JK vs BigRed

JK

ahhh nah HS for me is the hammer strength machines - quite often use them as an accessory exercise when wanting to go heavy without needing to do all the support as well
 
<img src="http://www.muscleandstrength.com/sites/default/files/field/image/exercise/hammerstrengthbenchpress2.jpg" alt="hammerstrengthbenchpress2.jpg">

Paekakboyz

Ah! I see, I see. We have a seated version of that machine - that'd be cool to have around to go heavy and still isolate each side etc. I'm just alternating between DB and BB bench now but rocking that 5*5 approach.
 
That arm section is brutal, slowing things down or adding pauses just makes it so much tougher. You can hear the muscle fibres ripping lol.
 
Good stuff!!

JK

yeah we have seated for over head press and also incline one. I use them a bit and actually use the one picture for shrugs as can load it up heavy as and then stand with legs either side the bench.

JK

Supposed to be cardio and abs this morning but feeling lean at the mo with weight gain pretty slow so ended up doing a "few" squats instead. 
15mins on bike and leg extension to warm up and then silly squats 
Back squats - 10xbar, 15xbar, 10x60kg, 12x60, 10x80, 10x80, 10x80, 10x80 (short breaks between sets, maybe 90secs max) 
Front squats - 6x60, 8x60, 8x60, 8x60 
More back squats - 15x60, 20x60, 20x60 (widow makers) 
Bench step ups - approx 30 per side with 20kg bag on shoulders 
Warmed down with a short ride plus foam roller

dK

What are widow makers?

JK

Well to be honest the weights weren't quite heavy enough to be a true widow maker which is usually one set of 20rep squats done on your 10rep max. You basically do ten reps and shouldn't be able to directly roll in to the 11th rep without a short rest BUT the rest is done standing with the bar still on your back. You wait until you can do a rep and you do that rep until you've done the 20. 
It's an old method of promoting quad growth and not easy at all (actually brutal) when you do it on the right weight which for me would be probably be about 90kg.....ouch

dK

I think I will pass on those

JK

PHAT Week 2 Day 1 - POWER Upper Body
 
Standard warmup of 1000m row. Workout was:
 
T-bar Rows - 75kg x 3 ,5, 5, 5
Pullups (weighted) - 10, 10, 9 reps
DB Bench Press - 35kg/side x 5, 3, 4 (struggled with these as upped the weight from last week - will keep the same til I smack over all 5...longer rests maybe)
Incline DB bench - 10x25kg/side, 10x27.5
Dips (weighted) - +28kg x 10, 7 (struggled again so added a couple of sets of 10 unweighted)
HS OHP Press - 30kg/side x 10, 35kg/side x 8, 8
EZ Bar Curls - 37kg x 8, 8, 8
Skull Crushers - 27kg x 10, 10, 10
 
Pretty decent workout despite struggling on a couple of lifts.
No major DOMS from saturdays squat session. Not too suprising givin it was higher volume and low weight so more cardio like than anything else.

JK

Week 2 / Day 2 - Lower body power day
 
Started with 15mins on the bike and then stretching and 50reps per leg of leg extensions ramping the weights to warmup.
 
Squats - 100kg x 5, 5, 5
Leg press - 240kg x 10, 260 x 10, 10
Leg extensions - 66kg x 8. 66x 10, 72x8
HS curls - 42 x 10, 45x9, 48x7
Sanding calf raises - 185kg x 10, 10, 10, 10
(working sets only)
 
No deadlifts today as I spent too long on the bike - will try and do them once every two weeks. Also felt a bit stiff from golf yesterday (hence longer warm up). The ground is just so hard and dry at the moment that it seems to take a bit out of me. Not ideal the arvo before leg day.

JK

Week 2 Day 3 Back and Shoulders Hypertrophy
 
1000m row for warmup which is my staple for when I start with a pulling movement.
 
T-bar rows (speed work) - 6 sets of 3 reps at 55kg
Rack chins - 12, 12, 10 reps
Seated row - 66kg x 10, 69x10, 10 reps
Shrugs - 70kg/side x 12, 15, 15 reps
Close grip pulldowns - 66kg x 12, 15, 12
Seated DB press - 20kg/side x 12, 11, 10
Upright rows - 38kg x 15, 40x 12, 12 reps
Cable side raises - 8kg/side x 15, 15
Front plate raises - 10kg x 15, 15 (did these super set with the side raises)
 
Was a bit flat this morning. Had a great sleep but tried a new preworkout sample (Pharmafreak SuperFreak) which was pretty average and not as good as the ones I've been using lately (cycling through VPX Shotgun, Mesamorph and Superpump 3.0) so was bit of a let down. Still was decent enough and better than none at that time in the morning.

JK

Week 2 Day 4 - Legs Hypertrophy
 
Warmup was 10mins on the bike and then a rollout
 
Squats (speed work) - 6sets of 3 rep at 70kg (these feel funny and almost not worth doing but must have some benefit as included in the programme for a reason)
Front squats - 50kg x 12, 12, 12reps
Leg press - 160kg x 15, 15, 15 reps
Leg extensions - 48kg x 15, 20 reps
Lying hamstring curls - 48kg x 10, 10 reps
Seated leg curls - 42kg x 20, 48x15
Seated calf press - 240kg x 15, 15, 15, 15 reps
Finished with 5mins on the bike on low resistance. Same old really.

JK

Week 2 Day 5 - Chest and Arms hypertrophy.
 
Was a good workout. Fridays always good. Smashed it.
 
DB Bench press (speed work) - 6 sets of 3 @ 27.5kg per side
Incline BB press - 60kg x 12 rep, 62.5kg x 10, 10 reps
HS Chest press - 70kg x 15reps, 75kg x 12, 12
Cable chest flies - 2 sets of 15 @ 20kg per side
Biceps - seated DB curls (palms up, squeeze hard at top then isotension hold for 5secs mid way down - 3sets of 8 @ 15kg)
Preacher curls (with isotension hold for 5secs half way down - 3 sets of 4 at 27kg)
Reverse barbell curls (close grip, full ROM and 3 sets of 12 @ 24kg)
Triceps - rope pushdowns (continuous tension, no lockout - 4 sets of 20 @ 44kg),
Skullcrushers (same as preacher curls with 5sec iso hold - 4 sets of 6 @27kg)
Pressups (with hands shoulder width and elbows in close to body - 3 sets fo failure - managed 13, 12, 10 rep).
 
Bit low on time so had to cut the arms workout to 3 sets rather than 4 for most exercises but tweaked weights and rep ranges to keep it interesting. Also have golf tournament tomorrow and didnt want to be utterly useless.

JK

No training all weekend. Just golf and yard work so low intensity all the way. I was hanging out hard to lift this morning as a result.
 
PHAT Week 3 Day 1 - POWER Upper Body
 
Standard warmup of 1000m row. Workout was:
 
T-bar Rows - 75kg x 5, 5, 5
Pullups (weighted) - 10, 10, 10 reps
DB Bench Press - 35kg/side x 5, 5, 4 (almost got 5 reps grr)
Dips (weighted) - +28kg x 10, 10
HS OHP Press - 35kg/side x 8, 37.5kg/side x 6, 6 reps
EZ Bar Curls - 39.5kg x 6, 6, 6
Skull Crushers - 32kg x 10, 10, 10
 
Really enjoying doing this programme again. I like the challenge of the low rep power days and then the variety of the high rep work. Feel like I am making good progress and would highly recommend it to others.
 
As a side note my left elbow continues to give me grief. I am managing it ok but I feel I could really do with giving it a rest for 1-2 weeks however I am not really ready for that right now.

Paekakboyz

Is it a golf elbow kind of injury or something else?
 
Good effort on those T-bar rows!! 75kg is full noise bro!!

JK

More gym then golf but golf doesnt help it that is for sure. It's tendonitis. Seems like I have had it forever now.

Paekakboyz

what a bitch. I get grumpy as if a twinge or injury is slowing down my training!

JK

Week 3 / Day 2 - Lower body power day
 
Arrived at the gym this morning full of disappoint after watching black caps. Wasn't in a great mood.
Started with 10mins on the bike and then stretching and foam roller before the usual 50reps per leg of leg extensions ramping the weights to warmup.
 
Squats - 100kg x 5, 105 x 4, 4
Leg press - 200x10kg, 240 x 10, 260 x 10
Leg extensions - 66kg x 10, 72x8
Deadlifts - 6x110kg, 5x140, 5x140
HS curls - 42 x 10, 48x6, 45x8
Sanding calf raises - 185kg x 10, 10, 10
Seated calf press - 240kg x 15, 15, 15
(working sets only)

JK

Just loving the training at the moment.
 
Week 3 Day 3 Back and Shoulders Hypertrophy
 
Warmup - 1000m row
 
T-bar rows (speed work) - 6 sets of 3 reps at 55kg
Rack chins - 12, 12, 12 reps
Seated row - 66kg x 12, 60x15, 15 reps
Shrugs - 70kg/side x 12, 15, 15 reps
Close grip pulldowns - 66kg x 12, 60x15, 15
Seated DB press - 20kg/side x 12, 12, 12
Upright rows - 40kgx 12, 15 reps
Cable side raises - 8kg/side x 15, 11kg/side x 12, 12 reps
Front raises with kettlebell - 12kg x 12, 12
 
So didnt up the weights much today - focussed more on form and reps and lots of contraction/squeeze at the right parts of the movement.
 
Eats going ok so far this weekend. Rocking in around 2700-2800 cals both days at approx 300g carbs, 200g protein and 80ish of fats.

Paekakboyz

Lower weight days are a lot of fun I reckon. It's often the volume that gets ya. I was reading some material last night about cycling through heavy/light weights and low/high volume etc. Mixing it up is effective and definitely helps keep you fresh with the variety.
 
One article said a low weight/high volume cycle should last a full week (rather than just 1-2 sessions). That's kind of a mind fuck though cause you tend to think your gains are slipping while you go low weight!! But in the longer-term it's beneficial.

JK

Yeah its a strange one on the mind eh.
 
I really like the way this programme is set up. Heavy days are awesome as you can really fire up for them and then the hypertrophy days are a totally different type of awesome with more exercises and ways to hit the muscle plus the additional reps etc. Looking forward to every day at the moment. Tomorrow is legs just 48hours after heavy legs day. Gonna smack out some high rep squats yo!

The Silver Fern

JK vs BigRed