triceps extension's. The fun never stops:)) Post workout supper - 2 whole eggs and 6 egg whites omelette style, on two slices of white bread thick toast with fat free cheese spread and low sodium ketchup...the struggle is real:))

19-10-16 Upper body (@gym) 1. Flat DB Bench Press (V-Grip) 2x40kg x 5 2x55kg x 8 2x45kg x 13 2. One Arm DB Row 55kg x 12 45kg x 17 3. Leaning Cable Curl (leaning back and took a 4-5 steps away from the machine / better contraction) 41kg x 2 sets of 10 Done! Short n sweet Strengths going up and up, having a great time, I think theres a few reasons why... - Ive been sleeping 9-10hrs per day this last week - Eating really well, not so much massive amounts of calories, rather, a diet that promotes the secretes more anabolic hormones, such as test and IGF-1 - Taking anti catabolic supplements around my workouts - Staying stress free / I also switched my moblie off a week ago, now people who ring or message me with their problems are thinking for themselves lol Going forward ill be focusing on an upper body / lower body split... Upper body A Flat DB Benches + assistance Lower Body A BB Squat + assistance Upper Body B Standing Military Press + assistance Lower Body B Trar Bar Deadlift + assistance

Hi Mate, Rear delts would be trained on pull day, but if your looking to maximize your time spent in the gym, id recommend forgoing rear delt flyes, the posterior delt receives sufficient stimulation from chins, rows, pulldowns etc. Id only recommend them if theres a very specific reason. Best Rob

18-10-16 Legs 1. BB Squat 60kg x 3 80kg x 3 100kg x 3 120kg x 3 140kg x 9 2. Calf Presses Stack (200kg) x 7 mini cluster sets of 5 (10 second rest pause between clusters)* 3. Weighted Hyperextension 20kg x 2 sets of 8* * 2 second hold in the contracted position of each rep Sore are f**k, but im keeping the pedal to the metal, strength's going up well, eating well and getting plenty of sleep. Also enjoying squatting again, no back issues, think ive found my footing with my form, I was always told to keep my head up, but I actually prefer to look down and focus on a stop few feet in front of me, its been working at treat, just going to parallel aswell, at 6'4 theres no way am going lower lol. What I ate today... 9am -Bulletproof coffee + 2 poached eggs 2pm -Tofu cooked in coconut oil and grass fed butter -Bag of broccoli and cauliflower 5pm Pre-workout -275mg of caffeine -1.5g of beta alanine -3g of creatine -10g of BCAA's 6.30pm 3 caramel rice cakes Protein shake (50g) 8pm Chickpea and sweet potato Morrocan dish (huge bowl of it) + bag of spinach 11pm Full fat cottage cheese walnuts and blueberries

To take an evolutionary perspective, the body has learned to be very efficient, when we do steady state activity, the body knows it doesnt need its fast twitch fibers and you "lose" the premium quality muscle fibers. Concrete example... Look at sprinters vs long distance / endurance athletes. Fat loss is almost entirely setting up a proper hormonal environment, with insulin being the main hormone that governs fat gain AND loss.

If you are hell bent consuming a high carb diet, ensure you always have protein with them, itll keep your blood sugar levels more stable.

Spot on Elise!! Unfortunately some just dont get it lol.

Lol, I hear ya Chris, aint getting any younger neither;) 15-10-16 Home Chest / Back 1. Flat DB Bench Press (v grip) 2x50kg x 2 sets of 8, 7 2x40kg x 15 2. One Arm DB Row 50kg x 2 sets of 12, 10 40kg x 18 3. BB Upright Row 45kg x 2 sets of 10 16-10-16 Gym Legs 1. BB Squat 140kg x 7 100kg x 10 2. Stiff Legged Deadlift 100kg x 2 sets of 8 80kg x 15 3. Calf Presses Stack x 6 mini cluster sets of 5 17-10-16 Home Shoulders / Arms 1. Standing Overhead DB Press (strict) 2x35kg x 2 sets of 7 2. One Arm Overhead DB Press (strict) 40kg x 5 3. One Arm DB Lateral Raise 20kg x 2 sets of 8 4. BB Drag Curl 37.5kg x 2 sets of 10, 9 - No direct triceps work Maybe take a day off, see how I feel tomorrow after a good nights sleep. Off work this week, so ive been doing a bit of cooking, made a 3 bean Mexican stew, protein balls, spicy lentil soup and a Moroccan sweet potato and chickpea dish. Coming into winter you just want good hearty meals:)

10-10-16 Home Dumbbell Shoulders & Triceps 1. Seated DB Presses 2x40kg x 8 2x42.5kg x 7 2. One Arm DB Lateral Raise 20kg x 2 sets of 8 3. Seated Alternate "Van Damme" Lateral Raises (kinda like an underhand front lateral raise 2x15kg x 2 setscof 10, 9 4. DB Shrugs 2x50kg x 2 sets of 12, 10 5. One Arm Overhead Triceps Extension 20kg x 2 sets of 8 6. Close Grip Push Up Bars (elevated feet) 4 mini cluster sets of 5 12-10-16 Home Back & Forearms 1. Incline DB Rows 2x40kg x 2 sets of 10, 8 supersetted with 2. DB Pullover 40kg x 2 sets of 8 3. One Arm DB Row* 4. Behind back BB Wrist Curl 40kg x 2 sets of 15 5. Reserve BB Wrist Curl 17.5kg x 2 sets of 12 * Kept the DB on horizontal plane to the body and brought to the chest to emphasise the Rear Delts, Teres Major, Rhombiod muscles.

Hack squats are not a particularly productice movement, moreover they stress the knees inordinately. There are more productive and safer movements than hack squats, such as hip belt squats, trap bar deadlifts, leverage leg presses etc.

Totally agree Mike! Took a week off recently, but back at it yesterday, going with a 4 way split... 8-10-16 Chest & Biceps 1. Pec Deck Stack x 2 static holds to failure Last hold immediately followed by 2. Hammer Incline Press 140kg x 4 + 2 forced reps 3. Seated Bilateral DB Curls 2x25kg x 9 4. Preacher Curl Machine Stack x 2 static holds to failure Today Legs 1. Leg Extension Stack x 2 static holds to failure Last hold immediately followed by 2. Leverage Leg Press 400kg x 5 3. Seated Leg Curl 80kg x 1 static hold to failure immediately followed by 4. Stiff legged deadlifts 110kg x 8 5. Calf Presses Stack x 7 cluster sets of 5 reps - last cluster to failure Completely busted, gonna take a day or two off then hit workouts 3 and 4, which will be shoulders & triceps, then back.

29-9-16 Legs 1. Leverge Leg Press 200kg x 8 300kg x 5 400kg x 11 2. Calf presses stack x 8 cluster sets of 5 3. Vibo plate planks Highest setting x 3 45 second holds 1-10-16 1. Standing Military Press 60kg x 5 70kg x 5 80kg x 5 95kg x 3 2. Smith Machine Bent Over Row (slightly angled machine) 60kg x 5 80kg x 5 100kg x 5 120kg x 5 130kg x 4 3. Standing Cable Curl 35kg x 8 42.5 x 2 sets of 8 Pleased with how trainings going at the minute, really liked the bent over row on the hammer strength smith machine, worked really well, no back issues. Could feel my lats filling up with blood, something I dont get from chins or pulldowns. So I think ill just stick with the one arm hammer row and hammer strength smith machine rows going forward, given that they allow for greater overload. Fighter diet was going well, but ive upped my calories again to maintain strength levels. Fuck being ripped lol, ill leave that to the weak posers, am good with a happy medium:)

Think Leroy Colbert reffered to those as "scoop" curls, its not quite a contraction curl, its a scooping action which apparently produces a better contraction.

"Eyelids twitching from fatigue" lol....love it, no wonder though:) Sorry to hesr about the DC job, but a like your thinking, roll the dice and let the chips fall were they may best Rob

Hi Chris, Good question... There was an interesting study done about two years now, it was to see if additional arm work was necessary if you were employing compound upper body movements such as pulldowns, dips, rows etc, as it turned out, adding an additional isolated bicep and tricep exercise made no difference what so ever, making those movements redundant. I gotta say, from benching, chins etc, my upper arms are just as fatigued and pumped as my torso muscles. I do like to throw in a calf press or raise, I dont believe calf presses or raises are particularly good for developing the calf muscles contrary of popular belief, but I do believe their good for ankle and tendon strength. Going forward I think ill also add direct forearm work also again to help with my elbow tendinitis. The biomechanics support the notion that the largest muscles in the chain will always take the brunt of the work, but smaller less stressful isolation movements do have their place, for stress management (pre exhaustion / less systemic fatigue), balance, injury resistance / rehab and for individuals training for specific sports or skills. Wrestlers for example will benefit for direct neck work, patchers in baseball from rear delt work for deceleration etc.

Just got done with training... Bench press 60kg x 5 80kg x 5 100kg x 3 120kg x 2 145kg x 2 110kg x 10 One Arm DB Row (no warm up sets needed) 50kg x 3 sets of 8 per arm 40kg x 2 sets of 12, 10 per arm Yesterday Leverage leg press 400lb x 5 600lb x 3 800lb x 2 1000lb x 7 rest pause reps Calf presses Stack x 6 sets of 5 (10 seconds between sets) 24.9.16 Standing DB overhead press 2x20kg x 6 2x25kg x 5 2x30kg x 5 2x35kg x 2 sets of 5 2x25kg x 13 reps Chins (underhand) BW x 5, 5, 4, 3, 3, 2 (10-20 second rest pauses between efforts) Keeping it KISS:)

Strange that lowering the bar to your lower chest causes you shoulder pain, theres less impingement, in theroy anyway, just goes to show though... Thats it, just play around with different movements and combos, then every now and then return back to the bench, sometimes over useage of the same movement can lead to issues. Yeah, McGreagor looked like a wee fart next em lol:)

Hey bud, Was feeling strong on the warm up sets, so just went for it. I kept the bench close to a power rack, and held on to the rack while pressing with the other hand. Thought id be lucky to get 4-6 reps, so I was well stoked with 9:) To be honest, I was going to begin with barbell benches, but my training parnter / spotter notice a particular big butt girl he likes was in front of us, now you know what would have happen there....I would have been struggling with that shit and he'd have been too busy looken elsewhere;) Talk about weapons of mass distraction lol.

Have had to return back to the gym, much as im enjoying training at home, the dumbbells at the gym go up a good bit heavier than what ive got at home, but still on the same track, dumbbells and bodyweight movements.... Tonights workout....for fun, I did a unilateral DB only workout One Arm DB Bench Press 50kg x 9 per arm 40kg x 15 per arm One Arm DB Row 50kg x 12 per arm 40kg x 19 per arm One Arm Standing Overhead DB Press 35kg x 7 per arm 25kg x 14 per arm One Arm DB Preacher Curl 25kg x 7 per arm 20kg x 13 per arm One Arm DB Kickbacks 17.5kg x 6 per arm 12.5kg x 15 per arm One Legged Squat 30kg x 12 per leg 25kg x 14 per leg One Legged Calf Raise 25kg x 10 per leg 20kg x 14 per leg Just a bit of fun tonight, fancied something a wee bit different. I stopped just before failure on each set. Diets going very well, bodyweight is 230lb of the button, ill get another bod pod test done soon enough to see were am at.

What way do you bench? Wide grip? Were to you bring the bar to? What tempo? When I do bench (which is rare) I use a slightly wider the shoulder width grip, lowering the bar to my lower chest, which allows the elbows to drop somewhat and causes less impingement in the shoulders. These days though am finding decline push ups (feet up on bench), I also use push up bars, I angle them to a 45 degree angle (for better pec activation) and keep them at shoulder width. Am doing 2-3 workimg sets of these a couple of times a week and their definitely making improvements in my chest, frontal delts and triceps. Now, am not doing that rapid fire push up crap, its 2 seconds up and 4 seconds down. Im personally not a big fan of the DB Pullover, i feel there's better ways to work the lats and chest etc, that being said many swear by them so id say experiment and see for yourself if it makes a difference. Lol, have you seen the youtube video of him mock sparring with Colin McGreagor lol:)