HIT Rob

Been coaxed into a 4-way split by my training partners, this was the last rotation...

W/O A

CHEST / BICEPS / CALVES

1. Plate loaded supine incline press machine

160kgs x 6 reps to failure + 2 drop sets to failure @ 120kg then 80kg

2. Flat Bench DB Flye

2 x 40kg x 2 sets of 10, then 8 reps to failure

3. Machine Dips

Stack + 20kg disc attached x 2 sets of 10, then 9 reps to failure

4. BB Curl

50kg x 2 sets of 10, then 8 reps to failure

5. DB Hammer Curl

2 x 30kg x 2 sets of 12, then 10 reps to failure

6. Standing Calf Raise

120kg x 2 sets of 8, 7 reps to failure ( 2 second hold in the contracted position

W/O B

QUADS / HAMS

1. 45 Degree LP

400kg x 10 reps

430kg x 8 reps to failure

2. Hack Squat Machine

80kg x 2 sets of 10, then 8 reps to failure

3. Leg Extension

95kg x 2 sets of 12, 10 reps to failure

4. Seated Leg Curl

75kg x 2 sets of 10, last set to failure

5. Lying Prone Leg Curl

60kg x 2 sets of 8, last set to failure

W/O 3

SHOULDERS / TRICEPS / CALFS

1. Plate Loaded Shoulder Press Machine

120kg x 5 reps to failure, + 2 drop sets @ 80kg, then 40kg to failure

2. DB Lateral Raise

2 x 20kg x 2 sets of 8, last set to failure

3. Seated Front DB Lateral Raises

2 x 20kg x 2 sets of 10, then 9 reps to failure

4. Lying EZ Curl Bar Triceps Extension

55kg x 2 sets of 8 reps, last set to failure

5. Pushdowns

stack x 2 sets of 14, then 11 reps to failure

6. Seated Calf Raise

80kg x 2 sets of 12 and then 10 reps to failure

W/O 4

BACK

1. Parallel Grip Pulldown

95kg x 3 sets of 12, 12, 10 reps, last set to failure

2. One Arm Chest Supported Machine Row

90kg per arm x 2 sets of 10, 8 reps to failure

3. Stiff Arm Rope Pulldown

half stack x 2 sets of 15, then 13 reps to failure

4. Back Extension Machine

Stack x2 sets of 15, last set to failure

Currently using a 2 on, 1 off frequency. Having fun this weather:)

Amen brother:))

One of my biggest inspirations in my teens was a female bodybuilder called Denise Rutkowski, she was the hottest thing in female bodbuilding in 93, goggle her and see what 20+ years of drug abuse can do. Its seriously shocking!

This story reminds a bit of what happened in Ethiopia back in the 80s, the doctors fed the starving children a protein diet, believing it would "help build them up", what actually happen was, it made them sicker, eventually they realised that a combination of water, simple sugars and vitamin and minerals work brilliantly. Thats what most gainers are, a combo of water, simple sugars, vitamins and minerals and ample protein.

Yeah, that might help, but then I recommend one lat isolation movement, preferable a machine pullover, failing that a DB pullover or stiff arm pulldown, reason being with thick bar training your forearms will most likely fatigue before your lats.

Ah, so youve made your MCT debut:) Enjoyable?

The advanced MCT book I think is even better, goes into the omega set training and talks with high level athletes from different sports who've used it successfully. John also goes into the glycogen theory, and why high carb diet is a most for this type of training method.

Love Urban Krav Maga btw, did it for a couple of years about 6 years ago, also training in Wing Tsun years ago, reached a pretty high level, but couldnt continue due to illness at that time. Might give the KM another go. Found it to be more realistic than traditional systems due to its aggressive approach and the techniques, their arent fancy, but their definitely very effective.

Take it easy

Well, ya gotta warm up mate lol...

Yes mate, ma mates are hitters, two brothers, the eldest is one of my best mates, hes 20st with 11% bf @ 6'2, but he like the younger bother also stick needles in their asses lol, am not into that, the younger of the two is always trying to upsell me Dbol, Deca and test . No change in hell id ever take that shit, Ive had enough health problems for one lifetime lol.

Hey bud, hows it going? Hope everything ok, its hard to keep a good dude down.

 

Best

Rob

 

I've been better man. Honestly, I'm in the mood for something new and I thought I had something lined up but it didn't work out which was a real bummer. I'll keep looking I guess hopefully something will work out.

 

Didn't get them trained too much this week with all of the extra bullshit going on, but I didn't get any good siession tonight see below. Thanks for checking in hope you're doing well

Ever think about being a PT? Given your passion for training and plant based diet background (which I feel has its own niche) might be something. In this country you can get a level 3 cert inside few months, not sure what its like in the state's?

Best of luck with the search mate and keep the chin up:)

Started training yet another new gym to train with a couple of good mates, this gym has a full line of plate loaded Matrix Mageum line, their very smooth and feel natural. For the time being, im following the routine my mates are using, a 3 way split.

Tonight we hammered legs with MCT leg extension supersetted with heavy leg presses (400kgs x 11 reps to failure, followed by two drop sets at 350kg, then 250kg, though I was going to hurl lol), hack squats, lying leg curls, Seated and standing calf raises.

Tuesday night was chest and arms, went with plate loaded supine incline presses, worked up to 140kgs for 2 sets of 6, then two drop sets after the 2nd set at 110kg and 80kg. Next up was the pec deck, followed by seated machine dips, stacked both machines for two sets of each. For biceps, I just went with the preacher curl machine, static hold to failure with the stack, followed by a drop set repping to failure, for tris it was machine triceps extensions, again, one main set tl failure followed up with a couple of drop sets.

Next workout wont be till Sunday, thatll be back and shoulders, the last time we train those it was one arm machine rows (90kg per arm), diverging pulldown machine, v bar pulldowns, plate loaded supine shoulder press machine and machine back extension.

Diets going good, eating big as aswells, admittedly a little dairy has creeped back into my diet, in my porridge I add a very small amount of grass fed unsalted butter, I also like a little skyr Icelandic yoghurt before bed.

Dare I say, I think forearms are a bit like calves, i.e., mostly genetic. My forearms have always grown really well, their very strong but fatigue really quickly. Adding an assortment for wrist curls and grip work never produced any additional growth for me, heavy back training was more than sufficient.

Rob

Hey bud, hows the training been going? All good?

Beach body challenge...sounds sexy;)

Good ta see ya back mate, will be following.

Best

Rob

Hey bud, hows it going? Hope everything ok, its hard to keep a good dude down.

Best

Rob

Looking good mate, the stack on pulldowns for 12 reps....monster! Good idea with the rope curls, ill bet they filled the orl arms up with blood:)

Keep er lite

Hi guys, thanks for the kind comments:)

That sounds like a plan Andy, dont hold back, make it happen!

Best

Rob

Hi Andi, hows it going?

Nice ratios, just the calories, id recommend very slowly descending your calories. I dont believe in "cardio", its an extremely ineffective way for lose fat, given that a single pound of fat can fuel the body for up to 10-12 continuous hours of steady state activity.

Yes, ask your doctor for a test reading, I had it check a year or so ago, think we talked about it before?

On a side note, look into Dr Goldbergs research on hypertrophy from the university of london, he proved (in mammals), even in the absence of insulin, sleep, and even on a starvation diet, if muscle is properly stimulated, it WILL grow, its a biological necessity. So, even with lower test levels, if your preforming a great amount of muscular work in a given unit of time...the body WILL response with an adapted response.

Hope this helps

Rob

1/7/16 (12AM)

1. Parallel grip static pulldown

130kg stack + 20kg plate attached to stack x 3 several second max static holds*

2. Seated dip machine (seat belted in)

152.5kg stack + 20kg plate attached to stack x 6 slow controlled rest pause rest pause reps to failure**

3. Machine arm curl

95kg stack x 3 several second max static holds*

3/7/16 (1AM

1. Leverage leg press

460kgs x 3 several second max static holds*

2. Plate loaded standing calf raise

150kg x 3 several second max static holds*

3. Low back machine (seat belted in)

Stack (145kg) x 8 slow controlled reps (stopped a couple of reps shy of failure for safety reasons)

*15 seconds between efforts

**5 seconds between reps

Couple of good late night abbreviated workouts, happy with progress made.

Fasted most of today, then had a wee family BBQ tonight (I cooked my food first of course), had 2 huge bean burgers with all the trimmings and dairy free vegan ice cream...yum yum. My kinda grub:) portion control goes out the window on fasting days.

On a personal note, myself and my wife have been putting a plan in place to be retired by 42 (just turned 38), after I got a big inheritance last year, we bought a new house in the country, we also paid it off and now rent out our old house, but we've now just bought 2 more houses outright cheap in Belfast (30 miles from us), though they need a lot of work done to them, we'll be working on them for the next year or so. At the end of which, these houses will be for to re-home homeless people, paid for by the government. My wife has been working voluntarily with the homeless now for several months, she cooks / makes soups, stews and sandwiches, then brings them up to the city to an organisation that distributes it around the homeless.

Once "retired" (dont think I'll ever be truely retired), we spend time helping other less fortunate and do the things WE want to do with our lives, rather than working for "the man". My dream has also been to be to my own boss, finally, am within grasp!

Had a good HIT chest workout sunday, treated my self to a takeaway afterwards and got food poisoning. feel rough as hell havent eaten since sunday night

Nightmare! Nothing worse. Feeling any better now?

Yes mate, use roughly 30+% less weight. Ill return again to the static holds, but ill just have to get my training partner to provide manual resistance aswell. Wont be able to accurately measure strength increases, but hey, the muscle doesnt care, it just feels additional stress.

Looks awesome mate, its the simple things in life, me and the mrs were planning our trip for next winter:)

Good luck with the next bout of gym endeavours aswell, will be following:)

Best

Rob

Decided a few days ago to salt in some negative accentuated training for a while, still a very good way to deeply inroad while minimising wear and tear. Ill be using a modified version of Dr Dardens 30/30/30 protocol that suit the more fast twitch dominant individual such as myself. Its 20/20/20, I.e, a 20 second negative, 20 second positive (whereby positive failure is reached), then a very tough final 20 second negative.

26/6/16

Upper body

1. Pec deck flye - 20/20/20

supersetted immediately with...

2. Converging chest press machine - 15/15/15

2 min rest...

3. Machine pullover -20/20/20

Supersetted immediately with...

4. Seated chest supported row - 15/15/15

2 min rest

5. Machine lateral raise - 20/20/20

2 min rest

6. BB curl - 20/20/20

Supersetted immediately with...

7. Pushdowns 20/20/20

29/6/16

Lower body

1. Leg extension - 20/20/20

Supersetted immediately with

2. Seated leg presses - 15/15/15

2 min rest...

3. Seated leg curl - 20/20/20

2 min rest

4. Hip belt calf raise - 2 x 15/15/15

Supersetted immediately with...

5. Crunch machine - 20/20/20

Very tough way to train, having to deal with some rough DOMS, bad even after taking cold plunges after my workouts. Also makes me very sleppy, according to Dr Darden its due to a greater realise of growth hormones. Am having to sleep for 2 hours or so after a workout, plus 9 hours a night lol.

Going forward I might modified it again, to 2 x 15/15/15, with a lighter weight on the first 1.5 rep.

Diet wise alls good, ive started applyingnthe good Doctors ideas here too, got portion control tubs, drinking lots of ice cold water, taking 2 cold plunges per week, after dinner walks etc.

Todays munching...

Breakfast

Bowl of muesli with a cup of almond milk, fruit salad (strawberries, kiwi, melon, red grapes, banana)

Protein shake

Brunch / pre workout)

3 energy balls (rice protein powder, dried blueberries, cashews, coconut oil, flaxseeds etc)

Post workout / lunch

Spanish rice with mixed beans, chocolate flavoured soya yogurt

Dinner

Potato, chickpea and vegetable curry, 1 energy ball

Bedtime

2 rice cakes with almond butter

protein shake (hemp and rice)

Only if I can wear the flip flops:))

Old research yes, but the discoverers made by those men are irrefutable physiology facts, dictated by the laws of nature, and apply to all. For info on those guys the max contraction training book and advanced MCT book are great. John Little also did a brilliant interview recent enough on the coperate warrior site, it in he keeps reffering to the works of the above names, in particular Muller, its his findings that the MCT system is based on. Muller conducted dozens of individual studies in the 50s to find which protocol produced the best size and strength increases in the sortest time possible, after 10 solid years research, he concluded that a 1-6 second maximal contraction of a muscle, preformed just once per week yeilded superior results to any other protocol he'd tested.

Unfortunately this information never really filtered down to the people who could make the best use of it, instead we got "more is better", "too much is never enough", "thou must squat", "only free weights build muscle, machines just define", "muscles must be worked from every angle", "thou must use a full range of motion" complete nonsense....

Personally I opted for static holds, time and tension along with the intensity of effort and progressive overload is what counts, but if your limited by equipment, then id say as long as you reduce momentum and null out as much non muscular body torque as possible, then itll become pure muscular effort, id also recommend accentuating the negative portion of the rep.

Havent been to any concerts in ages mate, but my eldest nephew got a gig as security at download the lther week, £12 an hour to be on the same stage as several huge rock bands....major job satisfaction lol.

Cheers bud, yeap, muscles have the capacity to contract maximally against a great deal of resistance, am showing no signs of slowing down, unfortunately though my strength has surpassed most of the machine weight stacks:(

Necks not too bad today, should be good to go tomorrow:)

Now your talking, need a sexy title though....I got it....the max pink resistance band workout, snap back into the best shape of your life in just 10 minutes a day lol. Comes with a bonus pair of flip flops;)

All joking aside, I honestly believe theres far too much info on the topic these days, on TV, the Internet, magazines, youtube etc, most of which is pure marketing bullshit, It does nothing but cause confusion. All that ever need to be written on the suject was written over 100 years ago by pioneering physiologists like Roux, Petow, Siebert, Lange who discovered the muscles growth is due to intensity of effort...and the intensity and volume co exsist on an inverse ratio.

Roux put it brilliantly "hypertrophy results from an increase in the intensity of work done in a unit of time, whereas the total amount of work done (volume) is without significance".

There were many other very reputable physiologists you also came to the same conclusions, including Arthur Steinhuse, regarded as the godfather of western physiology, and two of Germany's most respected physiologists, Erich Muller and T.L. Hettinger. These men all found that it wasnt repetitions, it wasnt the pump, it wasnt high volume workouts, its wasnt hitting a muscle from a half dozen angles that made test subjects bigger and stronger, it was the intensity of effort, and "the overcoming of a greater resistance in a unit of time". Everyone since then has really just parroted these men.

Sorry, a long winded ramble lol

9pm last night...

1. Weighted underhand chin

@BW + 20kg

2. Pec deck flye

@162.5kg

3. Machine lateral Raise

@100kg

4. Rear delt flye machine

@70kg

5. Multi function cable biceps

@70kg

6. One arm triceps rope extension

@32.5kg

9pm tonight

1. Leg extension

@172.5

2. Seated leg curl

@100kg

3. Hip belt calf raise

@BW + 75kg

4. Inner leg

@162.5kg

5. Outer hip

@162.5kg

2 max static holds per movement, 15 second rest pause between efforts....

Very happy with these workouts, felt great and weights going up, but on the down side am gonna run out of safe weight soon. The weight stacks on the machines am using go up to 152.5kg, been having to add a disc to the weight stack. The only option i'll have going forward will be is to have my training parnter also apply manual resistance - which am not keen on since an objective measurement cant be taken.

Annoyingly Ive slightly stained my neck tonight on the leg extension, I.e., bracing myself to the seated so that my hip / ass dont come off. So ive just sent off for a seat belt I can put around the seated and myself so I dont have to brace so hard.

Eating big as normal, up to 255lbs, lots of energy balls, lentil and veg stews, spanish mixed bean rice, veggie burgers, chickpea and potato curry, rice and hemp protein shakes and fruit salads. Sleeping patterns are a bit missed up this last few months or so, some nights am getting 8hrs, other nights 4hrs, I think it could well be the amount of caffeine in my diet, my pre workout drink has 175mg of caffeine, plus a drink a lot of coke and tea, so the latter must go.

Love it!!

Your right about the face down incline curl, much better contraction, did something similar myself tonight with the function multi cable machine, leaned right forward into it and maximal contracted for 2 sets of 8-12 seconds. Felt awesome.

Yes mate, when multiple muscles are working in concert, it produces more of a metabolic effect leaving you systemically fatigued for days. I would also (based on my own experience) argue with the notion most people have that compound movements release more growth hormone. When you take a muscle and maximally overload it in its position full contraction you'd better believe theres going to be growth hormone released.

For shoulders I use a machine lateral raise and a rear delt flye machine, but results can still be had with DB laterals...BUT...done heavy. Like so..https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=jEF-u4ntt2Q

For rear delts, I recommend bent over one arm cable rear flyes, same principle as in the video.

Enjoy those doms mate;)