Sam King
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Last session wasn’t too bad at all. On the paused RDL managed 193kg for 6 which was an increase of 0.5kg and an extra rep. The set just flowed and it was smooth throughout. Not sure if it’s just me, but sometimes it just feels stiff and you really have to work for those sets, almost fighting your body. Followed the first set with 183kg for 7 so a 0.5kg increase, but a rep down.
Rest of the session was pretty good. Usual suspects – pulldowns, rows, rear delts, biceps, calves. Definitely noticed the fatigue creeping in as the session went on. More and more likely that deload is looming. When I was younger I would just train and train until I fell ill, then that would be time off. Unfortunately by that time it is too late as I am fooked. Usually this would be once or twice a year. As mentioned previously I now try to back off every 6-10 weeks. Being older, lifting heavier, having more responsibilities and much intensity that frequency of deload is required.
Legs this morning and the reverse band hack mugged me off last time. Usually find doing a 10-12 repper set first, followed by a 5-8 set better than the other way round. In a strange way it feels like it primes my lower body rather than attacking the top weight. Let’s see what today’s session brings
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Just like that, another weekend down. Just going by quicker and quicker I swear. Blink and I’l likely be retired. Good to catch up with friends and family as well as topping up my sunburn ?
Yesterday’s push session wasn’t too bad at all. Finally got that 9th rep on the incline DB press with the 50kgs. Believe I have done it in the past but this was when I did it first, not after cable flyes. Incline hammer press 145kg for 5, followed by 130kg for 9. Final compound was dips. First set was 51.25kg for 7 and 32.5kg for 13. Rest of the fluffy stuff went well too.
Think I’m getting close to a deload. I’ve noticed a few signs such as fatigue, slight lack of enthusiasm and my sessions taking slightly longer with the same work. Will talk it through on the next check in as we have been pushing for 8 weeks now so it is probably due. Generally notice the 6-10 week mark is my upper limit.
Pull day today and it’s the paused RDL on the menu
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What a delightful weekend it’s been so far. Hope everyone has been making the most of our limited summer.
Had a cracking leg session the other day. It was bands galore – leg extension, leg press and hack squat. Quads were absolutely in bits as you’d expect. It’s weird though as my quads ached for a good portion of the day I worked them, but next day they weren’t too bad. Notice that with a lot of training currently. DOMs is not an indicator of job well done at all, just saying it’s strange how it happens on the day and not in the days following.
Push on the cards and incline DB press is up. Urgh.
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The correct title is Grand Masters, 1st place is the plan but can only do my best. I enjoy the log informative and nice to see how others do things.
@mac1969 ahhh that sounds more like it. Good goal to aim for and the natural progression after your last showing.
Exactly that. As long as you’ve done everything and can honestly say that/think that on stage, that’s all you can do ? hope it all goes well for you champ
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Whew, what a busy couple of days it has been. Had my first day off work yesterday since the start of Jan. Felt very odd haha, but a good day. Got up at 5:20 for rest day cardio, rushed back to eat, met with a friend for tennis at 7, rushed back to do my check in, eat, prep and then picked up 9 to for a day out.
This wasn’t only just a day out, but it was to get my suit for my wedding and the Groomsmen. We’ve known one another since infant school so go waayyy back. Almost think we revert back our secondary school selves when we’re back together, except we’re cooler now…. ?… ?. Offplan meal at this little gourmet hidden gem called Pizza Hut. Not my choice, but happy to partake for the boys. Just two personal sized pizzas. Could’ve managed a third or fourth, but what’s the point just because I could? In case you’re wondering, we said yes to the dress, errr suits ?
Ok, bodybuilding related stuff. Check in yesterday went well. Visually tighter and weight dropped to 86.7kg so both very happy. What’s my reward? Less calories on a rest day and 10 mins of additional cardio on rest days, score. Body takes a little while to establish the goal is to chip away a bit. Usually after a few weeks it’s like ‘ohhhhh, I see. You want to lose some fat. I get you… we’re starving right!?’
Pull session on Wed could have gone either way. A less than ideal night of sleep before double paused SLDLs isn’t the best setup. However, it was a corker. Managed 180kg for 5 buuuttt the pauses were much more, well pauses and the execution looked great. Corinne fed back last time the pauses could be better and I agree, but the goal last time was just feeling 180kg. Was rushing a smidge then, but this time I knew what to expect and how that weight feels. One day I might actually do 2 sec pauses on this exercise which would be brutal. Single paused SLDL for 9 after was hard as fook, but got it done.
Was written off after that but still managed to somehow get my way through the rest – pulldowns, rows, shrugs, rear delts, biceps and calves. The back pump was silly good and the weird DOMs I get for the rest of the day was there.
Legs on the agenda this morning and surprise, surprise- I’m tired ? no complaints, just acknowledge. So busy I’m bound to be, but just goes back to prep days. You are tired for a good chunk and can actually do way more than your body wants you to believe. It’s a fine balance that’s for sure and walking that fine line of not enough/ too much.
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Hi Sam
Competed for the first time last year in the OAP category ? Got 2nd in Northern show and invite to Brits so very happy. Next year Scottish is the plan, loving the log.
Hey @mac1969. Wow-wee, massive congratulations to you Sir. Do they actually refer it as the OAP category then? Typically they’re kinder and refer it as overs or Masters haha.
I have the utmost respect for anyone who sets foot in a gym, but it’s a different respect when not only do they compete, but at an age where you are possibly flirting with retirement and naturally winding down.
Ah nice, good plan. Assume the goal is to jump one spot up and nab that Scottish OAP title?
Thanks for the compliment ? just a series of rambles, but if anyone gets any entertainment or anything from it that’s great too.
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Personally barely ever get DOMs anymore unless I’ve introduced a new exercise or go back after a deload/time off. If your lifts are progressing (proper standardised sets) and your composition is changing for the better, you’re doing just fine. Long gone are the days of this ‘badge of honour’ and crippling DOMs.
If you really want DOMs, do something like The Three Peaks Challenge or 100 sets of squats. Sure you’ll ache but doubt you’d grow from that.
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Not too bad of a session yesterday at all. Flat hammer press felt very, very good. 160kg for 5.5 reps so half a rep up and 141kg for 9 – 1kg and 1 rep up, double whammy. High incline machine press has always felt a bit off in terms of setup, however think I’ve found the trick. I got a couple of the crash mats and put them against the back rest of the machine. That allowed me to keep my feet on the floor and force my back into the mats to drive the weight up. Before I was on tip toes which was very unstable and just felt meh. 100kg for 5 and 85kg for 8 so good starting point for the new setup.
Next up was close grip bench. Managed 102.5kg for 5 and 82.5kg for 13 + 2. Rest of the session was on point as well. Actually really enjoyed this workout which is grand, considering it is my least favourite of the PPL sessions.
Had another iffy night of sleep due to the heat. It’s double paused SLDLS today so that’ll be interesting. Definitely some pre going down the hatch today ? we have been hitting it hard for the last 7 weeks so wouldn’t surprise me if a deload is imminent soon.
Generally find the 6-10 week is the max I can attack before I dig myself too deep. The key is identifying it early enough so you can back off a bit, deload and then re-commence. Unfortunately for most, it’s identified slightly too late when they overreached that but too much.
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Glad you came to that conclusion haha. It’s not just the panel you need to look at with supplements, but their quality and how much your body can assimilate from said product.
Take protein for example – tuna is far less bio-available to your body than steak or whole eggs say. Just because a product brags of it’s ‘high’ doses doesn’t mean squat if your body can’t use it. Notice that with a lot of curcumin products they don’t have any form of black pepper extract, which is an important staple to get the full benefit.
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Well then, hope everyone had a lovely bank holiday and got suitably burned. What’s a British summer without a dodgy tan eh?
Leg session the other day was so-so. Tbh only the reverse banded hack was a smidge down and the rest of the session was very good. Think I slightly rushed my hack warm ups to get to the main event. Aside from that, other factors such as double my step count the day before, did cardio the first time, it’s bladdy hot at night and in the gym, 7 weeks of intense training bankedand some outside stressors (all good stress though ?). There’s a fine line of looking for excuses to justify, but being proactive and reflective is key. I could just say ‘oh I was tired’ and leave it there, but what’s that going to accomplish? It should be ‘I’m tired but what can I do about it and fix this’. Sounds obvious but a lot of people just make an excuse and end it there.
Rest of the session was very good and got 15 reps on the Upright leg press with 160kg after hacks. It’s no world record, but in comparison to how most perform this exercise (myself included back in the day) it’s golden. In the past I got to around 280kg so 7 plates a side. However ROM wasn’t great, the stoppers were used as a reprieve from each rep (basically bouncy bouncy), massive pauses between reps and tension wasn’t there. Now though the seat is forward so my knees touch my chest, each rep is just shy of the stoppers each rep, tension throughout and reps far more continuous (still can be better).
In for push today and flat hammer press on the agenda. Extremely tired today (excuses excuses) but starting to get used to the heat. Just need to break the fan out if I can remember where it’s hiding
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Morning morning
Busy couple of days that’s for sure but wouldn’t change for the world. Very happy with everything in life right and this obviously compliments my training no end. Feeling good and happy outside of the gym can only enhance your sessions. Then you leave the gym feeling like a physical and mental wreck haha.
Pull session on Friday was so so. Firstly, it was blimming hot first thing in the morning. The facility holds the heat well so great in winter, sweltering in the summer. I find quite quickly my hands and wrists become sweaty which impacts my deadlifts. Thankfully a quick towel down and then some chalk on the hands and wrists does the trick.
RDLs saw no massive progression, but that’s cool. Lost a rep on my first set of paused, but the pause was slightly longer on each rep than last time. 192.5kg for 5 logged today on that. Second set for standard RDL saw 182.5kg for 8 so same reps and weight as last time, but that last rep felt better. This indicates to me that 9th is getting closer.
Rest of the session was good and left with the standard back pump cramps. Job done.
First session of cardio on my rest day yesterday. Was actually looking forward to it. Reunited with the cross trainer and realised I hadn’t done any formal or structured cardio since October 2019 – the last week of my British finals prep. I’m not including tennis or bike rides as cardio because they’re just for recreational fun and there’s no output goal to tick off. Fitness was surprisingly good, although my sweaty state would indicate otherwise.
Legs on the agenda today and reverse band hack is up. No bouncy bouncy or bungee cord reps here though. Upright leg press is also calling my name for a high rep set ?
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Current state of this Fatty Mcfat fat tum blob. Particularly surprised by that side chest, but all works in progress. Will see how this looks in a couple of months after a lil tidy up.
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Good morning
Check in yesterday went really well. Visually tighter, weight down by 0.7kg, waist down 0.5cm – tick, tick and bladdy tick. Sitting at 87.85kg so still a Fatty Mcfat fat tum haha. Still a silhouette of some abs… or flabdominals, but don’t use that as a marker. Abs are usually semi present unless I get obese so don’t use that as an indicator. Fat for me collects mainly in my face and get these big red cheeks. Not for years now as far more calculated. The biggest I got was 107kg which is just stupid. It was the sloppiest I have ever looked and training performance was awful, especially the strength to weight ratio ?
Changes for this week is the addition of rest day cardio. 20 mins first thing so nothing major, but in a weird way looking forward to it.
So the saga for the 9th rep on the incline press pretty much continues. We’re up to 8.5 ladies and gentlemen. Could’ve forced that 9th with some form loosening, but patience wins the day. Just to get my body used to heavier loads, I picked up the 55kg dbs for a set. 3 reps only today and they were a tad interesting. Rep one was slllooowww, rep two was actually perfect, rep three – the left side struggled to lock out whilst the right was flying up. Had to adjust my right and almost maintain/lower the dB until the left eventually caught up. Then of course put the dumbbells down myself – no throwing them down or flinging across the room. Treat your weights and gym with respect.
Rest of the session wasn’t bad but that incline dB fatigue definitely impacted my following presses. No dramas, is what it is. Oh, and I also only had 3-4 hours of sleep the night before. Likely didn’t contribute to the session ?
Decided to take some photos in the gym lighting yesterday. I’ve previously mentioned but my check ins are done in the worst lighting I have. Partly choice, partly because we have quite a dinky flat and pickings are slim. Also, in the real world or stage you don’t have that control – you’re at the mercy of the lighting technician’s skills or worse yet, natural lighting ?
Actually pretty happy with what I saw. Not one to post a lot of physique photos, especially during the off season as I don’t think there is much to see. However, it is also useful to see now and then. I’ll pop them below.
Paused RDLs on the agenda today. Looking forward to it ?
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Not familiar with that model. Had a quick Google search and if it’s the one I saw it looks okayish. What’s the question for? Are you thinking of buying it or is it a piece in your gym you’re unsure of?
Now if you said what do you think of the Watson hack squat, well ??
It’s a piece at my gym. I’ve used it in the past but gonna give it a go soon. I actually asked the question BECAUSE I’ve heard of the Watson hack being so terrible. It’s not a common piece for sure but didn’t want to use it in case someone thought it might be a knee killer
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Righto. Doesn’t sound like you have much to lose (except your patella maybe shooting across the room). Just take it slow, find the foot position on the platform that works for you and listen to your body for any warning signs my man.Instagram: samking104
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Cool. With 5 fixed days you could do a Push, pull, legs, upper and lower. Everything would be hit twice in the week but you would need to manage your variables well. It may not also be maintainable over the long run.
I’d probably go for a 4 day split as upper, lower. As you like weekends, maybe the following:
Sat: lower
Sun: upper
Tues: lower
Thurs: upperWith a setup like this you can cover all bases. One upper session may start with push and the next would be pull. On the Thurs session could be your deadlift variation day (if you do them). Lots of info on upper/lower across the site so may suit you.
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