Whats A Gym???

Juan_Kerr

Right so basically I've been a long time reader but never a poster so decided to start a log to keep a track of both gym and fitness activities over the next while.

Bit of background;
-20
-6'3
-87.5kg
-Currently in 3rd year of college
-GAA is the main focus here as I'm currently playing intercounty U21, college and club football also.

In terms of goals, overall I'd like to increase strength on the pitch which is why I'm gonna try get to the gym more than I have been. Fitness at the moment is pretty much where I want it to be, we're currently training 3/4 times a week with 3 of them being pitch based and mainly focusing on skills and fitness. I get out on the road with the madra for a run a fair bit too so that keeps me topped up.
I have a feeling getting to the gym as often as I want is going to be the problem here with training, matches, college and exams.

Current abilities in the gym aren't amazing but look in or around like this;
Bench; 75kg
Squat; 110kg
Deadlift; 140 kg (may be a bit more)

Finally any advice, feedback or critiques are more than welcome...and so it begins.

Juan_Kerr

Gym session 1

Literally first time back to my gym at home in weeks, had a match yesterday and an exam first thing this morning so didn't go mad.

Bench Press;
50kg x8
55kg x8
60kg x6
65kg x5
70kg x3 x2
Didn't go any heavier as had no spotter and wasn't overly confident.

Deadlifts;
70kg x8
80kg x8
90kg x8
100kg x5
110kg 1 x3
120kg x1
Meh wasn't good, wasn't bad.

Did some powerclean work with just the bar, reason for this is my technique is sh1te and amn't happy with it, must get back practicing and do my research.

Pull ups;
5 x5

Chins & Dips;
Superset of 6 chins with 10 dips x5

Few curls and tricep push down just to finish off before 20mins of stretching (fairly tight after match yesterday morning)
Grand session just to start back.

Juan_Kerr

Had a game last night so didn't go mad again, bench felt easy as did deadlifts,

Bench Press;
50kg x8
55kg x8
60kg x6
65kg x5
70kg x3 x2
60kg x8

Deadlifts
70kg x10
80kg x8
90kg x8
100kg x5
110kg x5
120kg x1 x3
130kg x1

Bent over row;
60kg x8 x3

Hang Cleans;
30kg x12
40kg x8 x3

Pull ups;
(felt crap, wasnt fully locking out. Arms felt tired)
5x4

Chin ups and dips;
Superset of 6 chins with 8 dips x5

Finished with stretching, need to buy a foam roller for home.

Training Tomorrow and Sunday again so only time im able to squat and work heavy on legs is Sunday night/Monday. I'm going to have to start working in lighter front squats or something .

Juan_Kerr

Was bored at home so decided to do a quick 45 min bit if work, not too much to log but am trying to keep track of everything so may aswell stick it up here,

Shoulder Press;
35kg x15 x4

Close grip bench;
50kg x12 x3

Power Cleans and Hang Cleans;
30kg (loads of reps, just working on form, not worrying about weight)

Bar Curls
30kg x12 x4

Juan_Kerr

Couldn't get to the gym yesterday so ended up doing the session today, not ideal because I wanted today as a rest day but felt fresh today so was alright

Bench Press;
50kg x15
60kg x8
65kg x6
70kg x2 x4

Incline Dumbbell Press;
22kg dumbbells x3 x12

Deadlift;
60kg x15
80kg x8
90kg x8
100kg x5
60kg x8

Barbell Rows;
50kg x3 x12

Pull ups;
6 x3
Chins and dips;
Superset of 6 chins and 10 dips x3
(Struggled, arms are usually pretty dead doing these last but want to get in my main lifts while fresh)

Finished with some hang cleans and front squats with just the bar.

I know I'm neglecting legs and core work but core is getting done at training and cant train heavy for legs because I need to be fresh for killer fitness we're doing . Probably wont be in the gym again until Saturday/Monday

Juan_Kerr

Bench;
50kg x12
60kg x8
70kg x2 x5

Deadlift;
60kg x12
80kg x12
100kg x2 x6

Powercleans;
40kg x12
50kg x2 x8

Hangcleans;
50kg x12

One arm row;
30kg dunmbbell x3 x12

Planned on doing a lot more but gym was jammed and counted 5 lads curling within 10 meters of me so got annoyed and left

Juan_Kerr

Really light session because of a game in morning, planning on getting to the gym monday, tuesday, wednesday so will up the ante for that.

Dumbbell Press;
32kg dumbbells x2 x5
30kg " " x3 x5

Incline Press;
20kg dumbbells x3 x10

Pull ups and dips;
Superset set of 5 pulls and 5 dips x5

Stretching and swim afterwards, game is 4hours away tomorrow, not looking forward to bus trip..

alienacademy

Eat Big Lift Big Get Big

Juan_Kerr

Eat Big Lift Big Get Big

Always easier said than done!

Juan_Kerr

Match yesterday which left me drained as hell today, probably should have taken a rest day but glad I didn't, wasn't able for too much but struggled through the following

Dumbbell Press;
30kg 'bells x5 x6

Incline Press;
22kg 'bells x5 x8

Squats; (at long last)
60kg x10
80kg x8
90kg x3 x5
Didn't go heavier as legs were tired from yesterday, think they were a bit shocked to be back squatting too!
60kg x8

Pull ups;
BW 5 x5

Finished with a superset of Tricep pull downs and curl machine thing x5

Get to go back to train with the club for tomorrow night so will count that as my session because its strength work , probably all bodyweight and medicine ball stuff so big session wednesday afterwards. Bench and deadlifts

Mark Cullen

I read the thread waiting to ask why there was no squats

If you are training for your sport, you should be focusing on strength and power.
The amount of reps and sheer volume of work you are doing (a whole lot of sets) isn't optimal for improving your sports performance. It's a lot of volume for even someone in the off season. Combined with all your football training and matches, you may be on the way to over training and burning out your nervous system.

If you are now in season for football, you should be supplementing your training with maybe 1-3 (at the very most) weight sessions a week, with as much rest time between sessions as possible. Over training will do you no good and will catch up to you.

If you have your form down on the big lifts, front squat (many coaches say this is better than reg. squat), deadlift, etc., you could start looking to lower your rep range to 1-3 very heavy reps.
You would do 6-8 sets, maximum of 3 lift movements per session.
You will need to take much longer rest intervals between sets, e.g., 3-4 mins. You will build strength a lot more efficiently with this kind of set-up.

Your goal should be to increase your 1 rep max on the big lifts, that's what's going to make a real difference to your game. Improving your 1RM is improving your strength, the olympic lifts are there to improve your power, alongside this you might want to throw in some plyometrics. Best of luck!

Juan_Kerr

I read the thread waiting to ask why there was no squats

If you are training for your sport, you should be focusing on strength and power.
The amount of reps and sheer volume of work you are doing (a whole lot of sets) isn't optimal for improving your sports performance. It's a lot of volume for even someone in the off season. Combined with all your football training and matches, you may be on the way to over training and burning out your nervous system.

If you are now in season for football, you should be supplementing your training with maybe 1-3 (at the very most) weight sessions a week, with as much rest time between sessions as possible. Over training will do you no good and will catch up to you.

If you have your form down on the big lifts, front squat (many coaches say this is better than reg. squat), deadlift, etc., you could start looking to lower your rep range to 1-3 very heavy reps.
You would do 6-8 sets, maximum of 3 lift movements per session.
You will need to take much longer rest intervals between sets, e.g., 3-4 mins. You will build strength a lot more efficiently with this kind of set-up.

Your goal should be to increase your 1 rep max on the big lifts, that's what's going to make a real difference to your game. Improving your 1RM is improving your strength, the olympic lifts are there to improve your power, alongside this you might want to throw in some plyometrics. Best of luck!

Thanks for your opinions! Really couldn't agree more with a lot of what you said, finding it very hard to work in leg sessions at the moment but can only stick with it.
In terms of olympic lifts and plyometrics I am gradually trying to work more and more in while keeping to my main compound lifts, you only have to look at sports such as rugby and especially in the NFL where guys are religious to following their plyo routines.
In a way the GAA is so far behind in terms of strength and conditioning that the programmes we're given are probably not ideal in the grand scheme of things!
Will definitely take the pointers on board!

Juan_Kerr

Did a good bit today as hadn't been in the gym in a week, chest isn't as good as I had hoped, not making as much improvements as I thought but this is probably due to excessive football and not too much rest!
Anyway,
Bench Press;
50kg x12
60kg x8
65kg x3 x6

Dumbbell Press;
24kg x3 x8

Incline Press;
20kg dumbbells x3 x8

Shoulder Press;
18's x4 x8

Front and side raises
8kg dumbbells , 3 sets of both with loads of reps, just went by feel,

Skulll Crushers;
Bar and 10kg x3 x8

finished with few curls and cables, wrecked now...

Juan_Kerr

Forgot to post it up yesterday so this was it,
Bench;
50kg x12
60kg x8
65kg x2 x6, x4 and failed?
50kg x14

Fairly annoyed at my benching as it should be better and has been a lot better,

Incline Dumbbell Press;
25kg dumbbellls x3 x8

One arm row;
35kg dumbbell x4 x8

Shoulder Press;
15kg dumbells x3 sets xlots of reps

Gonna hit the gym again tomorrow afternoon, If its quiet might check to see my 1 rep max for my bench, I imagine its around 80kg which I'm gonna try improve over the next 2 months once trainings slowed back a bit

Juan_Kerr

Forgot to post 2 small sessions,

Were pretty much
Bench;
60kg x3 x8

Incline press;
24kg dumbbells x3 x8

Pull ups, chin ups xloads
Arm and core work.

And tones upon tones of training sessions.....

Juan_Kerr

Was given the weekend off so finally got a bit of rest and not back training until tomorrow so decided to do a decent bit in the gym.

Bench Press;
Warm up with bar xloads
60kg x8
70kg x6
72.5kg x3
75kg x2 -> Which I think is a PR
60kg x8
50kg x12

Fairly happy as I just wanted to see where I was Strength wise, didn't even have a spotter so I might have squeezed out a third at 75 but didn't want to chance it. Glad to see my worst exercise is improving, I'm going to work around the 60-65kg mark over the next few weeks with say 4 sets of 6-10 and hopefully build up to 80kg in three weeks.

Incline Press;
Dumbbells 24kgs x3 x8
Felt easy enough but was tired after bench.

Powercleans;
40kg x12
50kg x2 x8
Form was good and wasn't overly tough to finish

Bent over barbell row;
50kg x10
60kg x2 x8

Pulls and Chins;
Managed 7 pull ups fully locking out and gave up and did 3sets of 6 chins.
Arms were fairly tired at this stage!

Finished with a few curls and rope pulldowns....Wrecked!

Juan_Kerr

Out injured for the last month so have been following my rehab program and only doing a small bit of strength work

Juan_Kerr

Didn't get a chance to log any sessions, last two went as follows;

Warm Up

Squat;
60kg x2 x12
80kg x3 x6

Front Squat;
40kg x2 x8

Deadlift;
80kg x5 x5

Hang & Powercleans;
50kg x3 x5 and 50kg x3 x3

Juan_Kerr

Yesterdays Gym session

Bench Press;
52.5kg x6 x6

Dumbbell Shoulder Press;
20's x3 x8

Reverse Flys;
14's x3 x12

Powercleans;
50kg x5 x3
Form is so much better, this is probably too light so will move up. Not looking for tons of reps just more explosiveness from the floor.

Finished with tricep stuff, pull downs, dips etc...

Juan_Kerr

Have been brutal at logging sessions, will throw up the last two,

Warm up of treadmill, stretching and foam rolling,

Squat;
Bar xPlenty
60kg x8
80kg x3 x5
60kg x10

Leg Press;
Not sure about weight x3 x12

Powerclean;
60kg x3 x5

Small bit of core work and arms

Juan_Kerr

I have no idea how I'm doing re reaching my goals but im not too bothered by this, am definitely finding things easier in the gym so going to just keep progressing with small increases,

Bench Press;
60kg x8
65kg x2 x6
60kg x6

Dumbbell Press;
25 kg x3 x8

Dumbbell Shoulder Press;
20kg x3 x8

Bent Over Barbell Row;
50kg x3 x14

Tricep work and stretching

Juan_Kerr

Bench;
60kg x8 x3

Hangcleans;
60kg x5 x3

Powercleans;
60kg x5

Bent over row;
60kg x8 x3

Foam Rolling and arm work

Juan_Kerr

Have a load of sessions yet to log ,

Warm up.....
Squat;
bar x loads
60kg x 15 x3

Hang cleans;
50kg x8 x3

Shoulder work, press , front raises and side raises,
Shrugs with 30kg dumbells x12 x3

Bike for 20mins

Juan_Kerr

Todays good session

Warm up, stretching and foam rolling

Bench;
60kg x10
65kg x6
70kg x5
75kg x3 x2

Dumbbell Press;
25's x8 x3

Chest Flys;
12's x14 x3

Pull ups and sit ups set,

Front Raises;
Bar x 20 x3

Curls;
20 x3

Skull Crushers;
with 8's x12 x3