Hi folks, I said I'd do a journal, so here we go. Quick few words about where I'm at training and diet wise first I think and then vaguely where I'm trying to get to.

Word about me: I'm about 6ft 1, and weighed 12st 13lbs last time I checked with approximately 12% bodyfat. Upper body definitely needs most work, specifically my upper and middle back, and chest - but that in no way means I'll neglect legs, and to be honest all areas need improving, can refine different parts long down the road.

Diet: I'd like to think I know a fair bit about what to eat, when to eat etc - I just wish I listenned to myself a bit more. Would say I've got a fairly high metabolism, can eat about 3000kcal of mostly crap and not gain a lb. For the forseeable future I'm going to concentrate on getting a good level of protein with every meal (lots of animals) as that's what I did before when I saw my best gains. As healthy carbs as possible surrounding each meal, and try to get lots of fruit n veggies in. Obviously keep an eye on overall calories as well, I really need to bulk well.

Training: I'm not quite as clear cut on what kind of training to go for. I did enjoy a chest/triceps, back/biceps, leg/shoulders split, aiming for around 10 sets total for each big bodypart, and roughly 6 for smaller body parts. I'm planning on carrying on with that for now, but am still totally open to suggestions.

Goals: Right, right, I'm not all too clear on where I want to end up, would definitely like to add some good size, but I'm also just as satisfied by good progression with the weights and overall strength. Strength at the moment is really low so really want to get that up. I guess I've got one eye on playing rugby again in the future and would like to be about a stone heavier for that. For now I'm just happy to be back in the gym, and will address short and long term goals a little bit more once I have all routines sorted.


Sorry for the essay, but now anyone who wants to read will have a little bit better background of where I'm coming from and hopefully going to. Will start fresh with the training days and how things are going after this post.

good stuff James....have you got the routine mapped or still works in progress?

Sounds good to me mate.

For a 3 day split you could try:

Chest/Back
Legs
Shoulders/Arms

Worked well for me when I was only training 3 days a week

Ok first session I did a few days ago, was in my garage because I didn't have the time to get to the gym and back. I've got plenty of weight, just a slight lack of equipment. I did chest n triceps, slightly modified to what I would have preferably done.

Would've liked to do:
Incline db press 4 x 8-10
parallel dips 3/4 x 8-10
Cable crossovers 3 x 12-15
Tricep extensions 3 x 8-10
Pushdowns 3 x 12-15

What I actually did:
incline db press - 10,10,10,10 25.5kg each dumbbell
pressups - 20,20,20 just bodyweight
pullovers - 10,10,10 21.5kg
tricep extensions - 10,10,9 10kg dumbbell


Urm, not a terrible first session back I guess, felt good just to be doing weights again (can't believe how I let it go this long!). Was happy with form on all exercises and I'm pretty strict with form generally. Should've done some weighted bench dips, but my mind was on holiday that day. Am happy to hear any thoughts on proposed routine which I'll endeavour to do from now on.

Cheers for the comments guys, routines are by no means certain at the moment lol, I just wanted to get started again instead of searching for "the perfect routine" for way too long as I have been guilty of in the past. Thought I might as well stimulate some growth while I work out any issues right?

Never thought of training chest with back, fairly big areas to train together I would've thought, but would be nice to free up legs training on their own, and shoulders n arms sounds like a good proposition. I'm happy to train 4 times a week as well, just haven't seen any routines for that yet that have jumped out at me. Will do some more reading today as I'm free for most of it.

Just to get you up to date on where I am and what I've done, I went to the gym yesterday with Nick (Frio 3535 - hey Nick, why Frio 3535???) and did back n biceps.

Wide grip chins - bodyweight - 5, 4
Deadlifts - 60kg for 8, 80kg for 5, then 100kg 5, 5, 5
BOR - 60kg - 7, 7, 7, 8.
DB row - 21.5kg - 10, 10, 10.
Cable curls - 40kg - 8, 8.


Strangest session I've ever had. As Nick mentioned briefly there was an absolutely crazy bloke down there. Fairly small gym room, and he was walking around talking to himself and telling us stories of gay men in the jacuzzi and how a woman kicked him in the groin, haha. He stood directly over Nick while he benched and did some of the worst decline sit up things, db side bends (he went until his head hit a handlebar of this old exercise bike down there) and side lateral raises I've ever seen.

Anyway, he stood right behind me (like RIGHT behind me) while I was doing chinups, which are one of my worst exercises anyway, so that sucked pretty bad. Deadlifts I was happy to drop back in at 100kg, and hope to increase that by a bit in coming weeks. BOR I felt the contraction the whole way and squeezed at the top, and DB rows felt good as well even though it was a fairly light weight compared to what I did before. Cable curls were a bit of a joke, would've used dumbbells but there is a pretty terrible selection where we were. Anyway, chin is up for the next session which will be legs/shoulders unless I decide on routines otherwise (just hope our friend sergeant psychopath isn't there!)

Howdy, and welcome to the journal club. Fun intended.

Thanks mate, did another session today - maybe starting back a bit fast, but I think I can get away with it for a week or 2 before having to reign myself in a bit. Today was legs n shoulders day (haven't decided fully on which routine is best for me yet so continuing on the old one).

Couple very light sets of leg extensions to get blood flowing (i don't like them generally!)
Front Squats - 50kg - 7, 65kg - 5, 6, 6.
Leg Press - 115kg - 12, 135kg - 12, 12, 12.
Leg Curl - 63kg - 12, 12, 12.

Seated DB press (at about 80 degrees) - 21.5kg 8, 8, 10
side lateral raises - 7.5kg* - 8, 8, 8.

*DB said 7.5kg, but dodgy old db, felt heavier than 7.5kg maybe 9kg?


Urm, overall good session, first time I've ever done front squats I think, and it's about time. Vastus medialis and lateralis are much smaller than rectus femoris so hoping to get a good balance back there. Leg press went down ultra slowly with explosive concentric movement, and the same with leg curls (hammies were cramping up badly towards end of final set of those!). Seated db press felt comfortable, wanted to do military press but honestly, my legs were like jelly. Side lateral raises went well but I do need a routine re-shuffle I think. Will continue to think and see where I end up. Cheers, James out.

No crazy guy this time?

Good luck getting back into it James, sensible exercise selection. How long was the lay off from training?

haha, no crazy guy this time no, always hopes for next time though.

Thanks for the good luck, I have my favourite exercises, but also trying to incorporate a few new ones here n there. I am aching like hell today!

nice work James...easy does it back in..no rush.....

Cheers, definitely need to pace myself - really wanted to go n do next session today, but wouldn't be a very wise move. I'm going to look at some 4 day a week routines, hopefully reduce overall volume of training on each separate day that way and keep intensity high as possible.

In response to Richard - I was a really lazy bastard last year really, said about focusing on the degree etc etc but was just making excuses I think. Got about 10 weeks of being back in the gym consistently from the beginning of the year, but work started piling on and after Easter I didn't go back to the gym at all. Exams and assignments are all in now and I'm back home so I want to get a good 3 months under my belt and then keep it going and organise myself better when I'm back in uni.

I know what you're saying with time pressure from uni mate. I think if you can make time to train though it helps clear a lot of that stress & mental fatigue from studying. Improved health, circulation etc must be good for the brain too - I feel mentally sharper & more focused when I train regularly.

Definitely agree there Rich, I had assignments coming out of my ears, and then 5 exams in the space of 2 weeks, so even if it would've made me sharper, I just couldn't justify the 2 hours it takes me to cycle to the gym work out n get back. Anyway, yesterday I did another chest n triceps day. Quick recap from last weeks session...

incline db press - 10,10,10,10 25.5kg each dumbbell
pressups - 20,20,20 just bodyweight
pullovers - 10,10,10 21.5kg
tricep extensions - 10,10,9 10kg dumbbell

This week:
Incline db press - 29kg - 9, 9, 9, 7.
Incline db flyes - 14kg - 6, 11.5kg - 10, 10.
single db pullovers - 22.5kg - 12, 12, 12.
Bench dips - 30kg - 10, 10, 12.
db Tricep extensions - 11.5kg 6, 10.5kg 9, 9.

Really happy with the second chest workout back. I was really up for it going in, and didn't really struggle with the pressing until the 3rd set. I've never much rated flyes and not done them much at all, went slightly too heavy to feel a good contraction and have a slight pulling feeling in my left shoulder now. I think the pressing, flyes, and pullovers really hit my chest from all angles and gave me the biggest pump I've ever seen on me. Bench dips I should've gone a bit heavier with, but first time performing them for months, so I'm satisfied. Again went slightly too heavy with tricep extensions - getting ahead of myself on a fairly weak exercise.

On a side note, my shoulders feel absolutely knackered today, which is a bit of a further indication that I need a routine re-shuffle, too much shoulder stimulation in 2 concurrent workouts. I have a football match today with some friends so get a bit of cardio in, just keep things ticking over until more deadlifts tomorrow. Cheers

Nice jamesb, what you training for?

Thanks very much, just training for some size and acceptable strength at the moment. Enjoying being back in the gym, haven't really got my long term goals sorted yet, which I guess I need to have a think about. Watch this space!

Absolutely hammered it up n down the pitch yesterday for 90 minutes, legs are really tired today. Upper abs still ache a lot from pullovers, and shoulders still slightly feeling it. For all those reasons I'm gonna take an extra day off, eat some good food and get a good sleep tonight, and go hard at the deadlifts tomorrow.

Cheers

crikey! i can imagine for 90 mins!!....

OK, back at it, whilst I said Sunday I was taking that day and Monday off, ended up running about 6 miles or more Sunday night then playing squash Monday. Either way, yesterday I felt pretty good besides a very slight groin niggle. So pushed on with back n biceps. Again with my recap system (more for me than you guys reading)...

Last week (Tuesday 17th June):
Wide grip chins - bodyweight - 5, 4
Deadlifts - 60kg for 8, 80kg for 5, then 100kg 5, 5, 5
BOR - 60kg - 7, 7, 7, 8.
DB row - 21.5kg - 10, 10, 10.
Cable curls - 40kg - 8, 8.

This week (Tuesday 24th June):
Close grip pronated chins - bodyweight - 5, 5, 5.
Deadlifts - 45kg - 8, 85kg - 7, 105kg - 5, 5, 5, 6.
BOR - 60kg - 8, 8, 8, 8.
DB row - 25kg - 8, 8, 10.
DB curl - 15kg - 8, 7, 6.


Happy with the session, despise chins still but persevere with them. Decided to go pronated in an effort to get reps higher, and trained at my mate's so did the chins on a big ass beam of wood. Deadlifts (highest for sets/reps i've ever done was 110kg months ago) felt good, and I felt like I could go heavier or for more reps but didn't wanna push it too much. Should probably keep in mind that last week was with olympic bar and this week was not, so thinner bar = easier grip I've found. Had slight slipping last week, had nothing like that yesterday. BOR felt good, I've changed my angle to slightly more upright in an attempt to squeeze my upper back a bit more, and db rows as ever went well. Arms were pretty exausted but thought I should do some kind of work for them.

Good steady progress James.

If you have trouble with the bar slipping get some chalk. Or just get some chalk anyway

Thanks man, I'm happy so far, hopefully can keep this progress up for a while! Legs n shoulders tomorrow, gym is closed to how front squats will be done remains yet to be seen! But they will be done!

I've still got a load of chalk from long long ago haha, just haven't needed it for so long.

jamesb_88 wrote:Thanks man, I'm happy so far, hopefully can keep this progress up for a while! Legs n shoulders tomorrow, gym is closed to how front squats will be done remains yet to be seen! But they will be done!

I've still got a load of chalk from long long ago haha, just haven't needed it for so long.

The weightsroom is still open mate. The gym is closed but the room downstairs is still open. Just rang the dragon to check. Fancy a session with me 2moro afternoon? About 1:00-1:30pm?

Looks good to me...

Frio3535 wrote:

jamesb_88 wrote:Thanks man, I'm happy so far, hopefully can keep this progress up for a while! Legs n shoulders tomorrow, gym is closed to how front squats will be done remains yet to be seen! But they will be done!

I've still got a load of chalk from long long ago haha, just haven't needed it for so long.

The weightsroom is still open mate. The gym is closed but the room downstairs is still open. Just rang the dragon to check. Fancy a session with me 2moro afternoon? About 1:00-1:30pm?

Sounds good to me man, will you have enough time to drop Arlene at the airport and get back then yeah? Just played an hour of squash, lower back aches a bit, but fuck it, I reckon I've got another week or 2 in me yet before I have to lower the amount of things I'm doing.