[Slick Fosbury]

Had a session like that the other day, sacked it off too. Failing rep after rep just puts me in a proper mood.


Alright, I can imagine what you're going to say about this. But how succesful will I be getting down to low BF% (8-10%)? I want better cheek bones/jaw line really. Will it eat away at my muscle mass or can you sustain and gain muscle at that BF natty?

[Old School]

(Original post by Slick Fosbury)
Had a session like that the other day, sacked it off too. Failing rep after rep just puts me in a proper mood.


Alright, I can imagine what you're going to say about this. But how succesful will I be getting down to low BF% (8-10%)? I want better cheek bones/jaw line really. Will it eat away at my muscle mass or can you sustain and gain muscle at that BF natty?

**** days happen. They suck but whatever. I feel better today so I'll get the work done.

As for sustaining and gaining at low bf% it depends what your end goal is really. If you want to be really ****ing big then you need to forget about looking pretty for a considerable amount of time IMO. If you look at the ages of natural BBing competitors the people who win in the heavier weight classes are generally younger than the people who win the lighter classes. Getting big is a sprint as far as I'm concerned. Yes you can gain some size whilst keeping your abs but if you ever want to be shredded at over 100kg as a natural you have to bulk balls out.

If you don't want to be a monster then go ahead and diet down and watch what you eat. Google carb backloading- apparently it's a pretty good way to stay lean whilst gaining size and strength. I haven't ever tried it though.

[Old School]

Did what I was supposed to do yesterday. Lowered the volume a bit because tomorrow is going to be a big session.

Chins

+10x10
x8
x8
+15
x6
x6
x5
x5
x5
+20
x3
x3
+25
x1
+30
x1
BW
x12

Barbell Rows

80x12
x12
90x10
x12
x12

Lat Pull-Down & Straight Arm Pull-Down Superset

3 rounds, 10-20 reps

Conditioning as per normal.

Proper 80% day. Nothing to see here.

[Old School]

Not much to report again, winding things down as I'm taking a week off as of monday.

Squat

60x8
100x5
130x3
145x9

Paused Squat- A2G 3 seconds in the hole.

100x5
100x5
100x5
100x5
100x5
100x5
100x5
100x5

Good Mornings

60x10
60x10
60x10
60x10
60x10

Leg Curls

3x12-15

Leg Extension

2x15
3x10- triple drop

[commandant]

100kg shredded as a natural is extremely unlikely, even as a gear user that is a mammoth task.

[Old School]

(Original post by commandant)
100kg shredded as a natural is extremely unlikely, even as a gear user that is a mammoth task.

No point in limiting myself based on the achievements of others. It may well be unlikely but that doesn't mean I shouldn't try. It has been done so it is possible.

OHP was trained today.

Press

50x5
55x5
65x3
75x4

60x8
60x8
55x10
50x10
50x10

Seated Smith Press

60x10
70x8
70x8

Rear Delt Flyes + Front Raise superset

3 rounds

Face Pulls

1x20
1x12

Also did lots of pullups throughout the workout.

Conditioning.

Week off now. Yay! Still going to keep the conditioning and flexibility work up but I'm not going to lift again until next monday.

[liftorrot]

(Original post by Old School)
No point in limiting myself based on the achievements of others. It may well be unlikely but that doesn't mean I shouldn't try. It has been done so it is possible.

OHP was trained today.

Press

50x5
55x5
65x3
75x4

60x8
60x8
55x10
50x10
50x10

Seated Smith Press

60x10
70x8
70x8

Rear Delt Flyes + Front Raise superset

3 rounds

Face Pulls

1x20
1x12

Also did lots of pullups throughout the workout.

Conditioning.

Week off now. Yay! Still going to keep the conditioning and flexibility work up but I'm not going to lift again until next monday.

Strong stuff. Good , a week off once in a while helps in recovery and in hitting prs .

[Old School]

(Original post by liftorrot)
Strong stuff. Good , a week off once in a while helps in recovery and in hitting prs .

Yup that's the plan.

I'm feeling pretty beat up at the moment following this last microcycle.

I don't plan in weeks off but take them when I start to get pain in my joints and/or low back that interferes with basic things like picking stuff up off the floor or sitting in a chair for a long time. This usually happens every 12-20 weeks.

Plus I'm working 1900-0700 night shifts weds-sun so it fits in quite well.

[Old School]

Feeling like an absolute baws after my week off.

Training has had to change a little too. Cos I'm back on placement I've now got a 60+ hour work week with a 1hr commute each way. Shifts are 12 hours ranging from 0500-1700, 1000-2200 to 1300-0100. Also as exams and job interviews are round the corner I'm only committing to two 'big' sessions per week with an upper/lower split.

Basic plan is as follows

Upper A
Bench Press 5/3/1 reps and sets
Bench Press- work up to a heavy single over 3-4 sets
Press 5x10 supersetted with pullups
Incline Press 5x10
Rows 5x10

Upper B
As upper A but bench is swapped for press and chins are swapped for rows.

Lower
Squat 5/3/1 reps and sets
Paused Squats 5x5 or 8x3 depending on weight/feeling after widowmaker squat set.
SLDL/RDL 5x6-8
Good Mornings 5x10
Abs to taste.

In addition to this I'm going to do 'small' workouts. Basically rear delt, traps, pec and arm work. High volume, low intensity, little rest between sets- think the 120 rep shrug workout I did a couple weeks ago. These won't follow a set structure and I'll be doing whatever the **** I like.

If I don't get any small workouts in in a week then I'm not going to **** myself and if I feel like doing 2 per day on days off then I will.

I'm going to keep up conditioning and try to do some steady state cardio as often as I can (probably before/after small workouts or upper body days) along with hill sprints at least 2x per week.

Should be a fun experiment.

Today's session was made of awesome.

Bench

80x5
90x5
105x8.5 equal PB

110x1
120x1
125xf
125x1 PB

Press

50x10x5

Chins

BWx50 over 5ish sets

Incline Dbells

32x10x5

Rows

70x10

Ran 1.5k on the treadmill.

Considering I've finished a run of 5 night shifts at 0700 this morning and haven't yet been to bed today that was pretty solid.

[Becca]

Sweet benching. Gratz on the PB!!

[Old School]

(Original post by Becca)
Sweet benching. Gratz on the PB!!

Thanking you .

Squat day. It hurt. Fun though.

Assistance work is aimed at strengthening my hips and adductors to try to rectify the medial knee drift I get when I go to >95% or on the last few reps of a widowmaker set. This is all a result of my hamstring tear. **** me I love rehab. Or not.

Squat

60x5
100x5
130x3
150x6 PB

Paused Squat (A2G, 3 second pause in the hole)

110x5x5

SLDL

80x10x5

Good Morning

60x10x5

Good-Girl/Bad-Girl Machine (Adductor)

Worked up to maxing the stack out over a few sets of 10, pausing for peak contraction. Then did 3x10 with the thing maxed in the same fashion.

[McHumpy92]

You won't ever get 100kg shredded as a natural at your height

[Old School]

(Original post by McHumpy92)
You won't ever get 100kg shredded as a natural at your height

It's been done before which means it's possible. Extremely unlikely, but possible. Especially as I plan on lifting until I can't lift anymore (hopefully I'll die shortly after that point) and don't care about getting fat if it means I'll hit around 100kg in good condition- around 8%. Even if I don't reach that point until I'm in my 30's, I really couldn't give much of a ****. I don't plan on competing for a few years or more either (massive change of plan, I know. Priorities change unfortunately).

Did 15 mins of conditioning (sprints and ****) this morning as I worked from 0900-2100 and had to leave my house at 0730. Doing the same **** tomorrow minus the conditioning because my legs and hips feel like **** after yesterday's leg workout.

Some is better than none.

[Old School]

Trained upper body yesterday and did some cardio too.

Press
50x5
60x3
65x3
72.5x4

Rows
75x10x5

Bench Press
60x10
90x10
90x10
90x10
90x12

Chins
BW+15x5
x5
x5
+20x3
x3
x3
+30x2
x2
x2

I do these with a neutral grip because that's where I'm strongest.

Face Pulls

100 total reps broken down as follows

40, 20, 20, 10, 10- rested just long enough to make the burn a little less erm... burny

Cardio

10 minutes LIIT

Bodyweight was 88kg (odd, though I am back working shifts so my bodyweight usually takes a hit over the first couple of weeks. I ate 2 pizzas and a banoffee tart to rectify this.)

[Old School]

Squats and a big PR

Squat

60x5
100x5
120x1
150x1
170x1 'PB'
172.5x1 PB

I have squatted more in the past but this is a real milestone for me following my hammie tear. I went to the gym with the sole intention of squatting 170. 170 went up OKish so I went for 172.5 and hit that too. Result.

RDL

60x10
100x10
140x10
160x8
170x7
170x6

Good girl/Bad girl Machine

3x12. Machine maxed.

Hanging Leg Raises

4x10

Bodyweight back up to 89 on the dot.

[Becca]

Well done on the squat PB! 180 in no time

[liftorrot]

Good job man... you will be doing 200 in no time.

[Old School]

^^ Thankz guyz

Trained upper body this AM, going back in for cardio and trapz later.

Bench

60x5
90x5
100x1
115x3
115x3
115x3
115x3
100x8
100x8 (+2)

Press
50x10x5

Supersetted with...

T-bar rows
60x12x4 then 60x20 for the last set

Pullups/Chins

Around 40 or so, bodyweight.

[liftorrot]

Strong benching man... 130 should be doable now

[Old School]

(Original post by liftorrot)
Strong benching man... 130 should be doable now

I think I'll have it fresh. Going to try to hit 130 next week at some point.

Should be fun.