Boulders Shoulders
Boulders Shoulders
As I have stated in a previous blogs I have had numerous gym partners, some I train with constantly and some when ever I can organise a time to train together. One of these passing partners is a former Junior Mr.Wales Rhodri Cartwright aka. Rod I met Rod half way through my preparation for my first bodybuilding show. I had heard about him a week or so prior to meeting him through the gym gossip. Women are known as gossips and back stabbers, but even the worst of women are not as bad as a gym full of testosterone filled bodybuilders. If anyone is out of shape or lost one pound of muscle then everyone will know before they do. So the gym gossip had gotten to me, I had heard a new member had joined from Wales and he was massive, a ex rugby player and 21 stone.
I was finishing a back routine one night and was on my last exercise of dead lifts, I had a decent weight on, nothing record braking but nothing to be ashamed of. Then in the corner of my eye I saw a tank approaching me, it did not take me more then a second to know who this was. It was Rod, as he swayed in and the whole gym came to a stand still. He had the prescience I have always wanted and hopefully one day will have, just like a gorgeous girl in a room all eyes were on him. A mixture of awe and jealous filled the air, he began training and everyone watched, even if you were doing a set you would watch out the corner of your eye. The gym filled of whispers “How big is he”, “You seen that guy” “Who’s he?” I have trained in a few gyms and have noticed if you are an outsider you are met like your Clint Eastwood walking into the town saloon, not wanted. For someone like Rod it is the fear of the unknown, I am quite smaller than he is so do not hold the same intimidation that he does. He was clearly a cut above all of us and that’s what people did not like, they would not say it but you could see it in their eyes, they wanted to have his physique and have the presence he had, like all guys over a certain size and shape do.
So he asked me if I had finished with the bar, the reasonable weight I had on the bar that I was not ashamed of was used by Rod as his warm up, “you can imagine how this made me feel”, I felt like throwing my gym membership card at the owner and walking out. I did’t, instead I talked to him for some advice and asked if I could train with him. He said yeah, due to he knew I would be reliable as I was getting ready for a show and I had the fire in my eyes, so we would have good training sessions. There is nothing more annoying then training with someone who does not devote a 100% into every exercise, set and rep. So we began training back together every Wednesday, and he helped me with my posing after we had trained.
After my bodybuilding shows he disappeared for a few months with work commitments, but a few weeks ago I saw a large mound of muscle standing at reception, it was the return of Rod. A quick chat and catch up and arrangements were made to train shoulders and traps together the following week. This was good as since I have been on stage I have been trying to grow a pair of shoulders and I believe it is better to be chasing than following, so I am glad to train with him at any chance. Plus you never know I might grow some deltoids.
Wednesday came around and I walked in the gym to meet him; he was doing a little bit of cardio on the tred mill as he is getting ready for his competition in Norway. He sees me and jumps off so we can get going and train. We warm up are rotor cuffs and get the general chit chat and small talk over and done with. What we doing then I asked, 7 sets of Military press was the answer one on and one off. I checked that he had not just been released from a mental institute and he had just said seven sets. Then it dawned on me it must be a twist on a training style called FST-7. This was created by professional bodybuilder trainer Harry Rambod and the full name is Fasica Stretch Training – Seven. Without going into too much detail it is a system that has been around a few years, in which you perform your basic heavy sets first and then at the end of the workout perform an isolation exercise for seven sets with high volume and low intensity. He states form is vital with flexing being performed constantly throughout rest periods accompanied with stretching of the muscle you are training. So you perform your normal compound exercises first going heavy and then for your last exercise perform a seven set isolation exercise. However this is not a light weight being used, you use a similar weight that you would use to your second to last set if you were performing a normal pyramid set.
So that is FST-7, however like everything it has evolved and the seven sets have moved from post exhaustion (at the end of the workout) to pre exhaustion (at the beginning of the workout). Also instead of wasting vital energy doing isolation at the beginning it moved to a compound exercise i.e. Military Press. So this is why we were doing this.
So we were not wasting time we got all the plates out that we needed and put them to one side, this meant we would not be wondering around looking for a matching pair of weights, adding un-necessary time to our workout and losing momentum. So we began one on one off, each taking turns to pound the iron. Military press is not the easiest of exercises so by the third set my shoulders are screaming at me to stop. As soon as the last rep is completed the burn sets in and doesn’t completely go before you begin again. Before I know it I am pumped up and on my last set with the heaviest weight, which was defiantly not an earth shattering figure but it was heavy enough, 6 reps and then the plates are thrown off to blast out as many reps as possible with no weight, after 15 hard painful reps I re wrack and collapse. It always horrible when you do a drop set because other guys look over and see you screaming over little weight or non at all, looking at you as if you’re a complete wimp. We completed the seven sets and I had already had enough but I looked over and see that Rod has not even broken out in a sweat yet, as if it was just another day in the office.
Quick swig of water and we are onto the next exercise, seated dumbbell side raises three sets all of which are a drop set, no numbers just as many as possible (which translates to nothing less then 10). The weights were going to use are spread around us So I begin, I know I am in trouble when the first rep feels like a ton, I always think this is not a good sign. My ears finally hear something to be glad of, Rod states we have more rest in-between sets. I sigh of relief as I was starting to feel sick and this pace constant would have killed me, but it looks like a gentle stroll for the monster Rod. So after the first two sets my side deltoids are on fire, again rod does the same weight as me and looks like he is just warming up, the testosterone filled male ego of mine is fired up and I ensure I keep up as much as I can. Are third set and the weights go up again, rod sits behind me to spot making every rep count and ensuring I squeeze the muscle as much as possible. After 6 reps my deltoids give up, but I am shouted at 4 more, screaming 4 more reps are pushed out. The weight is dropped and I am relieved it’s over for a second, then I remember it’s a drop set, so I begin the pain trail again. I drop the weight for a second time to stares of fellow gym members, looking at me strangely as if I had been screaming in Latin, I was probably not shouting as quietly as I thought, Rod does his final set with me spotting him, with his huge arms and the 17kg dumbbells in each hand I have trouble spotting, both combined are a big weight. He blasts his reps out and I get my own back and make him go through the same pain I had just gone through.
Were about 15/20 minutes into the workout now, and both look like we have put an inch on each shoulder, their so pumped up. I love it when they look like this if only they did all the time, sadly they don’t, Rod does not have this problem as his shoulders are boulders constantly, and probably his best body part. Its worth doing FST-7 just for the incredible pump you get, after all this is a bodybuilders idea of heaven. We move onto rear deltoid fly’s in the same manner as the side raises, three sets all drop sets. Rod is a firm believer in having good rear deltoids, his own shoulders are evidence of this. He is right for his devotion to this small often over looked muscle, the rear deltoid when big, gives you width in your shoulder, so from side on can make your shoulders look inches bigger. So we do the three drop sets as quickly as a body will let us, by now mind over matter comes into play. Your body has had enough but this is where it counts, this I what makes the difference, when you feel like this but you press on. The three drop sets are completed and that means the shoulders get rest as next is barbell shrugs. “Drop set again?” I ask him, wiping the sweat away that has travelled into my eyes to burn them. (If you’ve never had sweat in your eyes avoid it at all costs). “No” he says, before I jump for joy like iv won the lottery, he tells me its still a superset, 12 reps in front and 12 reps behind 4 sets.
I don’t mind this as I need to build my traps up so I know the pain will do me good. Traps are strong so we start with six plates on the bar and go up to five, strapping on to the bar with wrist straps ensuring we can hoist the bulky weight up. Four sets are completed with my hands purple from the straps cutting into them. The good thing about shrugs is that my ego can be satisfied as the big weights come out. We complete are sets to the sound of the iron plates rattling against each other. One on and one off again and with five minutes it’s all over.
I am pumped up to the max and feel like my shoulders are going to burst, I always find with shoulders that speed and intensity are key to get a good workout, this will go down as one of my best shoulder workouts and was all done in less than 40 minutes. I am going to be training with Rod more often so I know I will be feeling like this again very soon.
Our Workout was as follows
7 Sets Standing Barbell Press
3 Sets Seated Side Raises (Each Set a Drop Set)
3 Sets Seated Prone Fly’s (Each Set a Drop Set)
5 Sets Barbell Shrugs (In front and behind)
Any questions email me at ian@massprotein.co.uk
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