Monday, June 21, 2010

My current routine

I post this now coz my last two workout sessions have been the most cruel I've ever had, and it's only going to get worse for the next 4 weeks. It would be nice if the readers appreciate what it takes to build some serious muscle, strength and character- I've seen guys in the gym who do the same weight for months, without any real improvement and they keep looking into the mirror to check if they've put on some muscle.... Just to give a feel of the weight, my 1 rep max for front squat was 105kg (with probably 1-2kg of support from another guy). That was the extreme, usually I used to squat 90-95kg for 1 or at max 2 reps. Today, I squatted 95kg for 5 reps. I'd have loved to know I've squatted so much, but I actually planned to do 6 reps, but gave up on the 6th one- got really frustrated after I gave up on the last rep. And by my workout routine, next monday I'm supposed to be squatting 100kg for 5 reps and the monday after that, 105kg for 4 reps...

Some guys say you shouldn't be scared of the weight. I'm just too scared of the weight. Yesterday, I was thinking of the 6 reps of 95kg squat I have to be doing today and it gave me the shivers, even thinking about that left me puffing and panting. When my 1 rep max is 105 and I'm doing 95 for 5, it's obvious the fear is there....

From Rocky (Rocky 5):

"Rocky: Hey, who's your best friend back in Orlando?

Tommy: Ah that's ahh, that's Oklahoma

Rocky: Well well yeh

Tommy: Umm, Erik Elder

Rocky: No no no no no no, no, your best friend is a guy named Frankie Fear. You see Fear is a fighters best friend you know, it aint nothin to be ashamed of, you see Fear keeps you sharp, it keeps you awake you know what I mean it makes you want to survive, you know what I mean. But the thing is you gotta learn how to control it alright, cause Fear is like this fire alright, and it's burning deep inside, now if you control it
Tommy, it's gonna make you hot! Or if you see if this thing here controls you... it's going to burn you and everything around you up. Thats right."

You want to put on muscle, you want to get stronger, you want to feel the pain.. you gotta lift weights you're scared of.

Now to the routine I've been talking about..

This routine is strictly not for guys who have just got started. I consider myself to be an 'advanced beginner', I've already lived for almost 2 years in the gym... Guys who have started only a couple months back shouldn't be trying to push very hard. 

This is how the routine works.... The original routine, I've modified it to fit to my needs.
The routine is planned for 15 weeks. The last set of each exercise is described:
You start with 60 % of your 1 rep max for each exercise. You start with 8-10 reps in the first week and you workout for 3, or at max 4 days a week. Each week, you increase approximately 4 % of your  1 rep max (when you started out). You regularly keep dropping the number of reps. At the end of 15 weeks, you should be doing 3 reps at about 110-115% of your 1 rep max (when started). 
My 1RM back squat was 110kg when I started, and I aim for 3 reps of 125kg at the end of 11 weeks (The routine is for 15 weeks, I've dropped it to 11. That's why I'm just getting raped in all my sessions). I increase 5kg for my last set in successive session.

The basic funda is to trade volume for intenisty. Say you do 60kg squat for 8 reps on day 1. Let's measure volume as the product, i.e. 60*8= 480. Next session, you increase weight to 65kg and do only 7 reps (this is definitely more intense than 8 reps of 65, if your max is around 90-100kg). Now the volume is 455kg, less than 480kg. 
The last set- last week I did 7 reps of 90kg and today I was supposed to do 6 of 95kg.

You do 3-4 sets for each exercise and only 4-5 exercises per session. All sets have the same number of reps, with weight increasing. This is to keep the intensity increasing. 12 reps of 50kg and another set with 8 reps of 65kg are kind of equally intensive, so you go for only 8 reps of 50kg and then 8 reps of 65kg to make sure you're increasing intensity between sets. 
My sets today
Front squat(1 rep max 105kgwhen started) : 40kg 7 reps, 60kg 6 reps, 80kg 6 reps, 95kg 6 reps (gave up on the 6th one)
Military press(1RM=60kg)  : 20* 6, 30 * 6, 45* 6 , 55* 6 (gave up on the 6th one)
Stiff leg deadlift                    : 60* 7, 85*6, 100*6

I'm working on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Last set weights for this week:

Monday:
Front squat(  last set: 95*6, +5kg every session)
Stiff leg deadlift( last set: 100*6, +5kg every session)
Military press( 55*6, +2.5 every week)
Calf raise (85 *11, +5 every session)

Wednesday:
Pullups (4 sets of 5,6,7,9 reps)
Bent over Barbell row (last set 50*6, +2.5 every session)
Bench press( 75*5, +2.5 every session)
Bar dips ( 3 sets of 7, 8, 11 reps )
Lying triceps extensions (2 sets, last set 30*8)
Barbell curls( 2 sets, last set 32.5*10)

Friday:
Back squat (100*5, +5 every session)
Military press (57.5*5, +2.5 every week)
Snatch pulls
Pull throughs (This one really f**ks you up. look at youtube for video and try this one. Not for beginners)

Full rest on Saturday and Sunday, planning to go on cardio on Tuesday and Thursday.

If some 'real' weightlifters are reading this, would love to see some comments.

Warning: Guys who cannot even squat weight equal to their body weight shouldn't even think of trying something like this.

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