Tuesday 15th April

Legs

Squats
80kg x 10
105kg x 10
135kg x 8
155kg x 5
175kg x 3
Note: Little wary of the slight pull in my right thigh from deadlifting on sunday so went semi easy.

RDLs
45kg x 10
65kg x 10
95kg x 8
115kg x 6
135kg x 4
Note: Back badly pumped from some pretty crappy squat form today, so these were hards, but glad to be getting the weight up. Finding it easier to nail the hamstrings at a heavier weight.

Seated HS plate calf raises
100kg x 15
180kg x 12
210kg x 10
230kg x 10
230kg x 8
Note: Ran out of space on the bar.. bit annoying.

HS Plate Hack squats
90kg x 10
110kg x 10
130kg x 8
Note: Screw you Rab and your fantastic hair.. did them limited rom and prefered it

HS plated leg press
150kg x 12
200kg x 10
240kg x 8
270kg x 6
Note: Mmmm felt better than usual, really felt my quads working, something pre exhausted perhaps.

Overall : Good strong, heavy legs session. Slight twinge in upper right thigh but nothing too bad.

Cheers Jake.. if i deadlift that heavy again in the next few weeks.. find me and slap me please

Good Squat you have there dude.

How are you performing your Hacks?

this bit of kit here (Next gen has the full range)



I have my feet just outside shoulder width and drop down to just below parallel, i have pretty poor flexibilty in my ankles and knees so tend to not go much deeper in any form of squatting. Drive back up but i dont lock my knees, really hammers my quads, especially after bb squatting.

They're a really great bit of kit. Sadly missing from any of the gyms I use.

Thursday 17th April

Chest/Delts

Flat DB Press
20's x 20 (wu)
32's x 12
38's x 10
42's x 6
42's x 4

Note: Not really happy with the weight moved.

Incline DB Flyes
20's x 12
24's x 10
26's x 8
30's x 5
30's x 4

Note: Not too bad

Incline Smith
+30kg x 15
+50kg x 8
+60kg x 6
Note: decent rom, but felt harder than 60kg should

Iso-lat shoulder press
30kg x 12
50kg x 8
30kg x 10
30kg x 8 + 3 second negs

Note: Made a fuck up. 2 incline movements hammered my front delts and made these stupidly hard.

Rear delt reverse x-overs
2 plates x 12
3 plates x 10
4 plates x 8
2 plates x 8 + 2 second holds

Note: Better, knowing my front delts are pre exhausted badly i hit the rears...

Side delt cable raise (leaning out)
2 plates x 12
3 plates x 10
4 plates x 6
2 plates x 8 + 2 second hold and 3 second negs

Note:... and the sides

Dip machine
60kg x 12
80kg x 10
100kg x 8
110kg x 6
120kg x 3
Note: Good stuff.

Overall : Poor workout, didnt shift the weight im capable of and poor exercise choices. Lesson learned.

i want one of those hack squats!!!

Slight routine change from Tuesday as i need to bring my shoulders and biceps up.

Looking to reduce the amount of exercises done also so aiming for something like

Tuesday - Legs
Squats
Hack Squats
RDLs
Calf Raise
Leg Press or Extensions

Thursday - Delts/Traps
Seated BB/DB press
Hang Cleans or Powercleans
Side Raises
Rear Raises
BB Shurgs

Saturday Back/Chest
Deadlift (altenating with T-bar/BORs)
Low Rows
WG pulldowns
Inc DB Press
DB Flyes
Wide grip Dips

Sunday Biceps Triceps
Preacher curls
Heavy negs
Hammers
CGBP
Seated French press
Narrow grip Dips

Giving my arms their own day has worked well, but i need to swap the priority round so going to give shoulders the same attention for a bit.

Any thoughts?

My BB squats are very ham/glute dominant so dont really hit my quads that hard but know what you mean. Ill see how i feel.

Friday 18th April

Cardio/Core

12 mins HIIT on Cross trainer

3 x 12 weighted decline situps @ 15kg(Hyper to flat.. not to flexion)
3 x 12 weighted hypers @ 15kg

20 mins steady state on static bike.

Had my BF% measured today with proper calipers, came out at 23%. A lot of the sites like my triceps, biceps, back, thighs were low.. measuring 12 , but it was my midrift that yanked it up to 23.

I believe poliquin has some research that indicates what causes fat to deposit in specific areas... anyone got any details on this?

Gut is cortisol mate according to him. Although i think it may be more to do with genetic predisposition personally...and then i suppose you could argue hormonal profile is alot to do with genetics. Anyway, i think the majority of men are in a similar boat to you.

Saturday 19th April

Back/Traps

Rack Pulls
70kg x 15
120kg x 10
160kg x 6
200kg x 6
220kg x 3
Note: Awesome stuff, hard for me as my deadlifts rely massively on the drive from my relatively strong legs. So pleased with these.

BB BORs
70kg x 10
100kg x 8
110kg x 5
50kg x 20
60kg x 12
Note: Last 2 sets light and nice and slow with a very deliberate squeeze.

T-Bar Rows
60kg x 12
80kg x 12
90kg x 6
100kg x 4
35kg x 15
Note: Last set as above.

Underhand pull downs
56kg x 12
65kg x 10
70kg x 6
Note: Tried these for a bit of a change, but my wrists still hate being suppinated.

Wide Grip pull downs
56kg x 12
65kg x 10
70kg x 8
Note: Little lighter than expected, but the rack pulls were pretty draining.

BB Shrugs
110kg x 10
130kg x Fail !!!
70kg x 10
90kg x 10
130kg x 8
160kg x 6
Note: Massive grip fail initially at 130kg.. now way i was going to be beaten by a pissy little 130kg though, so dumped a couple of plates off and built it back up.

Overall: Good session, rack pulls felt great and i was very pleased with my attitude on the shrugs.

Sunday 20th April

Biceps/Triceps

EZbar Preacher Curls
30kg x 12
40kg x 7
45kg x 5
35kg x 7
30kg x 8
20kg x 12
Note: Happy enough.

EZ preacher slow Negs (5-8 seconds)
30kg x 8
30kg x 6
30kg x 6
Note: Anything that hurts this much must be good.

Facedown Incline Hammers
16s x 10
12s x 10
12s x 10
12s x 10
Note: Form was shit on 16s so dropped it down.

CGBP
60kg x 15
80kg x 10
90kg x 6
60kg x 10 (Short rom)
Note: Shouldnt have been as hard as it was, but triceps usually get priority. Last set short rom.. great pump.

Seated French Press
20kg x 12
30kg x 12
35kg x 10
40kg x 6
Note: Elbows flaring a bit much at the end, but can see triceps working hard so not too worried.

Dip Machine
80kg x 15
90kg x 12
100kg x 10
110kg x 6
120kg x 5
Note: happy with the weight, will max out on the plates soon, then once repping that (140) will start real dipping.

V bar pushdown / Cable curl Superset
9 plates + 5 plates x 15
11 plates + 6 plates x 12
13 plates + 7 plates x 10
15 plates + 8 plates x 8
17 plates + 9 plates x 8
19 plates + 10 plates x 6
Note: Decent finish.

Overall: Hard work, first time ive prioritised biceps as ive not bothered with them much in the past. Made the tricep workout harder but needs to be done, for a while at least.

Forgot to add. Going to take it easy this week, i feel im balancing on the edge of overtraining so going to train but keeping the volume lower and using mainly hammer strength kit. I have 2 weeks off training coming up in early June when i go to Dublin and then Majorca so dont really want a full break now, but feel i need bit of a rest.