Right, I thought I'd post up my journal to give everyone a laugh!

I've tried a fair few training 'techniques' over the past 5 months from 10x3, 5x5, upper/lower splits and HST... I still currently have all the enthusiasm to get down to the gym 5 times a week on weekdays. So am looking for a little advice on how to better structure my week to maximise fat loss and retain as much muscle as possible. If this is possible!

Just a little outake from my 'Intro'!

Brief background is that I was carrying a lot of extra weight from heavy beerage from the last few years... Upto a maximum of 90.5kgs November last year. So I got a little direction from Ollie on here, and joined a gym. Through cutting carbs down to an absolute minimum (<40g daily), doing a fair amount of compound resistance training (4 days a week) and working with a deficit of around 500 calories daily I've managed to trim down to 81kgs.

I've recently been introducing carbs back to my diet at the weekends and PWO and have made some good gains in strength also. This has also led to a gain of around 3 kgs over the last month or so, with no noticeable increase in body fat. I'm still amazed by how much my body weight can fluctuate depending on glycogen levels... 82kgs on Friday to 85kgs on Monday after a big carb load... (Anabolic-y type diet)...

I'm currently trying a three full body workouts a week with non-resistance days on cardio... Not entirely sure if this is the most effective way to maximise fat loss?

Monday - FBW A
Deadlifts
Military Press
Decline DB Press
Squats
Dips
EZ Bar Curl

Tuesday - Cardio and light resistance
5k Row HIIT
10 minutes Cycle warm down

Wednesday - FBW B
Incline Barbell Press
DB Shoulder Press
CGBP
Lateral Pull Downs
Full Squats
Calf Raises

Thursday - Cardio
5K Row
10 minutes Cycle warm down

Friday - FBW C
Chins
Dips
Incline DB Fly
Clean and Press
Deadlift
SLDL

I'll post up some (pussy-esque!) examples of current lifts, reps and sets later!

Any advice would be good on the exercises and whether a split program would work any better? All I want to do is avoid over training with maximum gains in both strength and fat loss... I know that's asking quite a lot but any advice would be much appreciated!

Rough diet is 2000 calories a day, low on carbs except around workout with Whey Protein, CEE and BCAA's supplemented... Also some Green Tea Extract and Omega 3s in the morning!

Ta for reading all that!!

Jez...

Looks fine, I like full body stuff.

A couple of things though - if you're going to squat I would do them first and if you're already doing deads in workout A I wouldn't bother doing them & SLDLs in workout C - you could just do SLDLs.

some of those workouts look brutal! I like!!!

Rab

I like the look of your split mate - I like that you have lots of full body moves in there but would definately do squats first as suggested - and I like to do a warm up set on those big moves but assume Ollie has already got you doing that. Don't think there's much to knock in what you're doing - as long as you form is good you shouldn't worry about the weight used as long as there's progression.

Defo drop the deads on the last day mate, otherwise it looks pretty good

Cool.

That split defintately looks like sick bucket material

Thanks for the input guys. Much appreciated.

I do tend to finish my workouts feeling absolutely f*cked... I'm curious as to how people quantify 'overtraining'? I've wretched after/during around 4 workouts in the last 3 monthes. Does this generally relate to overtraining?

By my understanding it's a CNS issue where your body doesn't receive a sustainable enough ratio between training and recovery? I've seen a few people's workouts where they seem to be training everyday with little recovery time in between muscle groups. Yet they never seem to mention overtraining problems?

Anyway here's the latest workout...

Squats - 70kg x 5, 70kg x 5, 70kg x 5, 80kg x 1 - 60 second intervals...
Military Press - 40kg x 5, 40kg x 5, 50kg x 2, 40kg x 5 - 30 second intervals...
Decline DB Press (each side) - 24kg x 8, 26kg x 8, 26kg x 8, 26kg x 8, 28kg x 4 - 60 second intervals...
Deadlifts - 80kg x 6, 90kg x 6, 100kg x 6, 100kg x 5 - 45 second intervals...
Dips - BW x 10, BW x 8, BW x 8, BW x 6 - 45 second intervals...
EZ Bar Curl - 15kg x 10, 15kg x 10, 15kg x 10, 15kg x 10 - 45 second intervals, ultra slow negatives...

The next short term goals are 100kg full squat x 3, 130kg deadlift x 3, 80kg flat bench press x 3... I really need to get on a proper squat rack though with only a Smith at Bannantynes...

Cheers for any input,

Jez.

Just for interests sake this is where I started 4 months ago...

Squats - 40kg 8RM
Military Press - 15kg 8RM
Decline DB Press (each side) - 14kg 8RM
Deadlifts - 50kg 8RM
Dips - -35kg 8RM
EZ Bar Curl - 8kg 8RM

Pathetic I know... But atleast there's been a bit of progression!

I'll try to find some before and after piccies too... Just to give everyone a laugh!

Jez.

That's a lot of progress in the time you've been training dude...when you consider that you've been losing weight for pretty much that whole time it's very impressive

Those people who train everyday and dont mention overtraining either have good genetics or have been training a long time,so they are used to it. Great progress by the way,keep it up.

You'll typically notice a dip in strength if you're overtrained. That and a general feeling of being fatigued around the clock.

Training felt great today...

These FBW's certainly cane me! I finally feel like my training is becoming very effective...

Deadlift - 80x8, 90x8, 100x8, (+5kg) 105x5... 45 seconds rest.
Chins - Minus 20kg x 8 x 4... 45 seconds rest.
BB Flat Press - 40x8, 60x8, 60x5, 50x8, 55x8... 45 seconds rest.
Incline DB Fly - 12x8, (+2kg) 14x8x3... 60 seconds rest.
Dips - BWx8x4, BWx10... 60 seconds rest.

Supplements...

Pre - 5g BCAA, 3g CEE, 3x Thermopure...
Post - 50g WMS, 3g Creatine Mono, 3g BCAA then 30 minutes later 100g MPMax Whey Protein...

Jez.

100g?! What's different about the MPMax compared to normal WPC80 dude?

Nice workout...feels good to get 2 plates a side on deads doesn't it?

Rilla wrote:You'll typically notice a dip in strength if you're overtrained. That and a general feeling of being fatigued around the clock.

I don't get morning wood when I'm ill or over trained

ollie wrote:100g?!

Good spot dude... I mean 50g (2 scoops!)

I just find the MPMax is tasty (Vanilla, Strawberry, Raspberry) and easier to mix than the WPC80. It was similar in price (a couple of quid) so I thought the whole mixability thing was worth it. It's the Whey Blend Refill that I actually bought at 22 quid or so per 5lb... Don't really know how to quantify any performance difference between the two though...

Deadlifts are by far the most enjoyable exercise IMO... Plus they completely cane me... No back pump at all either so my form seems to be getting there too. Still need to find me a squat rack though...

Squats - 40kg x 10, 70kg x 8, 75kg x 8, 80kg x 6, 70kg x 8 - 60 second intervals...

Flat DB Press (each side) - 24kg x 8, 26kg x 8, 28kg x 8, 28kg x 8 - 60 second intervals...

Military Press - 35kg x 8 x 2, 30kg x 8 x 2 - 60 second intervals...

Dips - BW x 10, BW x 8 x 3 - 60 second intervals...

EZ Bar Curl - 15kg x 10 x 4 - 45 second intervals, ultra slow negatives...

Felt really good today... Upped my protein intake and have been eating nearer to maintenance than I have been for the past 4 monthes. Starting to contemplate a lean bulk for a bit... What would people do normally? Just try upping carbs and protein with a small surplus? 200 calories? 500?

The goals are to lean out (<12%) BFM eventually, but wouldn't mind gaining a bit of size soon. Aesthetics really... I know, vain...

I'd honestly keep going mate, you're still in that window of opportunity where you can take advantage of the fact that you're new to training - get yourself down to 12% first then think about a lean bulk IMO.

This Chris Shugart quote's been thrown around a bit recently but it's a good one - "if you chase two rabbits, both will escape"

Think you're right dude... I weighed myself today and I worked out it's the lightest I've been in 11 years!! And I'm only 26... Ridiculous...

I'm really thinking that 10 to 12% BF is possible in 3 or so monthes. We shall see...

Deadlift - 80x10, 100x5x4, +5kg 110x5.

DB Flat Press - 22x10, 28x8x2, 28x6

Shoulder Press - 14x8, 16x8, 18x5, 16x8

Incline DB Fly - 12x8x2, 14x8x2

CGBP - 40x8x3, 40x7

DB curls - 12x8x3, 14x5

I thought I'd spend a session working out my 3RM on flat DB press and Deads... Proper good fun!

Ate a crap load of carbs this weekend as had stuff to do on Thursday, Friday and Saturday day... Lots of potatoes and a pizza on Saturday! I always seem to have great sessions after carb loading weekends...

I beat my 5k row too on Friday and was hurling the whole way home... Managed a 19.35 @ 1.57s/500m. Next goal is sub 19.30s... Gotta calm down a little I think. I'm just having so much fun at the mo with all these long term goals getting ticked off slowly!

Deadlifts - 80kg x 10, 90kg x 10, 100kg x 7, 110kg x 5, 120kg x 5, 130kg x 3, (+30kg) 140kg x 2, 100kg x 8... Finally shifted three plates!

DB press flat - 24kg x 5, 28kg x 5, 30kg x 5, 32kg x 2, (+4kg) 32kg x 3, 26kg x 8... First set with 32's just wouldn't make the third rep, due to slight loss of balance...

All in all, definitely seeing an improvement... Especially after such a heavy drinking weekend on Friday, eh Ollie?

I didn't drink that much you pisshead Hope you enjoyed the chips

Great work on the deads by the way