Right for those of you who are interested Im just about to start my bulking routine. Appologies for the metric weights as I know you prefer to work in lbs but its *2.2 I beleive for all.
A potted history so far:
December 2003 I was a lumpy fat 252lbs yikes is that really right ! scary at 6ft 2 so thats what 189cm. not good! Used to play rugby got injured and ate the same. Add some lifestyle issues into that and ya get the picture. So started to lose the weight, through folowing a little better eating and reducing the intake of food and working out like a loony I managed to get down to 14 1//2 stone 203lbs and then I plateued.
Luckily was taken on board by Mens Health in the UK on the website to be an online challenger. Through calorie cycling and training 3 times a week 30 mons no cv (long story that one) managed to get myself from July 2005 at 203lbs to 12 1/2 st ie 175lbs. Gosh pounds sure dont look as nice as stones. Anyhow bodyfat was dropped from 22%+ to 9.5% and my first ever 6 pack. :-)
So wehere are we now, having had a wek and half off at christmas Im starting on a shake up routine for 2 weeks just to reinvigorate get the old testosterone flowing and the muscles working (Good thing here is that am making major gains already due to glycogen replenishment naturaly of course).
My goal to add 1stone (14lbs) of lean muscle mass in 3 months and keep the body fat sub 12% (will cut at end of 3 months too). I will achieve my goal but not sure if I am selling myslef short on the target maybe I should go for more???
I dont do supplements only a natural diet, but do drink bucket loads of water :-)
Workout A
09/1
Leg Extension 65/7
Leg Curl 55/8
Leg Press + 2 Reps Rest-Pause style 125/8+2
- Rest 2 minutes -
Leg Curl 55/8
Leg Extension 65/6
Squat 90/7
- Rest 2 minutes -
Lateral Raise 8/8
Dumbbell Press 18/8
- Rest 2 minutes -
Bent Over Raise 6/6
Machine Press 8/45
soory thats all in KGs the basis of the lift is form and TUT rather than how many aiming for min 6 reps max 8 and next session the weight increases, No rests between exercises than where specified.
Yikes shall I try posting updates again for a 3rd time he he.
Tis all going well am on day 3 of a 4 day loay off from the gym and its killing me! hate not training but after the last two weeks which was routine from hell and I challenge anyone to do (shall post it all up soon) I sure as heck need it.
A little bit too much podge going on round my belly (boohoo wheres my 6 pack gone) but we shall rectify this!)
Hi guys sorry been off line the last few days as I managed to fry my pc at home and trying to redraw up all my training logs from my scribbled notes so this is the story so far:
Workout A
09/1
Leg Extension 65/7
Leg Curl 55/8
Leg Press + 2 Reps Rest-Pause style 125/8+2
- Rest 2 minutes -
Leg Curl 55/8
Leg Extension 65/6
Squat 90/7
- Rest 2 minutes -
Lateral Raise 8/8
Dumbbell Press 18/8
- Rest 2 minutes -
Bent Over Raise 6/6
Machine Press 45/8
To perform breakdowns, pick a weight which you can do 10-12 reps with, then do 5-6. Rest 10 seconds, then repeat with the same weight, resting for 10 seconds between each set of 5-6 until you reach muscular failure. This normally occurs around the third or fourth set
this is what I have been doing since then and will update my results later on
Monday
Leg Extension / Leg Press
- 2 Minutes Rest -
Leg Curl / Leg Press
- 2 Minutes Rest -
Leg Extension / Leg Curl / Leg Press + 3 Drop Sets (15 seconds between
Drop
Sets)
Wednesday
Bicep Curl / Lat Pulldown (x3, 2 mins rest in between each superset)
- 1 Minutes Rest -
1 Repetition Chin Up (30 seconds up, 30 seconds down, do only 1 rep)
- 2 Minutes Rest -
Tricep Pushdown / Bench Dip (x3, 2 mins rest in between each superset)
- 1 Minutes Rest -
1 Repetition Dip (30 seconds up, 30 seconds down, do only 1 rep)
- 2 Minutes Rest -
Lateral Raise / Front Raise / Bent Over Raise / Shoulder Press
Friday
Chest/Abs
Dip + 3 Negatives
- 2 Minutes Rest -
Pec Flye + 3 Drop Sets (20 seconds between drop sets)
- 2 Minutes Rest -
Incline Dumbbell Flye / Incline Dumbbell Press
- 20 Seconds Rest -
Incline Dumbbell Flye / Incline Dumbbell Press / Push Up + 3 Negatives
- 2 Minutes Rest -
Hanging Knee Raise / Ab Crunch (5/10/5 on Ab Crunch only, not Knee Raise
Sunday
Chest/Back
Machine Chest Press - Up and Down method
- 2 Minutes Rest -
Machine Flye / Push Up
- 2 Minutes Rest -
Seated Row - Up and Down Method
- 2 Minutes Rest -
Lat Pulldown + 2 Drop Sets
Up and Down method
Start with a light weight, about 60% of your usual weight. Do 3 reps. Knock the pin up to the next weight, then do 3 more. Repeat this until you hit failure, then drop the pin down 1, and rep until failure again, dropping down one and repping until you're back at the starting weight
as for the bulking diet Carb high, protein moderate, fat low. Most people more than over compensate the amount of protein they digest when they are bulking and simply the body cant process it. Should always be carb highest as this is the energy from which to build :-)
Just to reiterate on the routine in case ya are wondering the philosophy is maximum efficiency as much as I love the gym it is a means to an end and I dont wanna live down there. So this is the reason ya dont see number of sets listed it is one set at a weight that will take you to failure. Aim for minimum 6 reps maximum 8 if ya can do more than 8 it means you are a shirker and a lightweight that wussed out and picked too light a weight in the first place!
As for speed/cadence well everything is 5 seconds up 5 seconds down unless specified this ensures you keep good form and use the muscles effectively and also keeps the heart pounding thus that coupled with the supers and minimal rests delivers my cv workout
Monday
Leg Extension 67 1/2 kg/7
/Leg Press 127 1/2 /7
- 2 Minutes Rest -
Leg Curl 60 /10
/ Leg Press 127 1/2 /7
- 2 Minutes Rest -
Leg Extension 67 1/2 /7
/ Leg Curl / 60 /8
Leg Press + 125 / 8
3 Drop Sets 115/5 105/5 95/5
(15 seconds between Drop
Sets)
Another John Wayne impression afterwards pumped isnt the word they felt like tree trunks but in a nice way
Wednesday
Bicep Curl 15/8 15/6 15/6
/Lat Pulldown 57/8 57/7 57/6
(x3, 2 mins rest in between each superset)
- 1 Minutes Rest -
1 Repetition Chin Up (30 seconds up, 30 seconds down, do only 1 rep) 28/22
- 2 Minutes Rest -
Tricep Pushdown 65/8 65/7 65/7
/ Bench Dip 8 7 6
(x3, 2 mins rest in between each superset)
- 1 Minutes Rest -
1 Repetition Dip (30 seconds up, 30 seconds down, do only 1 rep) 24\30
- 2 Minutes Rest -
Lateral Raise 8/2 6/4
/ Front Raise 6/6
/ Bent Over Raise 4/10
/ Shoulder Press 35/8
Now the latter arm section is embarrassing and a poor show but to be honest my arms were burnt out by then but still no excuse. At least the tree trunk feeling is now in my arms
:-)
Typing this as I am listening to an awful dance version of Guns and Roses Sweet Child of mine! Som esongs should just be left be altho it is catchy!!!!!!!
Routine A
Stiff Legged Deadlift
Leg Press
Seated Row
Bench Press
Chin Up
Shoulder Press
Barbell Curl
Hanging Leg raise
Routine B
Squat
Dumbbell Pullover
Leg Curl
Leg Extension
Dip
Single Arm Dumbbell Row
Overhead Tricep Extension
Barbell Front Raise
Lateral Raise
Back Extension
Aiming to get 3-4 workouts in next 7 days Usual rules apply, 5/5, keep your rest times down to 2-3 minutes, no need to rush.
Argggg bad gym day! kicks self in shins! I think an amoeba coul have lifted more than me. A combination of lack of sleep and a bad stomach did not bode well! Then the psycholgical part of not being able to find my weights gloves allowed me to give myself too many excuses too wuss out
Routine A
Stiff Legged Deadlift 70kg/7
Leg Press 130/7
Seated Row 42 1/2kg /8
Bench Press 62 1/2 kg /6
Chin Up 20kg/3 10kg/4 0\2
Shoulder Press 35/8
Barbell Curl 15/8
Hanging Leg raise 7
Makes me laugh this 5/5 caddence lark everyone looks at you as tho you are a lightweight and you cant really compare the weights to others routines but boy ya sure get pumped and burn out quick.
The good points: Bench press and Leg Press altho burnt out that weight is going up next time
The bad points: The chins! What was that about my granma could do better! Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
Is this your own program, or one you picked up elsewhere?
The thing I notice is in your first lot of workouts, isolation work dominated the beginning and end of the workout with compound stuff in the middle. I was going to suggest moving the compound stuff to the beginning where you'll get the most out of it, but see you've done that for your next lot of workouts. Deliberately done that?
Im working with a top trainer over here in the UK in readyness for my next online challenge. the purpose of these training plans is a kinda prebulk stop gap. For the last 2 years I was dropping the weight so the routines were pretty simlar and whilst not focussed on burning the calories it was more about toning up. So these routines are really just to force the body into a state of confusion and get everything primed and ready.
The trouble is tho its the gaging game. When I start the routine cos the order is changing all the while I dont know how hard I can theoreticaly push myself, some of the ombos have been an absolute killer, tonights whilst I pushed to fatigue some of the earlier exercises wasted the smaller muscle groups too soon so I found it had to push later on. if that makes sense
ooops sorry about the spelling using a mates pc as mine blew up the other week and the keyboard is naff, still am grateful he leant me it as cant afford to get mine fixed :-(
I've never been a fan of taking it easy on one exercise so I can have more in the tank for later ones. Just doesnt make sense to me. Again thats why a lot of people (Ian King being one who comes to mind) advocate putting your most important lifts first, as they're the ones you'll do the best work on.
ha ha wouldnt say I take it easy by any means but I push to exhaustion hence only one set on these weeks. But Im sure on some I could possibly grit my teeth and add a few extra kgs. Will hit this routine again Friday Morning so will report progress. Weights or reps have consistantly increased since July last year so not complaining dont like a routine gettin the better of me tho
I've always thought that was the point. You wipe out the smaller groups early so you can get more of the other muscles involved in the lift. That seems to be the case in phase 2 of Beach muscles. I am absolutely wiping out my chest all through the workout. You finish off the day with 60 reps as fast as you can. Nothing gets left in the tank.
Oh it is the point was just commenting tho that when doing it under slow controlled movement tho it burns you out sooo quick that I find it hard to get my head round the fact that I dont feel like I have done a long enough workout! Im averaging tops 40 mins a session some of the routines I have been doing over the last 6 months I have got down to sub 30 mins by reducing the rest periods to less that a minute. But sometimes you have to just disingage the brain and go with he flow if it works. Its like the whole no traditional CV thing and losing weight get the gym routine and the diet right and it works and I've actualy achieved far greater losses when cutting and gains right now!
One thing you cant argue with in this game, and thats results [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]. If its working, keep doing it till it aint working no more [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img].
Lol, that covers cool, bit of extra motivation to keep going for the 'after' one!
ha ha not sure what way to take that u saying I is skinny if so thank you that was the aftermath of the last campaign the real motivators the next piccys the first of which was 2003 I wasnt quite at my fattest in that one as I have now lost that piccy :-(
ha ha Ben I am indeed sorry that wa sthe piccys to the initial cut. Rather than the traditionaly acepted method of bulk then cut went for the cut and re-educate first and now the bulk aiming to keep the body fat low
wont be doing the new one through Mens Health tho as wont subscribe to the supplements/fat burners garbage as its unnecesary in my opinion
Routine B
Squat 100kg/8
Dumbbell Pullover 26kg/8
Leg Curl 65kg/6
Leg Extension 67 1/2kg/6
Dip 15kg/5 0/2 and 10sec stat
Single Arm Dumbbell Row 18kg/8 L & R
Overhead Tricep Extension 6kg/6 L & R
Barbell Front Raise 6/6
Lateral Raise 6/6 4/2
Back Extension 12 @ 5/10/5
Some new and some revisited exercises so another one difficult to gage new pb's on leg curl & leg ext
Still cant push harder on squats cos of injury and arms let me down towards the end. Need to up the db pull ovr back up to 36kg but wussed out as no spotter available
hmmm thinking today am gonna up that db row big time altho it burnt the muscle out I really enjoyed that and know if I focus well I can get that weight increased big time.
Thats the trouble with knew routines that are short lived you have to work out what you perceive you can lift rather than what you have lifted before. Normaly I look at what I think I can lift and add some if I havent done it before
FatmanSkinny Turns to Bulk
Linear Mode
