[Sam King]

Some sound advice above that’s for sure, but are you truly training your legs? Not sounding dickish but if intensity and execution aren’t optimal, legs will always be lagging.

You’ve also mentioned your knee injury which occurred from training, so maybe subconsciously you are holding back in fear of re-occurrence. Just find the movements and ranges that allow you to progress steadily over time, apply yourself and you’ll develop your legs to their maximum potential

Instagram: samking104

[Sam King]

Hey Barry

For myself, I do a 5 second negative and 15 sec hold per rep. 10-15 is a perfect time to hold the stretch. In terms of reps, realistically you’re looking at 8-10 as TUT will be high and your calves cramped as fook.

In terms of counting, I count each rep as follows: on the first rep I would count 1,2,3,4 and end on 1. Ditto for the stretch 1-13,14 and end on counting 1. So my last number is always my current rep number instead of what it should be. Hope that makes sense.

In terms of volume, one all out set should be all you can manage. I’ll do just one set on leg day and pull days will be a RP set.

Instagram: samking104

[Sam King]

Hey bud. So it really depends on your current goals, frequency of cardio, composition, timing of cardio in relation to your training, individual recovery capabilities, what you’re trying to achieve from cardio (fitness, fat loss etc.) and training. Also, are you thinking of doing a 40 min session of HIT cardio as quite a jump up from 40 mins LISS.

You say you enjoyed it so this indicates you’ll likely put your all in, but bodybuilding is fickle – just because we enjoy it doesn’t mean it’s the best choice. Personally, HIT just destroys my CNS quite quickly and detracts from my training. Maybe structure it so you do some HIT one session, LISS on another and structure it so HIT sessions aren’t around legs. All depends on the factors mentioned in the first paragraph.

Tracking calories ‘burned’ isn’t 100% accurate. Personally focus on timeframe and an RPM to maintain. As you get fitter, you’ll burn less calories and a lot of trackers don’t factor this in.

Instagram: samking104

[Sam King]

Morning morning

Hope anyone reading has had a cracking week. So, last couple of sessions haven’t been too bad. Legs on Monday absolutely rinsed me and doing double paused SLDLs on Thursday was… interesting. Entire lower body was still aching to some degree so getting into position took some fighting, but perseverance trumps. The rest of that pull session was superb- lats on fire throughout and well into the next couple of days.

Push – no DOMs but some solid work put in. First time doing the new setup which involves doing the high incline machine press first for a set, then flat press after resting and the repeat. So weird but I’ll get used to it. Hate being that guy hogging everything as well ?

Check in Thursday went well with weight dropping from 84.4kg to 84.1kg and the waist dropping from 76.5cm to 75.5cm. Very happy with these markers but more importantly the look is getting better. All about the look at the end of the day. Considering I had 4 days off training and cardio, along with a bump up in food over those days, it’s a good mental boost.

Changes going into this week were cardio on rest days halved to 15 mins and no cardio post workout for now. Corinne is the master of energy balance for sure so be interesting to see what effect reducing cardio does. I know a few peeps who are smashing the cardio week on week, 7 days but food stays the same. Maybe drugs are tweaked to continue to elicit a response and maintain the muscle they do have. Naturally I don’t have that tool available, but interesting to see the differences.

Legs on the cards today and looking forward to it. Revisiting the Cybex leg press and hack squat. Managed to get delightfully sunburned yesterday so sleep was a bit hit and miss, but we’ll push on.

That’s nearly one week of my annual leave down and capped off the ‘working’ week with getting out on a boat. Been wanting to rent a boat for ages so finally just did it. Felt really uneasy to start with but quickly settled in and enjoyed it. Just up and down on the Dorset Stour, but was so nice to see parts of the river you wouldn’t normally access. So peaceful and tranquil, almost a different world out there along with its own community. The amount of dogs on paddle boards with their owners was beyond cute as well.

Instagram: samking104

[Sam King]

Bladdy needed that rest day yesterday. After one session back I am fooked ? tbh I’d say it’s a cumulative effect from everything – training, work, wedding prep, house buying, had no time off since start of Jan. This stuff slowly bubbles away in the background and it isn’t until you slow down, it boils over. I used to always get ill when I slowed down. Not so much now, just the fatigue rears it’s delightful head.

Aside from cardio and mobility work yesterday, just a busy but chilled day catching up with friends. We always think everyone’s working but this is definitely an opportunity to catch with those who work different shifts. One friend does nights so I never see him. Another friend works weekends and lives further out. Prime opportunities for catch ups. You almost take for granted the summer holidays during school. You and your mates have the same time off. Aside from the odd getaway, they’re around whenever. Then we grew up – jobs, families, obligations, responsibilities and diary management.

Right, enough ‘back in my day’ shizz. Push session today and I genuinely woke up excited. Couldn’t get back to sleep 30 mins before my alarm and had a massive spring out of bed. He’s back baby!! Haven’t done this amended push session yet so will establish the starting point and feel out the sequence of movements. Don’t get me wrong, failure and intensity are always the name of the game but a new split or session gives an opportunity to tidy up a bit/re-establish how you execute the movement. Legs are still killing me as well from Monday. Hopefully a painful chest pump will divert the focus.

Right, time to get to it. Have a crackin’ Wednesday

Instagram: samking104

[Sam King]

First session done and dusted. More of an off the books session (but on the books as logged it). Decided to let Clare Barks tag along today and thought I’d be able to help her nail that pro card…. Jokes, I just spoke to her and our schedules aligned.

It was odd training with someone as I’m Barry no mates in the gym. Have always done it solo but was good to have a different pair of eyes. Also, having someone suggest tweaks to movements was great. Couple of adjustments to the glute raise and back extension – completely different.

Session went down as follows:

Arsenal side raise: 1 set
EZ curl: 1 set
Seated ham curl: 2 sets – 2nd set fail, 10 breaths and fail again
Adductor: 1 set
Cybex leg press: 1 x 20-25. Then 3 more sets with same weight.
Sissy Smith squat: 2 sets
Leg extension: 2 sets
Glute drive followed by back extension: 2 rounds
Abductor: 1 x RP
Seated calves: 1 x RP
Vertical knee raise: 1 x BW

The Cybex leg press was no joke. Absolutely burned all the way through. Personally I prefer higher reps on the leg press – just dig in and get nasty. What I’m not used to is additional sets after or starting with a high repper. That is a mental and physical mind fook.

Good session all round though. Followed by 10 mins on the bike ? rest day today and cardio ticked off. Few odd jobs and catching up with peeps, nice and chilled

Instagram: samking104

[Sam King]

New week, new me – blah blah blah. Been a bit lapse the last week but in my defence I’ve been doing 12-15 hour working days. Been absolutely insane. Fully aware do way more than me but it’s not something I do on a constant basis, so naturally will impact me physically and mentally. Always makes me laugh when someone tries to one up ‘well, I do 13 hours all the time’ or ‘you train at 5am? Well, I train at 4am.’ My response is usually ‘cool, that’s great and works for you. I’m not you.’

Last week by check in rolled around, I explicitly said it’s time for a de-load. 12 weeks of training was definitely catching up with me. Wednesday’s session wasn’t bad but I noticed my attitude was awful. I was getting peeved off when the 25kg plates were in the wrong place and waiting for someone to lunge past me so I could walk past. Also, sleep has been a smidge iffy and motivation to train, while still there a tad, had dropped off significantly.

Check in itself went pretty well last week. Weight has dropped to 84.4 from 84.95kg and visually tighter – midsection starting to pop nicely, shoulders and chest showing some shape. Legs looking ok and Xmas tree still showing (obviously not fully defined but still clear). Corinne agreed on a deload so it was decided that four days full rest, no cardio (aside from a 10 min stroll post meal 1) and a slight bump up in calories. Diet for Thursday-Sunday was as follows:

Meal 1 – 3 eggs, 5 whites, 15g whey, 15g walnuts
Meal 2 – 200g 5% beef, 180g potato, 100g pineapple
Meal 3 – 200g chicken, 20g cheese, 1 wrap, 4 rice cakes, 1 orange
Meal 4 – 240g fish, 65g rice, 8g olive oil
Meal 5 – 200g chicken, 100g potato, 200g sweet potato, 20g walnuts
Meal 6 – 300g Greek yogurt, 15g whey, 20g almond butter, 20g pumpkin seeds

As today is the first day back, I replaced the above meal 6 with the following as instructed:

50g whey, 75g oats, 75g banana, 20g almond butter

Sooooo, back to usual today. Tidy up phase continues. Alongside training, output resumes as follows:

Steps: 10,000
Rest day: 30 mins cardio pre meal 1
Training day: 10 mins bike post training

First session back is legs and will be hooking up with someone to train. The session will be at 10:30 so having an extra meal in me, being better hydrated and more alert will be interesting. I barely ever train with anyone. I could honestly total the number of times on one hand. Just can’t be doing with the ag and logistics of it. The amount of times I see people waiting around, being let down, arguing about what to train and the rest. There are some reliable ones out there I’m sure, but definitely a rarity.

Instagram: samking104

[Sam King]

Start of another week already and the last week of June. Lovely relaxed weekend with lots of pottering.

Session wise it was push yesterday and we had a slight rejig in terms of movements. As mentioned previously, incline dB press has gone as far as it can for now. 55kg from 50kg is not going to happen for now. If 52kg dbs were available then that option to progress is there. Taping on micro plates to the 50s is not the one. Aside from the faff of setting up, they inevitably come loose unless you use a good chunk of duct tape.

Anywho, prime movers today were low incline Smith, high incline dB press and dips. After some laterals to start, went as follows:

Low incline Smith: 90kg x 10
High incline dB: 38kg x 9
Low incline Smith: 95kg x 6
High incline dB: 40kg x 7
Dips: 51.25kg x 6.5, 32.5kg x 13

Very interesting to almost zig zag between the Smith and high incline. Only two adjustable benches in the gym currently and I hugged them both. Obviously if someone wants a bench, they can have one but if I can avoid having to keep moving a bench around and losing the bench position on the Smith that’s ideal.

Mentioned a million times before but here’s the millionth and one – the Smith is bladdy heavy. None of this 3-4 pps nonsense on most models. It’s definitely a humbler so want to ensure we start off right and work up slowly. Haven’t done it for a while and starting strength is up from where I left off, not bad. High incline dB wasn’t too shabby either. Just need to get the groove nailed. All the usual isolation stuff followed and wrapped up with 10 mins on the bike.

Pull today and after a weird night of sleep, it’s the paused RDL ?

Instagram: samking104

[Sam King]

Cracking leg session yesterday, very happy. The Gym shop leg press wasn’t free and the person wasn’t in a hurry so subbed for the Cybex pivot press with a band. Some exercises aren’t worth working in on like the leg press, especially if you’re constantly loading/unloading plates for you or the other person and unhooking bands.

The Cybex press felt perfect and reps were deeeeeeeppppp, but tension on quads was fab. Think I’ll look to keep this in for now. Good as a sled leg press is, it can be a bit faffy and the steeper angle is harsher on the hip.

Banded hack with my feet further down the platform after. Again, felt good. First time doing this foot positioning with bands trying to pull my sorry ass into the ground. Confidence is beginning to rise, but still aware my body is still finding its way with this stance.

First session of 10 mins cardio on the bike post workout. Had to be after a leg session first time didn’t it? Was even more of a sweatier mess than normal.

Had my first session of mobility work as well. Post leg workout and cardio… oh dear. It was an interesting one and several things have been highlighted for me to work on. Not sure how my body functions from what I was told haha. I’ve been given a series of exercises to work on various aspects. I will be doing them pre-workout on a training day and post cardio on a rest day. Should only be around 15-20 mins and not too intense as to detract from sessions.

The person who talked me through everything is an absolute technique and biomechanics King. His mind to muscle connection is incredible. I’ve seen him train to complete failure without any weight on a lying leg curl. He’s a strong dude as well and has missed out on his pro card a couple of times, so knows his stuff. Also got a Hollywood smile and rugged good looks, plus could eat a lot of ‘cheat’ meals during prep and still be ripped. Yeah, he’s one of those guys haha.

Instagram: samking104

[Sam King]

Morning morning

Well, push the other day was a disappointment- lost a rep here or there but my left shoulder was just having none of it. Oh well, we lick our wounds and carry on. Pull the next day however was fantastic. Double paused Stiff legged 182.5kg for 5 and single paused SLDL 166kg for 9. Lovely, just lovely. That 6th rep on the first set is getting there with the set feeling smoother each week. Just because the weight isn’t increasing doesn’t mean progression. Progressive overload is important don’t get me wrong, but you don’t automatically unlock new gains like in a video game when hitting a new weight. Progression and consistency in the long run is the key.

Check in with the boss yesterday and we’re both happy. Weight down to 84.95kg from 86.3kg and waist was 77.5cm, down to 76.5cm. Abs, obliques and serratus are popping through already – doesn’t take long. My reward for a good week? 10 mins of cardio on the bike after every training session ? first time will be after legs today. Well, it was good enough Tom Platz as he used to do a leg workout and then cycle 10 miles plus.

Diet remains the same with output looking as follows
Steps: 10k
NTD: 30 mins cardio first thing, fasted
TD: 10 mins post workout on bike
All cardio at 130bpm.

The only other tweak is we have slightly altered my push sessions. The incline dB press was just stagnant and I just felt frustrated week by week. Pressing has never been my strong suit, but everything else was ticking along nicely. Now I have two slightly new push sessions. I say slightly as the majority of exercises remain the same, just the layout and also starting a push session with a side raise instead of a flye. Always like starting with a side raise variation as warms the shoulder girdle up, but doesn’t really impact my presses.

So today is legs, followed by 10 mins cardio and then I’m going through some stabilisation/activation work with someone. Have always felt inadequate in this regard and going through some things with someone in person should be helpful. It’s someone I know and he was surprised I offered to pay. End of the day he is providing a service and I value his time so why wouldn’t I pay him? A lot of people are after free info which is understandable as bodybuilding and life are expensive enough, but if you really want something you’ll fork out. I could probably look up a bunch of stuff online, however I would rather someone show me firsthand and ensure I start off correctly.

Instagram: samking104

[Sam King]

Good morning

Legs on Sunday was a corker. Anyone that knows my leg training knows I absolutely detest the hack squat model in my gym. It’s the infamous Watson model. Of course I have the option to bypass it buuuuttt nah, not letting it beat me.

I’ve always tried to improve my odds on this model by introducing variables like bands, pauses in the hole and so on. However, one thing I haven’t tweaked really is foot position. Looking at a lot of the big hack squatters, their feet are further down the platform and more under them. From a biomechanics point of view that makes perfect sense to favour the quad, due to maximum knee flexion. I did try it once in the past but felt a little uncomfortable tweak, so never tried that foot placement again.

This time it felt so much more natural. By moving my feet down the main thing I noticed was I could keep the movement tight. Previously I noticed as I fatigued, my back would peel away from the pad leading to an unstable stance and less than favourable execution. With my feet more under me I could brace hard against the backrest and keep upright. Again, this better overloads the quads so win win.

Highlights of the session as follows

Reverse band hack: 130kg x 11, 140kg x 9, 150kg x 5
Upright leg press: 160 x 19.5
Glute drive: 200kg x 7 (2 sec peak hold), 200kg x 10 (no hold)
Back extension: 2 34kg dbs x 10

+ other movements and isolation stuff

Push is up shortly and it’s my favourite of the two. I know you shouldn’t have favourites, but like children you inevitably favour one over the other right? Big movers are flat machine press, high incline machine and close grip flat press.

Instagram: samking104

[Sam King]

Right then, been a little while – sooooo, so busy but quick one before I train today.

Last legs session absolutely destroyed me. It’s really weird as I get the DOMs from that particular session within a few hours. Complete agony for the day and then it’s gone the next day. So odd whereas I used to get it the next day and then the day after that would be the worst. Don’t really get it much with the higher frequency anymore. Of course it isn’t essential but in the olden days you would pride yourself on not being able to walk in the coming days. Yeah, we were weird that’s for sure.

Push session was ok but incline dB press is still just more or less maintaining. It is the worst movement for me to progress. Incline hammer and dip were delightful.

Pull session was good overall but Paused RDLs were shocking. Everything about the set was off so was a bit miffed. However, I didn’t let this affect the rest of my session negatively. When we become so attached and are motivated by that logbook progression on big compounds, it is easy to feel disappointed when it doesn’t go your way.

Unfortunately we can’t all base our days or existence exclusively around the training window. It’s usually a choice of training when you can or if you are consistent, then just powering through the session best you can if you’re not 100% on the ball. It’s also a case of identifying what may be causing any potential causes to subpar sessions and then working towards a resolution as best you can. Sounds obvious and it is, but surprisingly the basics still get lost amongst the sexier, more scientific approaches.

Legs on the cards shortly ?

Instagram: samking104

[Sam King]

Good morning

To anyone reading, hope you had a good weekend and have been enjoying the weather, the Euros (if that’s your thing) and of course the bbqs. One thing I’ll never understand is people who say ‘sorry, I can’t do a bbq as I’m on a diet’. Errrrr what? Just bring your own meat and slap it on the barbie. You don’t have to indulge in all the sides or gallons of alcohol. You are in control and can easily be present + involve yourself. Just be aware people will be envious of what you’re grilling, but just politely remind them ‘Joey doesn’t share food!!!!’ My favourite is ‘ooo that looks nice’ which I reply ‘it is’ as you can tell they’re after a bit haha. More than happy to share the recipe, but that there but of meat sizzling away is allllll mine.

Anywho, busy Saturday which included training someone. Really enjoyed this and was done as a favour as she allowed me to borrow a ton of her free weights over lockdown. She didn’t even know me and she is my friend’s girlfriend’s sister so no need to even say yes really. In any case, she did well and managed to push her. She doubled reps on her RDL with me telling her ‘ohhh, you’re not done just yet’. May be a little side hustle at some point ?

Rest of the Saturday was talking about the wedding cake, followed by going to London to see the OH’s family. Apparently buying a Colin the Caterpillar cake and putting a veil on him won’t suffice ?‍♂️ London was great but didn’t train there so two back to back rest days. As I do my cardio on rest days, I did a fasted power walk on Sunday and didn’t include as part of my steps. I couldn’t do yesterday morning as had a funeral to attend and the OH needed me (some things are bigger sometimes you know). However, got back last night and went straight to the gym to get the cardio done. Phew, back on track.

Saturday’s pull session was a good un’ – Double paused SLDL 182.5kg x 5 and single paused 166kg x 8. Fookin’ hard as fook but happy with that. Just got to remember to keep those glutes tight and fully utilise my booty. Rest of the session was on point as well.

Legs this morning and all about those bands – leg extension, leg press and hack.

Instagram: samking104

[Sam King]

Morning morning

Absolutely spot on push session yesterday, but a cacky night’s sleep last night. Win some, lose some but have double paused SLDL today ?

Main highlights of yesterday’s session were as follows:
Pec Dec: stacked x 9 – 2 sec good at peak. Felt very, very good so will be adding to the stack next time.

Flat hammer press: 162.5kg x 5.5, 142.5kg x 9. After struggling to reconnect after the last lockdown, we are getting there baby. Connection felt unreal and watching the clip back, it flew up.

High incline press: 100.5kg x 5, 85kg x 9.5. Since putting the crash mat behind me on the backrest, this feels way better. Before I couldn’t brace myself as my feet wouldn’t get close to the floor. Now I bottom the seat out, brace hard and push more efficiently.

Close grip bench: 103kg x 6, 83kg x 14. Great sets and felt silky smooth. Looking more and more likely 110kg will be coming out to play soon.

Followed with usual fluff and isolation exercises.

Check in Thursday went well. Only a minute drop in weight but scale weight is not the determining factor. Composition looked much better again – abs and obliques coming through nicely. Legs starting to separate and lower back coming in. My reward? Less food on Push and Pull days haha. Only minuscule changes, but enough to keep the process going.

Right, time for pull and it’s Saturday morning which means no-one will be in there for most of my session. Killswitch Engage and Avenged Sevenfold incoming. Tbh during the week it is usually quiet until 6am and I’m always the one to open the gym, but nothing like having the place to yourself and music cranked right up ?

Instagram: samking104

[Sam King]

Here we go again – another Friday and it’s rotation 1 of push again. Out of the two sessions, this rotation is my favourite. I mean errr, I have no favourites… it’s like having two children and parents say they love them equally. Pfffttt come on ?

Very happy with legs last session. After some touch up for delts and biceps followed by isolation work, it was time for the bread and butter- reverse band hacks. Last time I did this I absolutely bombed. Sets as follows- 152.5kg x 12, 162.5kg x 6 and 140kg x 17. Now compare that to last time – 160kg x 6.5, 150kg x 9 and 130kg x 20. Miles apart that’s for sure. Definitely find doing a higher rep set on hacks followed by the heavier set feels way better and total work done cumulatively is more.

Upright leg press followed with 160kg x 18. Still no world records but 3 reps up on last time. Other notable mentions was the glute drive 190kg x 7 with a 2 sec pause at the peak and back extension with 32kg dbs for 12.

Checked in yesterday but will discuss that in tomorrow’s post, as time to train.

Instagram: samking104