2016 Year of the goals

chriity139

In 2015 my lifting and diet wasn't really on point to where it was the year before. I went from a lean 85kg in 2014 to a lean 90-91kg towards the first half of 2015. Things were going great. Put on a good bit of quality lean mass, strength was down a good bit from 2014 as I changed from a powerlifting style of training to a bodybuilding style of training.

Bad News
Just after the second half of 2015 I re-injured my right shoulder which I injured 2 years prior. I tried foam rolling, stretching, muscle assist excerises but nothing helped. The pain was constantly there. I took the next 3 months off training to go to a neuromuscular specialist. Turned out it wasnt just my shoulder which needed attention, it was nearly my whole body that needed to be broken down due to tightness and just overall abuse my body has taken over the years.

I started off going twice a week at first. Didn't feel much improvement but I had to be patient. Over the next 2 months my body became injury free in the first time in about 3 years.

2016
Start weight 97-99kg

I set the following goals for myself this year which I believe are very achievable with hard work
Lean 95kg
Bench 140kg again
squat 180kg (previous best was 165kg)
Much thicker back
improve my arms as I consider them a weak point.

I am only after a horrible chest infection the past 2 weeks so I am aiming to start tomorrow (had my last pack of biscuits tonight).

Will be taking the next couple of weeks at a slow pace to get the body back use to weights and cardio 4-5 times a week. One thing I learned is that I am going to look after my body this time around. I will attend the neuromuscular therapist once a month while taken it easy but will increase this to 2 visit a month when the intensity increases.

Training plan will go as follows

Day 1 : Back, triceps and cardio
Day 2 : Shoulders, biceps and cardio
Day 3 : Rest
Day 4 : Legs and abs
Day 5 : Chest, back and cardio
Day 6 : rest
Day 7 : Conditioning

I will post my macros as well each day as I will be keeping on top of them with myfitnesspal.

Really looking forward to getting back into the gym now

Alf Veedersane

In what way do you mean your body had been abused? Just training a lot?

chriity139

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

In what way do you mean your body had been abused? Just training a lot?

Yeah from training. What was going through your mind when you read that or do I want to know

Alf Veedersane

chriity139 wrote: »

Yeah from training. What was going through your mind when you read that or do I want to know

Haha, nothing sordid. Was just curious as to why.

Do you do much mobility type work?

Is there anything in particular that was flagged that you need to address for the future so this kind of situation doesn't arise again?

chriity139

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

Haha, nothing sordid. Was just curious as to why.

Do you do much mobility type work?

Is there anything in particular that was flagged that you need to address for the future so this kind of situation doesn't arise again?

Yeah I do a good bit of mobility work.

She told me to focus on getting a bigger back to balance out my chest (yet I don't suffer from inward rotation). The bloody thing just keeps growing no matter what I'm doing but I'm determined to get a balance this year.

Work on both inward and outward rotation, build up my core strength (lying flat cant get the base of my back on the ground) , stretching/rolling my chest daily.

Alf Veedersane

chriity139 wrote: »

Yeah I do a good bit of mobility work.

She told me to focus on getting a bigger back to balance out my chest (yet I don't suffer from inward rotation). The bloody thing just keeps growing no matter what I'm doing but I'm determined to get a balance this year.

Work on both inward and outward rotation, build up my core strength (lying flat cant get the base of my back on the ground) , stretching/rolling my chest daily.

Nice one. Just interested to see what problems can develop and how to prevent them.

I know every injury can be different but just interested.

Best of luck with those goals!

chriity139

Thanks Alf.

Hopefully this year will go injury free. If there's anything in specific I suffered from that you might be going through or having problems with injury wise pm me and I can go through what my therapist said to me. Might be completely different but at least you can get a more in depth view of it. I just didnt want to clog this thread with previous injuries but if any new ones arise I will put them up and the treatments

chriity139

Didnt get to the gym today due to this bloody chest infection still not shifting. Was on top of my food today though which is a good start.

Here's how my macro's looked today



If you would like me to start keeping track of the meals I will add them in.

Wont be starting in the gym tomorrow due to it being new years day so hopefully get down Sunday

Dubs1990

What app are you using to get that breakdown?

Alf Veedersane

Dubs1990 wrote: »

What app are you using to get that breakdown?

It's MyFitnessPal

chriity139

Finally back on track food wise and training wise. Feels great to be back.

Day 1 Back, Bicep and forearms

I warmed up my shoulders like I do with every work out. I do the following as a superset x 5
Resistance band pulls x 25
Resistance band full range of motion for shoulder x 25
Internal and external rotation with 2kg db's x 12 each
Rear delt flies with 2kg db's x 25

Exercise 1: Latt Pulldown (wide grip)
3 warmup sets (dont count reps just go by feel)
5 x 10 @ 64kg TUT pulldowns
3 warm down sets ( yet again feel)

Exercise 2: Close grip pulldown
Same as above

Exercise 3: Wide grip cable latt pulls
10 x 10 (different weights)

Exercise 4 : Hammer machine row
10 x 10 @ 40kg

Exercise 5 : Close grip cable row
5x10 @ 64kg

Exercise 6 : Db curls + DB hammer curl (superset)
5 x failure on each set

Exercise 7 : Reverse cable curls
8 x 12 (increasing weight each set)

Session felt really good. Im easing myself back into it. Want to get my body ready for what's ahead.

Looking forward to Chest + triceps tomorrow

vard

Good luck! As far as macros go, you might be better off with less protein and upping the fats and carbs. Fats perhaps around 80g. Carbs, definitely if your're looking to make strength gains imo. It's unlikely you're benefiting from going over 200g of protein.

arayess

I too had a query , whilest I know it's a non training day it still comes in less than 2k cals
for your size even if shedding some weight it looks a little low.

I guess my point what are your macro goals , reasoning I'm asking I'm similar size so I'd be interest in comparing.

chriity139

arayess wrote: »

I too had a query , whilest I know it's a non training day it still comes in less than 2k cals
for your size even if shedding some weight it looks a little low.

I guess my point what are your macro goals , reasoning I'm asking I'm similar size so I'd be interest in comparing.

I'm just kick starting my christmas weight loss with these macro's and with my light training plan at the moment I dont need much calories. When I up my training in a few weeks my food will increase to match.

But saying that everyone is different. It's all about experimenting and finding out what works best for you. At the end of the day it's your body and you are going to have the best knowledge of how it reacts to certain foods and amount of foods ingested.

I would recommend keeping a food diary and tracking your food, how you feel training, recovery time, not training etc. Keep changing every week until you find what works best for you

chriity139

vard wrote: »

Good luck! As far as macros go, you might be better off with less protein and upping the fats and carbs. Fats perhaps around 80g. Carbs, definitely if your're looking to make strength gains imo. It's unlikely you're benefiting from going over 200g of protein.

Everyone reacts different to nutrients taken in. For me I dont need much carbs to increase my strength.

I find for me when I intake around 200g's of protein a day my strength increases faster than if im on a high carb diet. I only add in more fat in my diet once my strength levels out.

Last time I cut properly I went from 87kg to 78kg and was at my strongest at 78kg. Now Im at 97kg and hope to cut to 90kg.

jigglypuffstuff

If youre looking to cut youre doing too much volume

If you were bulking that is still too much volume

I suggest do a bit of reading around the literature relative to natural and how many reps per workout is optimal and what ranges to train in

That back day youve logged is a terrible workout (assuming your not takin some kind of steroid)

FYI training volume goes down while cutting, not up

JJayoo

chriity139 wrote: »

Last time I cut properly I went from 87kg to 78kg and was at my strongest at 78kg. .

How did you manage to get stronger by losing 9kg? Tell me your secret pleaseeeeee

chriity139

pone2012 wrote: »

If youre looking to cut youre doing too much volume

If you were bulking that is still too much volume

I suggest do a bit of reading around the literature relative to natural and how many reps per workout is optimal and what ranges to train in

That back day youve logged is a terrible workout (assuming your not takin some kind of steroid)

FYI training volume goes down while cutting, not up

Everyone's body reacts differently. I find its best to figure out what works best for you by actually doing it instead of what literature tells people to do

chriity139

JJayoo wrote: »

How did you manage to get stronger by losing 9kg? Tell me your secret pleaseeeeee

CAKE and lots of it

jigglypuffstuff

chriity139 wrote: »

pone2012 wrote: »

If youre looking to cut youre doing too much volume

If you were bulking that is still too much volume

I suggest do a bit of reading around the literature relative to natural and how many reps per workout is optimal and what ranges to train in

That back day youve logged is a terrible workout (assuming your not takin some kind of steroid)

FYI training volume goes down while cutting, not up

Everyone's body reacts differently. I find its best to figure out what works best for you by actually doing it instead of what literature tells people to do

Add your reply here.


This is the difference between training properly and just training for the sake of training....people on steroids would have issues recovering from that kind of volume..let alone a natural

Balance between Volume/Frequency/Intensity is crucial..I just see volume there

When you want to make real progress..go read the work of science based nutrition/performance authors like alan aragon etc..people that actually know what they are talking about

Until such a time...keep overtraining...its no wonder you picked up an injury, id imagine if you continue that way...expect more

chriity139

I picked up an injury when I was strength training for a powerlifting competition. Did very little volume. I have never got injured from volume training and I've been doing it years. Once your food is fine your not really going to overtrain.

You can throw all the opinions you want with research says blah blah but at the end of the day it's my body and I know what works for it and how it reacts to certain training styles.

If all your going to do is criticise then just don't read the log it's as simple as that

chriity139

Day 2 Light Chest/triceps/rear delt

Shoulder stretching and prehab

1) Flat dumbbell flies
1x15 @ 7.5kg
1x12 @ 10kg
2x10 @ 12.5kg

2) Incline Barbell bench
1x20 @ 20kg
1x10 @ 40kg
1x10 @ 50kg
2x10 @ 60kg

3) Standing cable flies
5x10 @ 15kg

4) Flat DB press
1x10 @ 15kg
1x10 @ 20kg
1x10 @ 22.5kg
1x10 @ 25kg

5) Barbell rear delt row
3x12 @ 60kg

6) Rear delt rope pull
1x20 @ 21kg
1x20 @ 28kg
1x20 @ 34kg
1x20 @ 41kg
1x20 @ 48kg

7) Standing tricep pushdown
6x12 @ 40kg

chriity139

Day 3 Light Shoulders

1) DB lateral raises
1x30 @ 3kg
1x25 @ 4kg
1x20 @ 5kg
1x15 @ 6kg
1x12 @ 7.5kg
1x10 @ 10kg

2) BB upright row
1x15 @ 20kg
4x12 @ 25kg

3) DB Rear delt flies
4x15 @ 5kg

4) Seated machine rear delt flies
1x20 @ 10kg
1x20 @ 15kg
1x15 @ 20kg
1x15 @ 15kg
1x20 @ 10kg

Felt good tonight. Feel like I am getting back into my stride. The above was done in less than 30mins

Tomorrow is legs which is the one I have been dreading/looking forward to. Roll on walking like John Wayne over the weekend

chriity139

Day 4 Legs

So today was the day where the dreaded legs was due to take place. Squatting shoes in hand and onto the gym floor I walked. Did my usual shoulder work and loosened my chest out so I could get the bar into a low position on my back during squatting.

my first exercise on leg day is usually squats but couldnt find a free rack. Instead of playing it safe and going the usual route of leg curls or extension I decided to take myself out of my comfort zone by doing an exercises I havent done in a few years.

1) bodyweight split squats
5x10 each leg

2) Walking lunges on unsteady floor (force me to engage my core more for stability)
1x16 @ 20kg
1x16 @ 25kg
2x16 @ 30kg

3) Leg extensions
1x12 @ 50kg
1x12 @ 55kg
1x12 @ 60kg
1x12 @ 65kg
1x12 @ 70kg
1x20 @ 50kg

I spotted a few squat rack so I ran over to get it to see could I remember how to squat after not doing it for months. Shoes laced and strapped and under the bar I got.

4) Squat
1x10 @ 60kg
1x10 @ 70kg
1x10 @ 80kg
3x3 @ 100kg

I had no problem getting the bar in the low position which I was happy about. My first rep of the first set was brutal. Felt so unbalanced but started to settle a bit as the set went on. Still wasnt happy. Went through in my head what I was doing wrong compared to what I was doing months back. I forgot the basics I used which were core really tight, back locked so there's no movement during the rep, grip the bar as if you were trying to bend it down. Went into my second set aware of all this and it felt great. My strength was not there but it natural to have a bar on my back.

80kg felt quiet light but when I went upto 100kg it felt very heavy so only kept it to 3x3. Next time I hope to get 105kg 3x3 and so on.

I decided to call it a day after this.

The drive home
I relived what it was like as a first time driver again except I knew all the mistakes I was making which was infuriating. Clutch control was extremely difficult making every gear change a night mare. My legs were so heavy and felt unusable.

Tomorrow I might do back for the second time this week then take a rest for the next 2 days to let my body recover.

Last saturday I weighed in at 98kg today I weighed in 96kg. Happy with that.

All you can eat
Tonight I went out to an all you can eat restaurant with the lads which is always a challenge even when your not on a diet. Lucky enough for me they picked a healthy all you can it 'Mongolian BBQ' in temple bar. All that I had was meat, fish, veg and water while everyone else indulged into fried rice, noodles but I stayed strong and glad I did.

chriity139

Day 5 Back + Triceps

1) Latt pull down machine
1x15 @ 30kg
1x12 @ 35kg
1x12 @ 40kg
1x12 @ 45kg
1x12 @ 50kg
1x12 @ 55kg

2) Seated double row machine
1x20 @ 30kg
1x15 @ 50kg
1x15 @ 70kg
1x15 @ 90kg

3) Standing plate loaded row (all weight not including weight of actual loading machine)
1x20 @ 20kg
1x15 @ 30kg
1x12 @ 40kg
1x12 @ 45kg
1x12 @ 55kg
1x12 @ 45kg
1x12 @ 35kg
1x12 @ 25kg
1x12 @ 20kg

4) Latt pull down
1x12 @ 41kg
1x12 @ 48kg
1x12 @ 55kg
1x10 @ 61kg

5) Rope latt pulls
5x15 @ 21kg

6) Plate loaded hammer strength
5x12 @ 20kg X 2

7) Tricep pushdown
1x20 @ 21kg
1x20 @ 28kg
1x20 @ 35kg
Dropset until failure on each of the above with no rest

Training felt really good tonight. Its taking alot of control not to start doing heavier weights just because I am able to. Have to keep telling myself its not worth it

chriity139

Day6 Shoulders

Did the usual few rounds of shoulder prehab with a resistance band

1) Behind the neck BB press
1x20 @ 20kg
1x15 @ 25kg
1x12 @ 30kg
1x12 @ 35kg
1x12 @ 30kg
1x12 @ 25kg
1x12 @ 20kg

Could have gone alot heavier but I am getting my body use to the movement again. Forgot how good this exercise is. After the above my delts were burning.

2) DB Lateral raises
1x20 @ 4kg
1x15 @ 5kg
1x12 @ 7.5kg
1x12 @ 10kg
1x12 @ 12.5kg
1x30 @ 7.5kg

3) DB Shoulder press + Rear delt DB flies
1x12 @ 12.5kg
1x12 @ 3kg
4 rounds

Shoulder press felt good. Yet again just doing this to get a feel for it. The movement felt very solid. Going to add 2.5kg per week to this and see how I go.

4) Rear delt rope pull
1x20 @ 21kg
1x20 @ 27kg
1x20 @ 34kg
1x20 @ 41kg
1x15 @ 48kg
1x20 @ 41kg
1x20 @ 34kg
1x20 @ 27kg
1x20 @ 21kg

5) Upright BB row
4x12 @ 30kg

Exciting times
I know normal people wouldnt get excited about this but I know gym people love this time. Restocking on supplements. There's so much choice out there regarding products, flavours etc it can be hard to choose at times. My general stack would be a good whey protein (no soya), flavoured bcaa's (watermelon the past few months), creatine monohydrate and vitamin D.

What would your go to supplement stakes be ?

JJayoo

Whey, D3, mouthful cod liver oil, curcumin

chriity139

JJayoo wrote: »

Whey, D3, mouthful cod liver oil, curcumin

Never heard of curcumin must look that up

JJayoo

chriity139 wrote: »

Never heard of curcumin must look that up

Check it out on examine.com

chriity139

Day 7 Chest and rear delts

1) Seated machine flies (all carried out 401 tempo)
1x20 @ 30
1x15 @ 50
2x12 @ 70

2) Incline Barbell bench press (310 tempo)
1x20 @ 20kg
1x10 @ 40kg
1x10 @ 50kg
3x10 @ 60kg
1x10 @ 50kg
1x10 @ 40kg

3) Cable flies
3x15 @ 20kg

4) Flat dumbbell press with rear delt flies
1x10 @ 27.5kg
1x10 @ 7.5kg
x4 rounds

5) Rear delt rope pull
1x10 @ 21kg
1x10 @ 28kg
1x10 @ 34kg
1x10 @ 41kg
1x10 @ 48kg
1x10 @ 41kg
1x10 @ 34kg
1x10 @ 28kg
1x10 @ 21kg

Definitely feel my strength is coming back as all the weights are up from last week and all felt quiet easy.

chriity139

Day 8 Back and forearms

Tonight was my second workout of the week but this one focuses more on thickness than width.

All exercises done with a 121 tempo

1) Seated cable close grip row
1x12 @ 55kg
1x10 @ 61kg
1x10 @ 72kg
1x10 @ 82kg
1x10 @ 72kg
1x10 @ 61kg
1x10 @ 55kg

2) Seated cable weight grip row
same as above

3) Latt pulldown supersetted with straight bar cable lat pull
1x12 @ 55kg 1x12 @ 20kg
1x12 @ 64kg 1x12 @ 27kg
1x8 @ 72kg 1x12 @ 34kg
1x12 @ 55kg 1x12 @ 41kg
1x12 @ 55kg 1x12 @ 34kg
1x12 @ 55kg 1x12 @ 27kg
1x12 @ 55kg 1x12 @ 20kg

4) Plated loaded t-bar row
1x20 @ 40kg
1x10 @ 60kg
1x10 @ 65kg
1x10 @ 70kg
1x10 @ 80kg
1x20 @ 40kg

5) Width grip plate loaded t-bar row
1x10 @ 40kg
1x10 @ 50kg
1x10 @ 60kg
1x10 @ 70kg
1x10 @ 80kg

6) Reserve straight bar curls
5x12 @ 20kg


My weight loss is on track. Last saturday I weighed in at 96kg today I weighted in at 95kg. Once the weight loss starts to slow down I will start adding in a bit of cardio to the program