My journey to JACKED, and TAN

[George Noble]

Must be the superior leg genetics

[Smack]

Must be the superior leg genetics

Yes, for reasons I will justify below:

Today's lower workout:

First I'm going to make some excuses. My session started at 5pm, and until then I had managed to eat two tangerines, and a few small chicken legs. Also, a gulp of milk. That's it. So was very down on food, feeling hungry, glycogen depleted; the makings of a crappy workout. Plan is to back squat every lower session, so every 4/5 days, but back squatting is the toughest most physically and mentally challenging exercise there is. I just wasn't up to it on an empty stomach. So I tried front squats instead.

Front squats:

some x some
60 x 6
70 x 3
80 x 2
90 x 1
105 x almost a broken wrist (i.e. 0)

The story here is that when the weight goes above 60-70kg I just can't support it properly. It's really uncomfortable. Almost kills my wrists. The limiting factor isn't leg strength, which makes doing these heavy a bit of a waste of time. The 90 went up smooth and easily but my wrists just about gave out.

Also, doing these barefooted and I think I may have been leaning forwards too much. When I get proper lifting shoes with a heel I'll go back to doing them heavier. Until then I'm going to focus on higher reps.

Also, never done these heavy at all before. I must have swole leg genetics.

Deadlifts:

100 x 3
120 x 1
140 x 1
100 x 5
100 x 5

Did these beltless. Wanted to see where I was at. Quite happy at that 140kg lift since it's not that much lower than my all time best, 165kg, at 88kg. This was also after some front squats and not much food at all.

GHRs:

very few x very few

These hurt my knee below the quads for some reason.

[Sami]

http://www.frontsquatharness.com/

[Smack]

Thanks. Although the front squat harness cannot be used for cleans. I'm going to work on wrist flexibility. Once I gain some weight I'll have a much better position to rest the barbell on my anterior deltoids as at the moment they are practically non existent. I am using the push press as my main pressing exercise, which should rectify this.

[Smack]

I'd also like to post saying that my uni gym has gotten better since the summer.

The performance room (the room with the power racks and lifting platforms) had to be moved downstairs, because the flooring was damaged when it was situated on the top floor (I know, poor designing placing a weights room on the top floor of a building). Nothing new here, except that the room it is in is a bit bigger, and only has one door, so there is more space. Still, sadly, a bit of a shortage of plates, but very few people there are strong so this isn't an issue unless all the strong people happen to go at once, which has happened before, or someone is doing quarter reps on the leg press.

Overall, the new rooms looks and feels much more hardcore than the previous one. Hopefully, it scares away some of the bum bandits who used to infest the performance area previously, when it was upstairs next to the second fitness suite and played pop music. When I was there today, people were more interested in doing snatches, squats and benches and Kroc rows.

The second fitness suite, the one that used to have a squat rack, smith machine, and tons of plate loaded machines as well as tonnes of treadmills and ellipticals has also had a major rehaul. The cardio equipment is still there (not that I have a problem with this, we need somewhere to warm up) but all plate loaded machines have been canned! The squat rack is still there, as is the smith machine, but there has been the addition of a bench press, a few utility benches, and a pile of dumbbells. Overall, it's got a very commercial gym type feel to it. Not a shitty one like David Lloyds since it has free weights and a squat rack, more of a LA Fitness type one. And as such, the wife beater wearers are drawn to this area to lift rather than clog up the performance area with their chrome dumbbells and large water bottles.

So in essence, my uni gym has managed to segregate the poofters from the real trainees: the athletes, those that want to get 70's big, those who want to be strong like bull. This is a win win.

[Smack]

Upper

Push press:

50 x 5
50 x 5
50 x 4.5

Last rep wasn't locked out.

Chins:

bodyweight x 3
bodyweight x 3
bodyweight x 3
bodyweight x 3
bodyweight x 3
bodyweight x 3
bodyweight x 2
bodyweight x 3

Using a Poliquin pull up protocol to get my chins up. Next time it'll be 5x4, then 4x5, then 3x7, then 2x10.

Dips:

bodyweight x 5
bodyweight x 2
bodyweight x 1

These sucked.

Kroc rows:

used a 40

40 x 10 each arm

Only did one set of these. They are pretty brutal. These weren't too brutal, though. Had to use my straps today for the first time ever. I've had them a year as well.

[Smack]

Lower

Squats:

100 x 5
100 x 5

First set, the bar placement as a little too low. Second set a bit easier. Will do heavier next time.

Good mornings:

40 x 10
60 x 5
60 x 6

First set of 40 was, for some reason I cannot yet work out, done outside of the rack. I obviously have no confidence doing GMs without the safety pins.

Second set was done inside the rack but I set the pins a tad high. Very easy.

Last set the pins were set down a little lower. Still easy enough. Going to do more reps next time.

Single leg leg press:

40 x 10 right leg
40 x 9 left leg
40 x 10 right leg
40 x 10 left leg

First time doing unilateral leg work. Damn, these are real hard.

Abs:

Standing ab pull downs x some - these sucked, absolutely no abs in them at all... felt a burn in my quads though.

Hanging knee raises x some - grip not good enough for these.

I'll go back to tried and tested decline weighted sit ups for abs.

[Smack]

Upper

People who understand the Gregorian Calendar will be able to see that it did two days in a row. I've never done this before, but needs must, and I also just wanted to see how I'd fare.

CNS output felt a little bit dampened compared to when I'm fresh. Wasn't much of a problem on the main lift, although I felt it on the first set, but I think my chins took a hammering because of it.

Push Press:

50 x 5
50 x 5
50 x 5

Got all my reps today, which was my aim.

Chins:

bodyweight x 4
bodyweight x 4
bodyweight x 2
bodyweight x 1

Crappy, for reasons explained above.

Shrugs:

Worked up to some sort of weight and then decided that these are utter crap at anything except wasting one's time. Left lat and tricep felt like it was getting ripped off at a weight that barely even challenged my traps.

I'll stick to deadlifts and it's variations for traps from now on. At least I can say I tried shrugs.

Arms super set:

EZ-bar curls supersetted with skull crushers.

10 curls, 10 skull crushers
10 curls, 10 skull crushers
10 curls, 10 skull crushers

Same weight for both exercises.

Welcome to my gun show, ladies and gentlemen.

[Smack]

Thinking about doing Bill Starr's 5x5 instead of whatever I'm currently doing.

[WatsupHannity]

A program like 5x5 could be very good for you, minimize moving parts and all that. Seems like you're sort of all over the map at present.