Archive for February, 2009

Another Update

Wednesday, February 25th, 2009

It’s been ages since I posted here. It’s not that I’ve lost my motivation to work out. I’m still working out, only losers give up, yeah?

For the time being, I’m just focusing on my upper body. And one exercise really.

Here’s my progress so far…

Benching: 37.5 kgs @ 15 reps x 3 sets, 311 tempo, 30 sec rest in between.

Bent Over Rear Delt Rows: same as above

Behind the Neck Barbell Press: 22.5 kgs @ … (same as above)

My goal is to bench 40 kgs by the end of February. I only weight 70 kgs (I think… last time I checked was last year), so that’s big for me. If I can bench consistently at 50 kgs by the end of August, I’ll be happy. I’m aiming to bulk up until the start of spring (September for us in Australia), then cut for 16 weeks until the end of 2009. Hopefully, by then, I’ll be a sweet 80 kgs of muscle at 5-6% fat.

Then to strut my stuff in January.

But yeah… I realised that I was doing something wrong in my benching technique.

Well, not technically WRONG, but different.

I had a close grip on the bar. I was wondering why my triceps were growing bigger and bigger and my chest still wasn’t filling up yet. Don’t get me wrong, any muscle growth anywhere is good, but I always thought benching was to increase the size of the pectoralis majoris.

Then last night, Vince DelMonte sent some promotional email to me. He’d teamed up with 3 other fitness peeps and sent out a bunch a free crap to all their subscribers. No doubt some sort of marketing gimmick to net them more subscribers or some shit like that but I had to credit them, they did give us stuff of value.

In the free report of the guy who masterminded the giveaway, there was a PDF that had pictures of the most common exercises. There was a picture of bench pressing and yeah. That’s where I realised my grip was too close.

I tried benching at 37.5 kg before with the normal benching grip and man… it killed me. I think combined with the fact that I was tired and hadn’t gotten enough sleep or something, I had to stop premature.

Then again, i noticed my tits getting bigger and that made me happy. I figured in my 3 sets, if I do the 1st set with a “regular” grip, then the 2nd set with a close grip, then the last at a regular grip again, would it give my muscles good distribution of stress? Because I mean, benching is for the chest, so 2 regular grip sets should take priority, no? but I still want to build up my arms. My triceps are looking good (biceps still need work)

So I dunno. Next time I work out is Friday. I’ll see if I could do 15 at regular, 15 at close, then 15 at regular again. I doubt it, but we’ll see how I go.

Reply To David’s Post

Wednesday, February 25th, 2009

Hey David,

Thanks for your support. That last post was bloody ages ago. Probably a month ago now.

I’m working out still, steadily increasing the weight that I’m benching. I aim to be able to lift 40 kgs @ 15 reps x 3 sets, 311 tempo, 30 sec break in between. I’m at 37.5 kg atm (82.67 lbs).

I’m still learning as well, but as far as I know, lifting heavy weights is definitely the way to go. Put it this way. If you simply HOLD a heavy weight that you can barely even lift, you will STIMULATE more muscle fibers than if you lifted a lighter weight. This will make your muscle adapt by growing bigger.

Try it. I simply did shrugs at 50 kgs (way more than I can lift) and after a week, I noticed definition at places that weren’t there before.

I’m pretty sure it’d be heavy weights then intensity (whatever that means, lol).

Lifting slow like you are doing is also good. As far as I know, lifting slow at a high intensity gives you maximal METABOLIC GAINS. That just means that your body is physically changing in response to weight.

Ever noticed how you can lift “more” when you do your reps fast? That’s neurological gains. I’m not so sure what that means, but you just won’t build as much muscle.

Keep on gaining. Thanks for your support again, brother.

Cheng.

Update

Wednesday, February 4th, 2009

I’ve been away a while. I’ve just had a minor flop. Breakdown. Whatever you call it. Lost motivation. Still working out, but not majorly.

My girlfriend broke up with me yesterday, so I’m just down and out now. I might need to change my workout routine so that I work out on Fridays only during the year. Because of uni and all that. I play competition badminton on Wednesdays, so that takes care of the “workout” on Wednesday.

I dunno. I’ll keep you all up to date with stuff that I’m doing. But for now, keep on working out. Don’t give in. Grind it out. Chin up, it’s all going to be OK.

Brothers in arms,

Cheng.