Saturday 22nd March 2014
DB Bench 38kg x10x8x6x5 (60s rest)
Bent Over Row 60kg x12x12x12x12x12x12 (60s)
Cable Flyes 12.5kg x12x10x9x9 (60s)
Wide Grip Pulldown 60kg x12x10x7x7 (60s)
EZ Cable Curl 25kg x10x10, 20kg x10x10 – superset with Pushdowns 35kg x10x10x9, 30kg x7 (30s between supersets)
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Wednesday 14th August 2013
Bench Press 125kg x3x3x5
Face pulls (11) x19x15 (superset with first two bench sets)
Machine Preacher Curls 25kg x8, 20kg x10 (superset with bench & face pulls)
T Bar Row 65kg x15x12x11x8 (60secs rest)
Leg Press 320kg x12
Eased into Benching today, shoulder had a little twinge but was good enough to lift (finally!). Had to drop the squat today, did a few warmup sets but after the bench, shoulder was sore when holding the bar and didn’t want to force it!
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Tuesday 6th August 2013
SPIN followed by Seated Leg Curl 65kg x12x10x9 (90secs rest)
Later in day
Standing Cable Straight Arm Pulldown 40kg x8x8x8
Superset with Reverse Grip Lat Pulldown 80kg x8x8, 70kg x8 (60s)
DB Pullover 34kg x8x8x8
Superset with Cable Row 70kg x8x8x8 (60s)
Smith Rack Pull 160kg x7
DB Hammer Curls 16kg x14x11 (90s)
Seated DB Curls 12kg x13x11 (60s)
EZ Cable Curl 20kg x40
Shoulder not too bad on back work, DB Pullover and Rack Pulls had a slight twinge but bearable!
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Tuesday 4th June 2013
Incline Bench 80kg x5, 90kg x5, 102.5kg x5+2+1 RP
Incline Lever Bench 40kg x18, then Incline DB Flyes 12.5kg x14
Machine Preacher Curl 20kg x12x9
Squat 120kg x5, 137.5kg x5, 157.5kg x4 – 4 messy reps! more like good mornings! not a great return to squats so will drop down the weights a little for now to see how next few sessions go.
A few hours later taught Spin then the usual seated hamstring curls 50kg x15x14x10
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Friday 17th May 2013
Incline Bench 100kg x5x5x6+1+1 RP then Incline Lever Press 50kg x12
Face pulls (10) x15x15 (between bench sets)
Lever Row 80kg x8x7x5 (60s rest)
Machine Preacher Curls 20kg x12+2+1 RP
Squat 100kg x5, 120kg x5, 140kg x3, 160kg x2, 170kg x1, 180kg (fail), 170kg x1, 180kg (fail)
Great to get a decent strength session in, been up an down with illness for a couple of weeks so was great to get back under the bar. Missing a few reps here and there on weights, but it was to be expected after all the time off lately – Grrrr!
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Thursday 18th April 2013
Tuesday SPIN followed with Seated Hamstring Curl 45kg x21x21x21
Today – Incline Bench 100kg x5x5x9, then 80kg x7
Face Pulls (11) x14x14 – between bench sets
Machine Lever Row 90kg x12x10x8x7 (90s rest)
Machine Preacher Curl 20kg x14x7 (90s rest)
Squat 100kg x3, 120kg x3, 140kg x3, 160kg x3, 180kg x1 – Hip Flexor tight, struggled with Squats so just went through the motions – Will try 180kg for reps next session.
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Sunday 25th November 2012
Cable Curls (level 6) x 14+6+5
Reverse Cable Curls (5) x12
Seated Calf Raise 110kg x10 – Was supposed to do these on the Smith machine today, but the step is too rounded and my feet were slipping too much.
Stiff-Legged-Deadlift 60kg x13+6+6 – Still having postural issues with my deadlifts
Leg Press 200kg x7, 160kg x20 – Really focused on trying to keep good form. Any heavier and my bum would come off the seat and I tended to bounce out of the bottom position.
Ab-sling knee raises – 10 knees to right, 10 to left, 10 straight knees-to-elbows
Again, felt like I needed to do something with upper body so did some ‘V’ pulldown to chest (10) x12+5+4
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Tuesday 20th November 2012
EZ Curl 30kg x15+4+3RP
DB Hammers 12.5kg x10
Leg Press Toe Press 110kg x10
Good Mornings 35kg x20+9+7RP
Hack Squat 120kg x6, 103.5kg x20
Had some time to waste so threw in:
‘V’ pulldown to chest (level 10) x10+4+3RP
Dips (unweighted) x20x13 (60s rest)
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Tuesday 6th November 2012
Back to training after a hectic week! Bringing the frequency method back for press-ups and going to hang my rings in my new garage so I can do chins as well.
Decline Bench 121kg x4x4x6 – felt strong on these, kept the reps at 4 as no-one to spot me and I didn’t want to get stuck under the bar! I’m going to keep the increases to 1kg and see how far I can get before returning to flat.
Machine Preacher Curl 17.5kgx14, 15kg x12
Pendlay Row 65kg x10x10x10 – jumped 5kg from last session, will keep it to 2.5kg from here to keep the technique right, it’s too easy to start using hips.
Squat 147.5kg x4x4x5 – struggled with these today, I had been in the gym too long and overdone the warm-up so just didn’t have it in me by the time I got to these! Grr! I’ll repeat the weight next week and see how it feels!
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Friday 26th October 2012
Usual tired legs on a Friday from Spin yesterday – this week only the one class so not too bad, still holding onto the 10 reps on the squats so can’t be that bad!
Decline feeling a little better than last week, getting the hang of positioning under the bar, with a purpose built decline bench my legs would be anchored so maybe better? Maybe not? .. Personally I think this will carry over to my bench press better as it’s a similar position and I feel stronger when my feet are on the ground (or steps as I’m a short-arse!). Swapped out Yates row for Pendlay’s for more mid/upper back work.
Decline Bench 120kg x5x5x6 – repeated weight as technique was a little off last week – back off set 70kg x18 – Excuse the music, someone in gym swearing like a trooper in the background!
Pendlay row 60kg x10x10x10 – Kept to 60kg so I could get a good feel to the movement, will increase slowly as long as I can keep good form.
Machine preacher curls 17.5kg x12, 15kg x9
Squat 145kg x5x5x10
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Friday 12th October 2012
I guess yesterdays feast paid off! Felt full of energy and ready to train today, all my lifts felt right, even squats after double spin last night – A rarity nowadays! Again tried to slot in a set of chins in between most lifts, so racked up around 50 by the end of the session. I’m going to start aiming to do exactly that each time, get at least 50 chins every session (I’m pretty sure that was one of Arnie’s things, but he did pull-ups instead).
Bench 115kg x5x5x6, back off set 70kg x17
Machine preacher curls 20kg x10, 15kg x8 – I guess the pull-ups took their toll!
Yates row 80kg x15x15x15 – definitely felt these more in the back (and forearms!), so will creep weight up slowly and keep the reps in the 12-15 range
Squat 140kg x5x5x10 – A little good morning-esque on the last two reps, need to watch that, otherwise my lower back will suffer! Didn’t do a back off set on squats, I do enough leg work in Spin!
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Friday 5th October 2012
A tough slog today! I taught double Spin last night (2 hours), and then covered another Spin first thing this morning at 7am (so 3 hours of spin in 12 hours! – not good before a squat day ;)). Due to being up so early I felt tired all day, but still hit the gym anyway as I’m busy all weekend so needed to get a session in. Despite all this didn’t do to badly, although the bar felt really heavy all round today!
Bench 115kg x5x4x4 – went for the 5th on the last set, but couldn’t lock it out, thankfully big Kev stepped in before the bar started on it’s inevitable downward journey! – Thanks Kev! I’m going to repeat the weight next session as it was a bad day and I think I could have easily got 5 on a good day.
Preacher curl machine 25kg x8, 20kg x10 – not used one like this before and had got bored of curls so gave it a try. The leverage is designed so that the weight is the greatest at the top of the movement as opposed to when you normally do curls and it’s at the middle. This was humbling and I had to seriously drop my weight down! However I really liked the feel of it so going to stick at it for a few weeks before I go back to the bar. Also there’s no ‘cheating’ or swinging on this one!
Yates row 97.5kg x10x10x8 – still not sure about these, I’m going to drop the weight and try and nail the form for higher reps.
Squat 137.5kg x5x5x7 – Man! Spin certainly took it’s toll on these (unsurprisingly), bar felt really heavy and struggled on first set! Took longer rest than usual so I could get a decent last set and after 7 reps I thought about another, but decided to rack it. Legs were just too fried and I don’t think I’d have got out of the bottom!
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Tuesday 18th September 2012
After watching some of my videos back, I’m really trying to hone in on my technique in order to get maximum benefit from each particular lift. Took a re-set on my Bench Press as I’ve definitely been ‘bouncing’ it off my chest . Started doing Yates rows again, so trying to get a feel for them in my Lats as opposed to a kind of power shrug that most do! I was watching some clips of Dorian Yates training yesterday, although I agree he’s a beast! I’m not going to start bodybuilding or anything. His philosophies on intensity however are inspiring, I like the fact that he only does one working set of each lift, but at maximum intensity (for bodybuilding purposes he usually throws in some partner assisted negatives on the end or some partials as well).
Bench 110kg x5x5x6
DB Hammer curls 17.5kg x14x11
Yates row 90kg x10x8x8
Squat 152.5kg x3x2x5 – Bar slipped a little on second set so just racked it as it felt unstable!
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Tuesday 11th September 2012
After yesterdays post I’ve stopped doing decline sit-ups in warm-up as despite trying not to arch my back, it still does and the old hip flexors are tight enough! started doing roman chair knees to chest instead without fully extending at the bottom, so as not to arch!
Taken my grip a little wider on my bench press as my grip has got quite narrow so triceps doing most of the work. This meant the bar felt heavier despite only moving out a little, but just managed the prescribed reps today.
Bench 122.5kg x3x3x3 (video here) – Lost grip in right hand at bottom of first rep, but managed to push it off chest from a dead stop despite this – May have got another rep or two if it wasn’t for this 😦
EZ bar curls 35kg x11x10
Machine rows 90kg x 11×8
Face-pulls on cable, level 7 (again no weight markings) x15x15 – practicing technique on these
Squat 150kg x4x4x7 – (video here) was supposed to be 5’s but felt quite heavy first set so kept to 4’s, will go for 5’s next week especially as I managed 7 on the last set, thanks Andy for the impromptu spot! Last two reps right knee drifting in, need to really tighten that up, going to try and widen stance and see if it helps.
Again got class tonight so will use it to stretch hip flexors and work on some reverse crunches. (Heck, if I have to teach, might as well make it helpful to my cause!)
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Tuesday 4th Sept 2012
It’s almost done! I managed to get almost all the photo’s done today to illustrate ‘Hench’, just a couple to re-take as they’re a bit blurry and then the publishing process starts.
Training went pretty well today, stayed at 120kg for bench as only did 3’s last week, and increased on squat but dropped to 3’s as first set was killer!
Bench 120kg x5x5x6 – video here, typically someone walked across the camera on the last rep, but didn’t obstruct too much! A little disappointed I only got 6 on last set, however total of 16 reps compared to last weeks 13 so it’s all good!
Seated alt DB curls 17.5kg x14x13 – feel like I’m swinging these a bit so will go back to standing EZ bar curls next session
Machine row 85kg x15x11x8x8
Squat 150kg x3x3x5 – last set was a real struggle, but got my intended 5. Right knee rolled in, but managed to push it back out (can’t really see that on video so will change angle next time.
Didn’t bother with any Ab work as I’ve got to teach a 30 minute ‘core’ class tonight (not great, but a man’s got to make some money!)
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Tuesday 28th August 2012
Again no micro plates at this gym so had to take Bench up by 2.5kg and lower reps to 3 (on first two sets, still a max effort on last set) – I actually prefer this to the 1kg increments as the rep changes are a nice way to keep the boredom away, and I feel more confident with the weight knowing it’s only 3 reps.
Warmed up with 3 rounds of 10 GHR (glute-ham raises) and 10 decline sit-ups, and a few sets of chins
Bench 120kg x3x3x7 – surprised myself with the last set, didn’t expect to even get up to 5 as the second set felt quite tough, but then smashed out 7!
Seated Alt. Db curls 17.5kg x13x11
Machine row 80kg x15x11x8x8 (keeping rest to 60-90s)
Squat 147.5kg x5x5x5 – felt strong on these, but when I went for rep 6 on last set, I couldn’t get back up!
Roman chair leg raise (straight legged) x10x10x10
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Thursday 23rd August 2012
I finally found a decent gym! Good old word of mouth, one of the guys at CF Dynamic gave me the number of his mate who referred me to the butcher who owns a gym! – £20 a month and you get a key so you can train whenever you want!
Does it get better? It’s a proper spit and sawdust place with absolutely everything you can think of jammed in!
Had a great session down there:
Bench 117.5kg x5x5x5
Seated Alt. Db Curl 15kg x13x13
Seated machine row 80kg x13x11x8x8
Squat 145kg x5x5x6 – followed up with a speed 20 rep finisher on 45 degree leg press at 120kg (just because I could!)
Oh yeah, and just to top it off, here’s the ‘cardio’ area!
It’s nice to see their priorities are right! ha ha!
Also got my frequency sets in to include 3 chin-up ladders so 60 reps total. A darn good days training 🙂
BE HENCH 