Saturday 7th June 2014
Deadlift 140kg x5, 160kg x2, 180kg x1, 185kg x1, 190kg x1
Good Morning 40kg x10x10x10x10 (60s rest)
Yates Row 80kg x10x10x10x10 (30s)
Explosive Shrugs 130kg x40 (rest-pause in hang position) followed by DB Shrug & Hold 3 secs 42kg x10x10x8 (90s rest)
Seated Leg Curls 50kg x12, 45 x12x12, 40kg x12 (60s rest)
Ab Sling Knee to Elbows x12x12x12x12 (60s)
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Sunday 16th June 2013
Dumbbell Pullover 45kg x12x12 (90s rest)
Weighted Chins 25.25kg x7, 24kg x6 (2 mins rest), followed with Reverse Grip Pulldowns (11) x15+6+4 RP
Yates Row 80kg x15x13x12x9 (90s rest) – Not sure about these, still feels like I’m doing a shrug. Going to look more into technique.
Rack Pull 150kg x17 – Strapped up for these, no way I would have held on for 17 reps without!
Prone Rear Raise (bench on low incline) 7.5kg DB’s x20x15x12 (60s rest)
Lying Leg Curl (5) x15+8+5 RP
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Friday 19th October 2012
Another double Spin class yesterday so spent a bit of time straight after classes stretching my hip flexors, I’ve also been trying to take some time at night to foam roll them and my quads (ouch!). A bit short on time today so superset (of a sort) my lifts – basically in the 3-5 minutes between Bench and Squat sets, I’d do another lift which didn’t effect it too much in order to get all my lifts done in the timeframe.
Decline Bench 120kg x5x5x6 – After previous post fancied giving them a try myself, I had to put boards under my feet as couldn’t put my feet down otherwise! Felt a bit unstable as not an ideal decline bench – can’t hook legs – felt like I was sliding a little, but got the hang of it by my last set. (cut the video as I stupidly went for a seventh rep which failed and you don’t need to see that!)
Yates row 82.5kg x15x15x15 (slotted these in between each bench set)
Machine preacher curls 15kg x11x10 (as I’m still doing pull-ups all the way through, my arms are pretty tired when I get to these! but I really like them so sticking with it! – Again, I performed these between squat sets to save time.
Squat 142.5kg x5x5x10 – Form got a little ugly toward last few reps but I was determined to get 10 again! I’m still surprised that Spin isn’t affected these at the moment, I put it down to the mobility I’m doing for my hips/APT and just eating as much as possible the night before my session!
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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 25th September 2012
Legs a little sore from yesterdays 7am Spin class – eurgh! Far too early to be doing that sort of thing! Ah well, it puts money in the bank.
Bench 112.5kg x5x5x6 – Still keeping the reps more controlled, no bounce off chest. It’s definitely harder out of the bottom, but I’m feeling stronger for it.
DB Hammers 17.5kg x15x11 – these are getting sloppy, too much swing so I’m going to swap out for a different curl variation next session.
Yates row 95kg x10x9x7
Squat 135kg x5x5x10 – took an early re-set on these due to my legs being sore from spin and I’ve been going too low and losing tension in the bottom so again working on technique. Filmed from the side today to check depth as it’s hard to tell from previous angle. Looks like I’m shooting the hips back a little at the bottom so going to work on that.
Got another class tonight – core and stretch so going to hammer my abs as much as I can whilst teaching and use the stretch element to get at my hip flexors!
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Build a bigger back with Yates rows
You wouldn’t believe how much mis-information there is on this! Just a simple search on google will give you thousands of differing opinions on whether it is a good or bad movement, some will claim it’s no good at all! I would say take a look at Dorian Yates 
and ask yourself, does this man look like he knows what he’s talking about when it comes to a big back? I really like this lift, it feels like it’s really hitting the lats hard performed properly, and unlike standard barbell rows or Pendlay rows, there is far less stress on the lower back. The biggest problem most have is executing the lift properly. Dorian used to use an underhand grip, but as the weights used were getting huge, he ended up doing the inevitable and injuring his bicep tendon and now uses a narrow overhand grip instead. The main two mistakes most people make are flaring out the elbows, and pausing at the top of the movement. This is a power movement and should be treated so. Use the heaviest weight you can and keep the body still! For a more in depth definition here’s the man himself.
BE HENCH 