I came across this on Facebook recently and was blown away. It's the first time I have seen this footage, so will definitely be watching the recent BL documentary. Legend: Bruce Lee.
Saturday, 5 May 2012
Friday, 4 May 2012
Dynamic 2/3 day splits
At the moment I am working on a three day split that can be broken down to Push, Leg and Pull. I have completed one cycle with last week as my first off-loading week for the program. I intend to complete 2 cycles before changing it up slightly, with different routines. Off-loading week is fully focused on strength endurance and conditioning, helping to maintain good stamina and CV. The three day split is all body-building style work, going to failure on each set, with every fourth week before the off-loading week, introducing drop-set pyramids to really finish me off. Some of this is DC style, while the rest is pure age-old simple man versus iron.
Wednesday:
Friday:
The 2 day split:
Friday:
This week is worth mentioning, since it has been a diversion from the 3 day split, forcing an unusual 2 day split integrating some of day 1 into day 2 and 3. This is due to holiday time and no access to heavy equipment. So Weds saw just over an hour of work, with today comprising of an equal amount of volume. Yesterday was a mini conditioning drill, with 10 minutes of burpees pull-ups, some light jump rope conditioning and stretching. Today now has me finished for the weekend, with another Monday miss due to bank holiday next week and fathering duties. So next week will see another 2 day split across Tues, Weds and Thurs, with Friday off to attend a wedding. Busy times!
What I am really trying to express here though, is that it is still possible to complete the muscle building volume for the entire week in two days by dropping some conditioning. The conditioning can be picked up at the weekends if really necessary.
The 3 day split:
Monday:
- Dumbbell bench press
- Shoulder press
- Standing roll-outs
- Weighted dips
- One-arm triceps extensions
- Push-up finisher: 1 set to failure
Wednesday:
- Deadlift
- Leg press
- Glute-ham extensions
- Bodyweight squats finisher: 1 set to failure
Friday:
- Lat pull-downs
- Incline biceps curls
- Seated row
- EZ curl
- Chin-up finisher: 1 set to failure
The 2 day split:
Wednesday:
- Deadlift
- Leg press
- Glute-ham extensions
- Dumbbell bench press
- Shoulder press
- Toes to the bar finisher: 1 set to failure
Friday:
- Lat pull-downs
- Incline biceps curls
- Seated row
- EZ curl
- Weighted dips
- One-arm triceps extensions
Thursday, 3 May 2012
WOD: 50 Burpees Pull-ups
This workout is done for time. No designated rest intervals, though I have found breaking it up into five repetition sets with a tabata style rest interval works well. Five repetitions takes me roughly 20 seconds, with 25 to 30 seconds rest before the next set. Optimally, I should be looking to achieve 20 seconds work versus 10 seconds rest; this will see an overall time under 5 minutes. This is fairly realistic given 50 burpees can be achieved in 2 and a half minutes without stopping.
If this is too easy, then simply increase the volume to 100 burpees instead of 50.
My time:
7:58.52
If this is too easy, then simply increase the volume to 100 burpees instead of 50.
My time:
7:58.52
Wednesday, 2 May 2012
160 kg (350 lbs) deadlift - new PB
A new personal best for me. Previous PB for deadlift was 150 kg for 7 reps. I will be lightening for endurance next week, so will see in two weeks if I have made any headway with my volume for this one.
Thursday, 26 April 2012
WOD: Never Gymless ICT 4
This workout is a classic from Ross Enamait's Never Gymless. It is basically two routines combined to form a lower body and upper body routine. Each routine is split into 3 exercises, completed 5 times for time:
Lower Body:
10 x Burpees
20 x Lunges
30 x Squats
Upper Body:
10 x Pull-ups
20 x Power overs
10 x High pulls
The correct way to perform the high pulls is using a resistance band, but I don't have one available to me, so instead opted for a 30kg barbell high pull. Pull ups are strict, not kipping, so if you can't complete them on the second set, I have found the cheat pull-ups effective. If you don't know what a cheat pull-up is, see below.
Notes: I performed the first set of pull-ups in strict form, then used cheat pull-ups for each pull-up in each set there after.
My Times:
Lower body: 13:10
Upper body: 10:58
If I recall the last time I did this, my lower body was at least 15 minutes and upper body went into 16 minutes. This is a massive improvement, considering I haven't done any conditioning for the last four weeks.
Cheat Pull-up
To perform a cheat pull-up, you need to stand beneath the bar and jump into the pull-up, grabbing onto the bar and pulling yourself up. Then you lower yourself slowly, to full extension and drop. You can opt to perform as many strict pull-ups as you are capable before letting go of the bar and jumping into the next pull-up. The idea is to eliminate idle resting, while you wait for your arms to recover, instead forcing them to work by assisting them on the way up.
Wednesday, 25 April 2012
Deadlift burpees
Found this great routine on YouTube. This I'd the first time I have tried it, so I want sure what to expect. Next time I may consider dropping the weight to reduce rest time and increase the level of intensity.
Watch "100 kg deadlift burpees" on YouTube
Watch "100 kg deadlift burpees" on YouTube
Tuesday, 10 April 2012
Nutrition Advice
Some of you may recall a past blog entry: Eating big. This entry dates back to 2009 and is pretty primitive in terms of content, obsessive over the accumulative of calories instead of the quality of the calories. As we progress through life, we learn things, as I have since that post. Now, a few of the blogs I follow recently seem to be once again inundated with questions about "What do you eat?". Many years ago, I had the same questions in mind, considering mimicking the diet of someone I aspire to be; surely that's the best way to get results right? Well, it's a start, but not entirely the right thing to do. Yes, one important factor if you want to gain strength and mass is to eat well. By that, I mean that you should consume more calories than you are used to, if you are a slender version of yourself. For those looking to lose weight, it might be a case of purely substituting the types of calories you eat for ones that are going to make a difference, rather than altering quantity. For example, swap starchy carbohydrates for slow release carbs and maybe some more protein.
But, here's the thing... Don't get caught up thinking and planning each meal down to the minuscule calorie and certainly don't think you have to consume meals at specific times. People get way too caught up on the semantics of dieting that they actually forget the point of it. Most of the time, your body will tell you what it needs. If you are feeling lethargic, you have either eaten too many carbs or not enough. It's not difficult to tell the two apart, since you would have to go days without eating carbs to feel the effects of lethargy. If you're sore, days after you trained, you either trained too hard (which is actually unlikely) or you didn't eat enough nutrient and protein rich foods. And yes, I did say nutrient. It's no good investing in a tub of protein meal supplement, because you would have to eat tonnes of the stuff to get the same benefits that you would from fresh vegetables and fruit. There is no substitute to fresh fruit and vegetables, so you are not going to grow without them. Typically, you want the less sweet fruits, like tomatoes, peppers, cucumber. Apples, bananas and the like are good too, but you don't want to be eating five of those fructose dense fruits if you are trying to stay lean or lose weight! So to summarise what you should aim to include in your diet:
Now this isn't a recipe. It's meant as a guide. You should aim to include something from each of those food groups in each meal, especially from the greens, meats and eggs. There is nothing wrong with a boiled egg on the side of each meal, maybe even two. Greens are super important. They contain lots of anti-oxidants and are nutrient rich, which will aid with the production of testosterone. There is no point in shoving a load of protein down your neck if you are not supplementing your body with what it needs to produce testosterone. Testosterone is the key to building muscle. Without enough of it, your protein will just end up giving you constipation and making you fat; excess protein is converted to fat. So eat your greens and stop relying on those powdered meal supplements, they don't work, and I am talking through experience.
Meat! (No better protein)
You are going to need this if you want to get bigger. Yes you may grow a little without it, but there is a limit to how big you can grow without the amino acids and proteins you get from eating meat and fish. If you're vegetarian and you are thinking "but I get all the protein I need from eating tofu", forget it! Tofu is derived from soya, a bean that is rich in phytoestrogen. Yes, you guessed it, it's essentially the same as estrogen. This hormone is actually what you want less of in your system. It counteracts testosterone in your system, reducing the effects of testosterone. If you produce enough estrogen or consume enough of it, you will also start to see some undesired effects, such as breasts, so steer clear of it!
Beans (Good carbs)
These are a prime source of carbs. Good slow release energy with very low sugar content. Also rich in fibre and other nutrients, so also worth having with each meal. If you get the tinned kind, avoid ones with added salt and preservatives. I go for the beans in water kind, with added calcium chloride as opposed to salt, because that's all that's available to me. Better still go for fresh beans if you can get them. Calcium chloride is a thickener added to the water, but is in such small quantities, I personally don't worry about it, especially since I wash the beans until all the fluid they come in, has been rinsed away.
Eggs (protein and nutrient rich)
There has been bad press for eggs in the past, mainly because of their high cholesterol content. But don't be fooled, the cholesterol in these is actually good for you and will help your body get rid of bad cholesterol. The yolk is full of masses of nutrients and contains 2g of protein in your average egg, making up a third of the protein content. The white is nearly all protein, apart from water and some other nutrients, but the white contains no fat, so good if you are purging. I typically eat anything from 6 to 12 of these a day, depending on how sore my muscles are. At the end of the day, if you are sore and hungry, then you need to eat something!
Myth: The first hour is the important hour.
Well no, because your body will already have nutrients for building muscle and it will be using testosterone that you replenished the day before. You don't make testosterone while you are active, well actually you do, but not enough to satisfy demand. Your body needs rest in order to replace testosterone that has been depleted. What you eat before you rest is important in the production of testosterone, so don't fill up on crap before bed, if anything, munch on some more greens. The next day or day after, you will be topped up on testosterone, ready to go at it again. Of course, make sure you eat soon after you exercise, because your body will at some point need protein and carbohydrates in order to build muscle using the testosterone, but it's not quintessential that you eat it immediately after or during your workout. Again, don't get caught up on food. It's important, but it's no so important that you have to obsess and plan your whole life around it. Eat when you're hungry, fast when you're not. Enjoy it, don't loath it by continuously eating the same bland crap every day.
But, here's the thing... Don't get caught up thinking and planning each meal down to the minuscule calorie and certainly don't think you have to consume meals at specific times. People get way too caught up on the semantics of dieting that they actually forget the point of it. Most of the time, your body will tell you what it needs. If you are feeling lethargic, you have either eaten too many carbs or not enough. It's not difficult to tell the two apart, since you would have to go days without eating carbs to feel the effects of lethargy. If you're sore, days after you trained, you either trained too hard (which is actually unlikely) or you didn't eat enough nutrient and protein rich foods. And yes, I did say nutrient. It's no good investing in a tub of protein meal supplement, because you would have to eat tonnes of the stuff to get the same benefits that you would from fresh vegetables and fruit. There is no substitute to fresh fruit and vegetables, so you are not going to grow without them. Typically, you want the less sweet fruits, like tomatoes, peppers, cucumber. Apples, bananas and the like are good too, but you don't want to be eating five of those fructose dense fruits if you are trying to stay lean or lose weight! So to summarise what you should aim to include in your diet:
- Green super foods (spinach, cabbages like broccoli and kale, peas)
- Something bright (red/yellow pepper, tomatoes, berries)
- Sulphurous food (onions, spring onions); good for helping your liver top get rid of toxins.
- Lean fresh meat (this is a must if you want to grow, see below).
- Unsalted seeds, nuts (not cashews, they are not really nuts); if you have to go flavoured, keep salt to a minimum and don't eat them every day.
- Eggs (LOTS and LOTS of eggs).
- Beans (in water, no added sugar or salt and watch out for preservatives, stabilizers or thickeners).
- Brown rice, brown pasta, brown bread (only if you have to, I don't each gluten rich foods so I only really eat brown rice now and then).
Now this isn't a recipe. It's meant as a guide. You should aim to include something from each of those food groups in each meal, especially from the greens, meats and eggs. There is nothing wrong with a boiled egg on the side of each meal, maybe even two. Greens are super important. They contain lots of anti-oxidants and are nutrient rich, which will aid with the production of testosterone. There is no point in shoving a load of protein down your neck if you are not supplementing your body with what it needs to produce testosterone. Testosterone is the key to building muscle. Without enough of it, your protein will just end up giving you constipation and making you fat; excess protein is converted to fat. So eat your greens and stop relying on those powdered meal supplements, they don't work, and I am talking through experience.
Meat! (No better protein)
You are going to need this if you want to get bigger. Yes you may grow a little without it, but there is a limit to how big you can grow without the amino acids and proteins you get from eating meat and fish. If you're vegetarian and you are thinking "but I get all the protein I need from eating tofu", forget it! Tofu is derived from soya, a bean that is rich in phytoestrogen. Yes, you guessed it, it's essentially the same as estrogen. This hormone is actually what you want less of in your system. It counteracts testosterone in your system, reducing the effects of testosterone. If you produce enough estrogen or consume enough of it, you will also start to see some undesired effects, such as breasts, so steer clear of it!
Beans (Good carbs)
These are a prime source of carbs. Good slow release energy with very low sugar content. Also rich in fibre and other nutrients, so also worth having with each meal. If you get the tinned kind, avoid ones with added salt and preservatives. I go for the beans in water kind, with added calcium chloride as opposed to salt, because that's all that's available to me. Better still go for fresh beans if you can get them. Calcium chloride is a thickener added to the water, but is in such small quantities, I personally don't worry about it, especially since I wash the beans until all the fluid they come in, has been rinsed away.
Eggs (protein and nutrient rich)
There has been bad press for eggs in the past, mainly because of their high cholesterol content. But don't be fooled, the cholesterol in these is actually good for you and will help your body get rid of bad cholesterol. The yolk is full of masses of nutrients and contains 2g of protein in your average egg, making up a third of the protein content. The white is nearly all protein, apart from water and some other nutrients, but the white contains no fat, so good if you are purging. I typically eat anything from 6 to 12 of these a day, depending on how sore my muscles are. At the end of the day, if you are sore and hungry, then you need to eat something!
Myth: The first hour is the important hour.
Well no, because your body will already have nutrients for building muscle and it will be using testosterone that you replenished the day before. You don't make testosterone while you are active, well actually you do, but not enough to satisfy demand. Your body needs rest in order to replace testosterone that has been depleted. What you eat before you rest is important in the production of testosterone, so don't fill up on crap before bed, if anything, munch on some more greens. The next day or day after, you will be topped up on testosterone, ready to go at it again. Of course, make sure you eat soon after you exercise, because your body will at some point need protein and carbohydrates in order to build muscle using the testosterone, but it's not quintessential that you eat it immediately after or during your workout. Again, don't get caught up on food. It's important, but it's no so important that you have to obsess and plan your whole life around it. Eat when you're hungry, fast when you're not. Enjoy it, don't loath it by continuously eating the same bland crap every day.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)