I've lost focus a bit over the last fortnight or so with my training - missed a couple of sessions, diet has slipped up. I spent yesterday thinking about what I want to get out of my training. I feel as though I've been a bit lazy in the gym recently (although numbers say otherwise), and way too slack with my diet as well.

Changes I'm going to make:

1 - 5 days a week isn't really practical for me with work and social commitments, so I'll lift 4-5 times a week on a 2 days on/1 day off pattern from now on. If I need an extra day's for any reason, it's not going to do any harm to take it.

2 - I want to focus purely on conditioning, fitness and general health, rather than size at the expense of any one of those. In light of this I'm going to make my sessions more dense. I'm going to switch to an upper/lower split with supersets, and get back to training in the morning when the gym is quiet.

3 - Diet is going to be key so I'm not going to compromise any more. Variation has probably been its main weakness, although I'm going to restructure things slightly - less red meat, more oily fish, fewer starchy carbs, more veg. My diet has been good for the last year but there's always room for improvement, especially as far as conditioning is concerned. I'm not going to count calories but will keep a structured meal plan in place. Carbs will be restricted to PWO only, and I'm only going to have shakes PWO and before bed.

That's about it. Short term I'm looking to lean out and improve my CV capacity. I've got 4 weeks now until I go boarding so will have to knuckle down and make it as productive as I can. With that in mind, I'm off to the gym!

Your very hard on yourself Ollie.

Chill out mate. You are a very strong, very hot piece of ass. Your diet is pretty good an you enjoy your training. WHat more can you want?

We all go through wee phases where there is a dip in dedication. Its only natural.

Enjoy your session brother

ps - You are a hot piece of ass but its a pitty you have a face like a train crash

I'm just not happy with my condition mate, I look alright but I don't feel it (apart from my face but that goes without saying). Also I think my training needs freshening up as it's gone a bit stale and has felt that way for a good month or so.

Saturday 14th February - Upper A

Movements: (90s-105s rest between supersets)

A1: 30° incline DB press (3-0-X-0): 40kg x 12 / 40kg x 10 / 40kg x 8 / 40kg x 8 / 30kg x 12
A2: Bent over row (2-0-1-Hold): 100kg x 11 / 100kg x 9 / 100kg x 8 / 100kg x 8 / 60kg x 15

B1: 30° incline DB fly (3-1-1-0): 24kg x 10 / 24kg x 10 / 24kg x 10 / 24kg x 10
B2: DB row (3-0-1-Hold): 36kg x 10 / 38kg x 9 / 38kg x 9 / 38kg x 8

C1: Dip (3-0-1-0): +20kg x 10 / +20kg x 8 / +20kg x 8 / +20kg x 8
C2: Hammer grip chin (3-0-X-0): BW x 9 / BW x 7 / BW x 6 / BW x 6

Notes:

That was tough going. Really got me sweating but was lots of fun.

I've never actually done DB rows but felt pretty solid on them form-wise and got a good feel in my lats. They seem like a much safer alternative to a single arm T-bar row. Probably had a little more in me on those as well as BORs.

Pleased with weights throughout although chins were pretty lame by the end, unsurprisingly.

Rab wrote:Your very hard on yourself Ollie.

Chill out mate. You are a very strong, very hot piece of ass. Your diet is pretty good an you enjoy your training. WHat more can you want?

We all go through wee phases where there is a dip in dedication. Its only natural.

Enjoy your session brother

ps - You are a hot piece of ass but its a pitty you have a face like a train crash

x2, or as we say in the ghetto "church!"

40k x12! Very nice

A man of your bck strength will be pulling 60kg on db rows in a couple of weeks.

Rab wrote:40k x12! Very nice

A man of your bck strength will be pulling 60kg on db rows in a couple of weeks.

Inclines felt sweet today - I was going to do flats as well but thought I'd be better off protecting my elbow.

60s may be doable if my grip can cope. Sadly our DBs only go up to 50kg but I reckon I'll be able to pull them. May give them a go next week actually...

Some good goals there Ollie & a change will do you good mate, you've been doing the same thing for a long time now.

Like Rab said, you are being ridiculously hard on yourself though. You've got to be one of the most disciplined people on this board.

I hit that wall a few weeks ago. So I know how you feel. Big changes give you new impetus and you get used to being strict. Being a young man about town will have its temptations, I guess resisting them will be the key to sucess.

Rab's got a cheek to talk about your face. I think the midwife bitch slapped him at birth.

cleaver wrote:I hit that wall a few weeks ago. So I know how you feel. Big changes give you new impetus and you get used to being strict. Being a young man about town will have its temptations, I guess resisting them will be the key to sucess.

Rab's got a cheek to talk about your face. I think the midwife bitch slapped him at birth.

When he was born the midwife slapped his mother

Listen to Richard...the man with no face..and Cleaver the man who would better off without one...ugly bastards

Rab wrote:Listen to Richard...the man with no face..an Cleaver the man who would better off without one...ugly bastard

You're not wrong Rab, I'm another horrible bald bastard

Richard wrote:

Rab wrote:Listen to Richard...the man with no face..an Cleaver the man who would better off without one...ugly bastard

You're not wrong Rab, I'm another horrible bald bastard

Come on then boys, put up a rogues gallery for us all!

Good on ya Ollie for re-evaluating your goals and methods. I agree with Rab that you are being a wee bit hard on yourself, but I'm the queen of self criticism so I understand! However, I like the look of your new goals and approach, and hopefully with a more relaxed attitude towards your training and change in focus you will start to FEEL better about it all too.

Good luck mate.

Personaly I don't think you're being hard enough on yourself. It is obvious for all to see that you've let the London lifestyle get the better of you and turned you into a fat, lazy lump of your former glory. You should be standing naked under a cold shower right now larching yourself for your sins.

It's time to man up.

Alex wrote:Personaly I don't think you're being hard enough on yourself. It is obvious for all to see that you've let the London lifestyle get the better of you and turned you into a fat, lazy lump of your former glory. You should be standing naked under a cold shower right now larching yourself for your sins.

It's time to man up.

Ouch

Thing is you have to be hard on yourself, I think, otherwise you won't improve...

Monday 16th February - Lower A

Movements: (90s rest between sets)

ATG front squat (3-0-1-0): 60kg x 5 / 80kg x 5 / 100kg x 5 / 105kg x 5 / 110kg x 3 / 120kg x 2 / 100kg x 5 / 60kg x 5

RDL (3-0-1-1): 100kg x 5 / 140kg x 5 / 160kg x 5 / 170kg x 5 / 170kg x 5 / 170kg x 4 / 140kg x 5 / 140kg x 5

Calf raise (leg press) (3-1-X-1): +220kg x 12 / +220kg x 11 / +220kg x 11 / +220kg x 12 / +220kg x 11 / +220kg x 11

Notes:

Great session tonight and I'm already enjoying the change in training style.

Had the worst possible preparation for this. I randomly ended up going out on Saturday after the rugby. Randomly ran into a mate from school who I haven't seen for about 6 years and he was pretty shocked at how big I was. I didn't drink but turned out to be a late one and ended bringing a girl back. Literally spent the whole day in bed - I didn't get up until 5:30, then was in bed again by 7:30 as I was absolutely shattered. I had two meals all day and well under 1000kCal

Obviously being off my feet must've done my legs some good as I hit a good PB on the fronts. I wonder how much its helped having not done them for a while - my knees may prefer it.

RDLs were pretty good although by the end my quads were pretty nailed and I was shaking about as though I'd had a significant amount of ketamine. Matched my PB on those, too.

I guess working on your hip drive through Monday must have helped the RDL's

I wasn't humping my desk today mate

I've decided to go with one shorter, heavier session (today's) and one higher rep session each week to keep things mixed up and interesting.

Heh, yeah I meant Sunday

Excellent there Ollie! Those calf raises must have BURNED!!

Tuesday 17th February - Upper B

Movements: (90s-105s rest between supersets)

A1: Military press (2-1-X-0): 60kg x 12 / 65kg x 9 / 65kg x 8 / 65kg x 6 / 50kg x 10
A2: Wide grip chin (3-0-1-0): BW x 12 / +5kg x 10 / +10kg x 8 / +10kg x 7 / BW x 9

B1: Dumbbell shoulder press (3-0-1-0): 30kg x 10 / 30kg x 8 / 30kg x 7 / 28kg x 9
B2: Laying rear raise (2-0-X-Hold): 10kg x 10 / 10kg x 9 / 10kg x 9 / 10kg x 8

C1: Close grip bench press (3-0-1-0): 60kg x 10 / 90kg x 8 / 95kg x 6 / 100kg x 5
C2: Incline DB curl (3-0-X-0): 18kg x 12 / 20kg x 8 / 20kg x 7 / 18kg x 9

Notes:

Strong session this evening. Strength is actually going through the roof at the moment - probably down to supplementation.

Militaries were really good but I haven't done them fresh for some time. My elbow was clicking a little during the DB pressing and that probably limited me more than actual strength. Again, it was fine for CGBP and militaries. Strange.

Got pumped up quite quickly tonight and was looking nice and full. I'm going to have to start training in the mornings again though - I had to wait around for a bench this evening which was very frustrating, particularly given some of the exercises some people were doing...plus it'll be good to free up my evenings.

ollie wrote:particularly given some of the exercises some people were doing...

I saw two people in the gym today (training independently from one another) doing DB curls, while doing squats, all while stood on an upturned BOSU. Things can always get worse.

Monday 16th February - Lower B

Movements: (90s rest between sets)

ATG squat (3-0-1-1): 60kg x 5 / 100kg x 5 / 130kg x 5 / 150kg x 5 / 150kg x 3 / 100kg x 5
Leg extension (2-0-X-1): 85kg x 8 / 90kg x 7 / 95kg x 6 / 95kg x 6 / 95kg x 6

RDL (3-0-1-1): 100kg x 5 / 140kg x 5 / 160kg x 5 / 170kg x 5 / 170kg x 5 / 170kg x 5
Leg curl (3-0-1-1): 60kg x 10 / 65kg x 8 / 70kg x 6 / 70kg x 6 / 70kg x 6

Seated calf raise (3-1-X-1): +50kg x 12 / +50kg x 11 / +50kg x 10 / +50kg x 10

PWO - x-trainer: 20 minutes intervals


Notes:

Thought I'd struggle today as I had to train a day earlier than I'd have liked...I'm going snowboarding tomorrow up in Milton Keynes

Didn't actually seem to suffer at all though. Hammies felt stronger than ever.

Need a shower now

Beastly. Very nice

ATG squat (3-0-1-1)
RDL (3-0-1-1)
Leg curl (3-0-1-1)

Are you intentionally taking 1 second on the concentric phase?
Even if it takes 1sec to do that phase but you are really trying to do it as fast as possible, then it should really be X. Just being picky

X would be better.

That 5th rep at 150kg was more like 5s!