Sam King
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Happy show day Lara, it has been a fantastic prep to follow and the process has clearly been an enjoyable one – time to shine on that stage.
Sadly I won’t be attending as got loads of stuff to get ready for the OH’s 30th next week. Never enough time during the working week, especially with prep in full effect haha.
Really rooting for you and can’t wait to see the pictures, as well as read the post show debrief.
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October eh, where’s that come from? Very busy month for a multitude of reasons – the most important being it is the OH’s 30th birthday and yeah, some British championships at the end of the month or something…
Last leg session went down as follows:
Lying leg curl: 2 x 10-12
Hack Squat: 2 x 10-12
Paused leg press: 1 x 20
Glute bridge: 1 x 8-12
Seated leg curl, unilateral: 1 x 12-15
Adductor, frog leg press: 1 x 12-15
Vertical leg raise: 2 x max reps
Dual machine curl: 2 x 8-10
Seated calf raise: 3 x 10-12Absolutely fantastic session, numbers absolutely flew up. Difficult to actually 100% gauge progression from this last rotation because I did it at a different gym last time. However, in comparison to the time before here the comparisons on the main movements:
Hack Squat: 10/9 – 112.5kg for 11, 100.5 for 18. 30/9 – 112.5kg for 15, 102.5kg for 20.
Paused leg press: 10/9 – 325kg for 19. 30/9 – 325kg for 22.More sessions like this please haha.
In terms of overall wellbeing, very busy at work which helps to distract me from hunger but being mindful that the external stressors don’t affect or detract from me in this more vulnerable state. Generally I always flip things on the positive side so just need to maintain that mindset.
Have a good day people.
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keep going mate! not long to go now and its the exciting bit where everything changes and changes quickly! Head down!!!
Exactly my man – level focus, stick to the plan and most importantly enjoy the process.
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Damn dude, sorry to hear the news – not what you want to hear at any time, least of all this deep into prep. However, it seems you’re looking at it as an opportunity and what is the point of financial gain at the expense of living a fulfilled life? Personally, I am not about the money or materialistic in the slightest – a common trait amongst bodybuilders I’ve noticed. However, on the flip side nothing wrong with wanting the finer things in life if that’s what aspire to and naturally you need to find a way to fund this.
Keep your level head bud and it’s not a decision that needs to be rushed. Anywho you’ve got a show to smash.
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Show date is imminent. Can tell by the length of the entries – getting shorter and shorter haha.
So training with 70-80% intensity, obviously it’s not to failure this close to the stage but what would you classify that as? I am assuming intensity techniques are out as well.
Classic trying to fill up on veggies – always ends up backfiring haha. Guess the gut’s digestion isn’t optimum and having to digest fibrous foods, along with the other stresses of prep can be a bit much.
Come on Lara, almost there – excited to see the final product and see you strut your stuff. Can’t believe it is this week.
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Everything is slotting into place nicely Tim and it’s now that beautiful stage of daily changes. Quite good that your job allows for some flexibility and working from home when you’re a grump grump.
Seems as though most movements are holding/progressing aside from push and the last legs session. It’s unrealistic to think that every session will be on the money, especially during prep and so many internal/external factors can knock a chunk off your lifts. However, I still think that as long as you’re pushing to your capabilities and giving the muscle a reason to stick around it’s fine. Ok, granted not advisable to do a 200 rep set which would clearly push you to the limit, but hopefully you get what I mean haha.
Definitely agree with normality or as close to it as possible. Sometimes you just want to hide away, however friends and family can help alleviate some of the stress. You may not be 100% yourself, but they should be understanding and I find that once you’re with them your mood completely changes. It’s almost a mental re-charge and leads to feeling more refreshed.
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Rightio it’s officially under the 4 week mark, sheet.
Check in with the boss went well yesterday and no changes. Lost nearly a kilo in a few days so cardio was like a magic bullet. Still a good chunk to come off so let’s get it done.
Pull session went fab yesterday and as follows:
Hammer strength pulldown: 2 x 10-12
Incline supported bb row: 2 x 12
Neutral pulldown: 1 x 12-15
Hammer strength low pulldown: 1 x 7-9, 1 x 10-12
One arm db row: 1 x 20
Bent over db raise: 2 x 10-12
Seated calve raise: 3 x 15-20Compared to the last time, hammer strength pulldown felt much better today – first set 102.5kg for 12, second set 95kg for 13. Same reps as last time, but with an extra kg on each set.
BB row still progressing with 0.5kg a week and keeping the same reps – first set 87.5kg for 13, 80kg for 17.
Neutral pulldown – decided to drop the weight by one pin and really establish myself in the 12-15 range, pausing in the bottom position and resetting to the starting point feeling the pull on my lats. 13.5 reps so 14 next time it is.
Low row is still flying up – 160kg for 11 reps, followed by 160kg for 12 reps. Um, what? Forgot to lower the weight for my second set and was thinking ‘hmmm, feels heavier’. Probably because it was haha. Just shows how much the mind can influence the set. Don’t get me wrong – if it was a 1RM attempt, that could spell disaster. Luckily I don’t bother with that.
One arm db row and hit 50kg for 20 reps each side. Will look to solidify this for a week or two before trying out the 55kg db and working up to 20 again.
All the fluffy stuff went well and I was outta there.Rest of the day was spent with the OH and just relaxing. Even managed to play a bit of God of War on the PlayStation. At this rate, I may even finish it before Christmas. Right then, let’s get this week started.
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Good stuff. You can a barbell but requires a rack and more set up than a pair of dumbbells. It takes a few attempts to find your optimum set up.
I sit on the floor, legs straight and place one of the dbs on my quad. I then lie back and almost hammer curl the other dB up, then I am ready to go. If you have a spotter, they can place one of them into your free hand once you have the other up and in place.
Do a few YouTube searches to get knack.Instagram: samking104
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It will be raw weight for everything.
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As above, you will know when a refeed is required. When you’re flat, you’re at the peak of fat burning but knowing when to back off and refeed is another matter. You want to stay at this point for as long as possible. If performance drops off too quick and all the warning signs are there, a slight increase in calories will allow you to train harder. It’s not an all you can eat affair, just a slight bump up in calories to maintenance.
Look at it this way – holiday is 5 weeks away and you’re bound to splurge then, but as it isn’t prep it wouldn’t be the end of the world.
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Comp history: NPA South West 18th August 2019 - 1st: NPA South West 2019 Novice 1st Place - NPA South West 2019 Best Male 1st Timers - NPA South West 2019 Best Transformation Male - NPA South West 2019 3rd place overall __________________________________________________________________________________________ Lifetime natural – first show 18th August 2019. Next show – 27th October 2019: British Championships Journal – Road to First Comp Instagram: samking104
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Good exercises from Michael. I’d also be inclined to add in a dB floor press. Can be awkward to begin with, but is a great movement and essentially a partial bench press, focusing on the lockout. You know what that means – delt and tricep overload. Be sure to pause in the bottom position for a split count between reps.
Overall though, weighted dips are king for tricep mass and will thicken the other pressing muscles as well.
However, seems you’re doing full body so you shouldn’t need that many tricep exercises. Don’t get carried away with more is better.
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All boils down to which exercise works for you and you can progress on over a finite amount of time. It also depends on how the rest of your training is structured and the frequency of other lower back loading from exercises like barbell squats. Experience is another thing to factor in.
Rack pulls are essentially a partial movement and you can really overload the pulling muscles – lats, traps and forearms get a good once over. The hip hinge is largely taken out of the movement so less lower body stimulus on the glutes and hams. However, this is one of the biggest movements I see that are bastardised. Bouncing the bar, having the pin supports too high and emulating a standing leg press hybrid are some of the most common examples. Essentially they all boil down to lifting with your ego so the usual remedy is use less weight. Done properly, it is a good movement.
The standard deadlift is one of my favourite movements and always like to have it in my rotations. Again, the standard deadlift can have its own set of problems – bouncing the bar off the floor, rounded back to excess, poor execution, impact on the CNS and so on. Obviously there are a lot of variations such as the Romanian, stiff-legged, trap bar, banded and my personal preference the Yates deadlift which is a hybrid between conventional deads and RDLs.
Maybe pick 2 or 3 different movements, focus on one until you can’t progress any more and then move on to the next. Rinse and repeat through the cycle with all three, then return to the first variation to surpass the lifts. Depending on strength and training recovery, you may get away with picking two movements at a time. Pull session one could be rack pulls and pull session 3 could have conventional deads. Ideally when training legs around these sessions, stay away from barbell squats to keep lower back loading to a minimum. As you get stronger, a deadlift variation will likely only be possible once every 10 days or so meaning one variation.
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All of the above. Get good at the basic compound rows and pulls. Connect with the movements first and focus on what’s moving the weight instead of just getting it form A to B.. then get strong over time.
Haha , Clare I swear you and I are always typing at the same time. By the time I have posted, you’ve pipped me to the post.
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Overall you’ve answered the question. Like anything in bodybuilding it takes time and consistency, along with the right movements.
One of the best pieces of advice is to actually learn to pull using your lats and make the muscle work. The old ‘think of your arms as hooks’ is worth remembering. Initially you’ll need to scale back on the weights, but as your back gets stronger you’ll be all the more better in terms of development and generally surpass your old poundages. Form is important, however a movement like the bent over row is never 100% strict unless it’s chest supported.
Variations of deadlifts and rows will all thicken the back nicely, but don’t neglect the width movements as nothing worse than a bunched up thick back. Obviously there are no exclusive width or thickness movements, more just pulldowns/chins and rows/deadlifts really.
For overall thickness, obviously focus on the big movements, get into a surplus and lift heavy for a good few years. Easy stuff.
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Saturday is here and another conventional week is coming to a close meaning show day is creeping closer.
First session of cardio this morning at the old haunt – 20 mins on the stepmill and 10 on the rower. Managed setting 12 on the stepmill without clinging on so happy with that and managed 2,500m on the rower so a good start. Hit some poses afterwards, however I was approached by a member of staff and asked to not do that as it may make people feel uncomfortable and to relocate to their studio downstairs. Hmmmm, just used to throwing my clothes off and posing down but that’s the bodybuilder mentality. The ladies didn’t seem to mind though haha.
Yesterday’s push session was spot and very happy with the lifts. Considering how deep I am in prep, lifts are still progressing when usually push is the first to drop off. Session as follows:
Incline cable cuff side raise: 2 x 12-15
Incline hammer strength press, delt focus: 1 x 7-9, 1 x 10-12
Low incline db press: 1 x 12-15
Close grip bb press: 1 x7-9, 1 x 10-12
Low incline db flye: 1 x 12-15
One arm rope pressdown: 1 x 12-15
Single db preacher: 2 x 8-10
Kneeling cable crunch: 3 setsCuff raise felt spot on. Putting a slight incline on the bench has taken some of the stress off my shoulder tendons and back on the muscle.
Incline hammer press – first set 147.5kg for 7.5 reps, so half a rep extra. 2nd set – 136kg for 11 – one rep up.
Low incline db press: just maintaining this lift more or less on the 40kg dbs. Some weeks may gain a rep, some lose.
Close grip bb press: 83kg on the first set for 9 – 0.5kg increase, same reps. 75kg for 11 – same reps and weight as last time. Feels on the money though.Rest of the session was a cracker as well and noticing new little details all the time.
Plans for today are to finally sort out my phone contract. Been absolutely ridiculous how long this has been taking, but found someone helpful in one of the stores so should be able to finally sort it out. Don’t understand why some phone shops exist – ‘yeah, we can’t do that. You need to phone our helpline’. Basically the response to most queries and when you do phone the helpline ‘oh, you need to speak to someone in store’. Hmmmmm.
Anywho, have a good day All
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