Caporegime
- Joined
- 13 May 2003
- Posts
- 34,631
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- Warwickshire
Undoubtedly a coincidence but isn't there an OcUK member called Richdog?
OcUK Health Seekers: Post your progress pics
- Thread starter Freefaller
- Start date
Undoubtedly a coincidence but isn't there an OcUK member called Richdog?
I don't know for sure and Aye.
Cost is around £60-£80 per week + Suppliment costs. A lot of the food you need can be hard pretty cheapish. ie oats,eggs,B Rice tuna on discount sometimes.
I stick to these foods.
Chicken breast
Sweet Potatoes
Oats
Tuna
Lean turkey breast
Eggs
Broccoli
Brown rice
EFA's ie flax seed oil etc
Bananas
I use glutamine,creatine flax seed oil. Protein shake, casien shakes. Zinc Tablets, Multi vitamins tablets.
Its a long road but once you start understanding what does what and training starts to work your only get more encouraged and keen. I still am not that great in the gym but i train with a friend who has been in the gyms a long time. I like diet stuff more interesting
Legs are important, everyone has their own goals so it may be they feel they need more upper body strength, the key is to get the balance especially when your weight is on limit
Ok must go now, Leg day today. Quads and Hams
- Joined
- 5 Jun 2003
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- 91,949
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- Falling...
Thanks for the kind words. You're probably right, I constantly strive for improvement, and although I'm a fairly lean 222lbs I probably still want more! lol! Ah well, one thing I am is stubborn and motivated, so there's no chance of me stopping my gym lifestyle! Next target, 12% @ 16st!
Soldato
- Joined
- 18 Mar 2008
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- 12,751
wow benny, that's awesome, what were your stats before training compared to now?
Been training for about 2 years. Only seriously with a decent program and diet for about half of that, with a slightly torn shoulder too. Coupled with plenty of nights out at uni to undo my hard work!
Heights around 5foot 10". Weight when I got to uni was 12st.7lbs. this dropped to 12st. Then I began training and am stuck at just under 14stone. Was 13stone when I was 13!
Am 20 now.Chest (I say chest, but also the back is included in chest mesaurement) has seen a good 4-5" increase to bring it upto between 45/46"
Arms- I'd never measured these before but scince measuring them have put on a little over an 1" to bring them upto 16"
Forearms - 13.5"
Calves are 15.5" I think
Neck is also 16".
Legs - again never measured. When I did they were 23.5". Now just under 25".
Waist has stayed at 34"
Managed to make most of these gains in the last 10 weeks with a 3 day GVT split whilst home from uni. Sat on my bum most the day at work with an 'okay' diet.
Picked up lots of tips and things to try recently though! So can't wait to get back to Uni and get cracking with a decent diet!
megatron
No offense taken megatron and I never took your replies as being frosty! I'm sorry if It felt like I was baiting you its just something I feel strongly about as I have been around a lot of guys growing up who have made mental gains naturally. I also have to except that people get to a certain limit in mass and strength and desire more and using different means is the only way forward. Competition wise I'll agree if everyone is on the same level if you know what I mean its not cheating and hope you would put it down to knee jerk typing on my part
. The pictures you have posted previously of guys lifting huge amounts of weight on various exercises are indeed very impressive as at the end of the day we are all made of the same stuff
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No offense taken megatron
and I never took your replies as being frosty! I'm sorry if It felt like I was baiting you its just something I feel strongly about as I have been around a lot of guys growing up who have made mental gains naturally. I also have to except that people get to a certain limit in mass and strength and desire more and using different means is the only way forward. Competition wise I'll agree if everyone is on the same level if you know what I mean its not cheating and hope you would put it down to knee jerk typing on my part. The pictures you have posted previously of guys lifting huge amounts of weight on various exercises are indeed very impressive as at the end of the day we are all made of the same stuff.
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- Joined
- 5 Jun 2003
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- Falling...
Benny, looking hawt dude! I better get my ass into gear! lol!
I better get my ass into gear! lol! Benny, looking hawt dude!
Cheers guys. If only I could stay pumped forever!
I'm enjoying my recovery and rest from GVT and am slowly lowering my carbs whilst doing about just over 2 hours of cardio a week. 40 minute row, 1hr x-trainer and a 30 minute run. Just wan't to be able to see a bit more shape and definition and see my hard work!
Nothing I find attractive about being shreded unless you have insane amounts of mass! So will keep some bulk. Well thats the plan we'll see how it goes
...
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Ummm I have some snaps about a month or 2 before I started when I was still at Uni i'll put these up in a moment.
I'm not sure if I've made any strength gains as I've not had more than 65KG on a bar for 10 weeks! or touched a dumbell heavier than 6KG!
and am currently resting until weds/thursday bar cardio. I'm giving blood too on the 9th so this will affect my performance too.If anything more mass should = more strength, but I need to spend a few weeks doing 5x5 to recover it. Endurance has deffinatley improved as has my ability to sweat! not that it needed to!
Me a few months before, quite a few actually.
http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t288/bennyc06i/absblurr.jpg I'm no leaner here, think it was in the morning and I'm stood directly under a light.
http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t288/bennyc06i/pumpblurr.jpg
One a friend took of me deadlifting a while ago:
http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t288/bennyc06i/DSC01034blur.jpg
Bodyfat has been up and down, and different lighting conditions etc don't help.
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You want the GVT routine I performed? I warn you it is not for the feint hearted and almost broke me mentally.
There are some good push/pull splits to around.
Confirm you want the German Volume Training and I'll write it up, but it's quite a long post. Basically 10 supersets with 60-90 second pauses but yeah let me know and i'll write it out.
Might put it in the gymrats thread to save derailing.
Looking good benny. I would definitely keep "some bulk" as you put it as you look a lot better imo in that latest picture, really coming on
Thanks mate
Yeah, I know if I cut to the point of clearly visible abs and the student lifestyle begins to catch up with me again and they started to fade I'd begin to get frustrated.
I'm going to just train 'freestyle' lol
stick to groups but no set routine until I go back to Uni for the next 2 weeks. Then going to incorporate some 5x5 in for a shortwhile. As I'd really like to break my bench PB and squat PB(which has plenty of room for improvement). But having put on a bit more mass with GVT I'm becoming a bit more focused on aesthetics some what. So will probaly alternate every 6-8 weeks strength and mass programsI want to try a few strongman lifts like farmers walk and whatever else I can get away with in the Uni gym. If we had a powercage as opposed to a smith I'd squat a lot more than I do now. Also not to cofident enough to try clean and jerks due to lack of space and also shoulder injuries. Don't want my arms going up and then back while straight! Quite like hangcleans to military press to finish off a shoulder session. Anyway...
Ultimatley mass & strength but while also improving my general fitness.
What are your current goals? You're coming on well too from what I remember.
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Yeah if you dont mind writing it up. I've been reading about the folk on this forum (you, freefaller etc) doing it and fancied giving it a go. I've lost most of the mass i'd gained and want to get back into the shape i'd managed before (and then some!).
Sure thing.
I'm at work at the moment, so will write it in bits and peices as and when I can.
Here you go:
The following is what I performed for German Volume Training.
Rest
Chest & Back
Rest
Legs
Shoulders & Arms
Rest
Rest
It works on chosing 1 compound for each major muscle group. For example bench press for chest and bent over rows for back.
Select the weight that is around 60% of your 1 rep max.
You perform a 6 second repitition. 4 second negative/lowering phase and then a 2 second (bout the average speed of a standard rep) positive.
Perform 10 reps of bench and then immediatley after with no rest perform 10 B.O.R's (with this strict rep tempo). Then rest for 90 seconds. Repeat until all 10 sets have been completed.
I began with 60KG as I knew I could bench and row this comfortably. You want to complete the first 3 or 4 sets and you will then begin to start seeing failure earlier on in each set as you progress until you get around 5 or less reps. Once you begin to stall on the positive of the reps end the set there and proceed to the next exercise or rest period.
Once you have completed this superset have a 3/4 minute rest.
Next there are 2 subsidary exercises to complete. For example dips or flyes for the chest and chin-ups or pull-ups for the back.
Only 3 sets for each this time but aiming for between 10-20 reps (use weights to assist you if need be) don't worry if you don't get 10-20 reps, on most of the last set I usually only got about 7 or 8 reps out. Remember SLOW negatives. Complete the negative even if you know you will fail on the positive.
I'd of liked to have done this with widegrip pulls ups or pull down, but you can't guarentee the equipment is going to be free for half an hour to switch between the two (running from the bench to chinning bar), especially if the equipment is on the otherside of the room, so do whatever is most practical.
For Legs:
Squats should be supersetted with leg curls or Stiff legged deadlifts if you can. Again 10 reps followed by 10 reps and then a 90 second rest. complete all 10 supersets.
I found this too tough and that my SLDL form wasn't good enough so didn't want to risk injury. So I did 10 sets of squats back to back. As this was just a standard set and not a superset I have a 60 second rest period between sets.
I then did leg curls the same. 10 sets back to back with a 60 second rest.
I then finished with and/either/or 3 sets of standing/seated calf raise.
Remember SLOW NEGATIVES! It hurts like **** but that's the idea!
Shoulders:
For this I chose Military Press suppersetted with Upright Rows. So a 90 second rest between each superset.
Then I would do 10x10 for raises. Front & back & side. Very light dumbbells, slight pause at the top of each rep, then lower over 4 seconds. Normally I’d use about 10 or 12 KG dumbbells. I halved it and still found it tough.
For the subsidary exercises I chose EZ bar curls and EZ tricep extensions lyding down on a bench. 3 sets for each as usual. Remember 4 second negatives. (EZ extensions are easy to bail out of if you fail so you don't really need a spotter for these).
I know there are 3 subsidary exercises for shoulders but that’s just how it worked out.
That’s it. Rest well, sleep well, eat well!
Certain weeks I would use leg press over squats.
I also did 5 weeks flat bench & flyes and then switches to 5 weeks inclince bench and dips.
To begin with I did military press supersetted with raises but found this really tough and was stopping me progressing with military press.
Some weeks I would just do 10 sets of side raises (as I want to add more width to my shoulders)
The rest between sets for subsidary exercises is 60 seconds.
I’m not sure how safe it is to do 10 weeks of pressing at a set angle because of the stress on the joints/tendons. Feel free to mix it up every 2 or 3 weeks, maybe even throw in some decline. Or do all 3 angles on the same day but start with the weakest first.
I would recommend stretching. LOTS! My chest and back became very tight and the average D.O.M lasted around 3 or 4 days. My calves became supertight as did my hamstrings, even just walking became difficult.
It might noT have been the best thought out or well developed variant and there were probably things I could have done differently and as a result better. But this time round this is what I did.
The reason this works is because of the sheer volume and this is aided by the slow negative movements.
Don't cheat the reps. By this I mean don't spend 3 seconds lowering the weight an inch at the top of the rep and then effectively drop it the rest of the way for the last second. Keep it controlled and keep that weight moving! Make sure you get a good range of motion and bring the weight to your chest/squat deep etc.
It's worth keeping track of which weights you use each week and how many reps per set you manage.
If you don't start failing till around the 7th 8th set the weight is too light.
Your sets should look something like this:
10, 10, 10(tough), 10 (really tough almost stalling), 8 or 9, 7, 7,6, 5
That's how most of mine went so I probaly could have gone a tad heavier.
If you find you get more reps out each week. Add more weight accordingly!
Any questions?
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