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Thread: Zippy's Journal

  1. #1
    DF VIP Member Zippeyrude's Avatar
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    Default Zippy's Journal

    Now where do we begin..?

    Many many moons ago i bought a weights set from argos that included a weider bodybuilding program.. It was a fantastic start, i was at college, i did martial arts 3 times a week and i was lifting weights. The weider program set the standard for my approach. As well as routines and exercises it had the pictures of the anatomy. I studied these and to this day believe that if you are to successfully lift weights (this doesnt mean only bulking btw) you need to understand how each limb works and which muscle connects to where, etc. It is only then that you can begin to appreciate how the body works. I have never understood why people still ask what exercise does what..... i always demonstrate using the analogy of an elastic band attached to a bone and acting against gravity, etc.

    Anyway back to basics.....I found an old gym pass dating back to 1990 the other day and recalled going once (it was on a Uni campus and there were too many other distractions )

    Years later i joined but never really stuck at it, a month or two here and there was all i could muster.

    I finally decided that i needed to improve my health a while ago, the gym was a natural starting point. I have always researched anything that i have found interesting and weight training was no different.


    So in mid December 2006 i kick started my training..... The start was tough as i wanted to push harder and heavier weights, often the cause of injury and a lack of motivation. I had my notepad (dont ever dis ppl with notepads, it often means they are more organised and will be more successful at this malarkey than the average person)., and my routine planned out. I had bough a healthy selection of the bodybuilding encyclopaedias and used these to refesh my memory on some of the exercises as well as motivate me.

    I had a plan.....

    The first 3 months were all over muscle groups, Month one was a set for each exercise. Month 2 two sets and month 3 was two sets but increasing the weight on set 2. Weider had served me well
    This was accompanied with cardio that killed me to start with but soon because a likeable challenge....

    I moved on to a 4 day split that i am still doing now. The system i have adopted is based on one muscle group per exercise day, broken down as follows:-

    Monday - Chest
    Tuesday - Back
    Thursday - Shoulders
    Friday - Legs

    I want to increase the cardio to drop bf % so am inclined to reduce the leg sessions and take up some weekend jogging.

    Anyhow here's the start of my DF progress journal... i hope you enjoy

  2. #2
    DF VIP Member
    Roach-Rampino's Avatar
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    Default Re: Zippy's Journal

    Good read mate, I like hearing how other people got into it.

    Your point about the diagram picks up on what I think is one of the most important factors of weight training. That is to feel the isolation of the muscle group that you are training.

    Look forward to your updates

  3. #3
    DF VIP Member Zippeyrude's Avatar
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    Default Re: Zippy's Journal

    I had PBd on some bench pressing and despite this great achievement the next two weeks saw me tired and without beans. I was giving it my all but the results were not there. I had been feeling generally exhausted and for a couple of weeks seemed to be going backwards.

    A rest was in order, i had not taken a break for many months and the body speaks volumes and is rarely wrong ! I took this opportunity to cycle my supplements (creatine in particular).

    So Monday came and i was slightly apprehensive as i was yawning in the acr on the way to the gym. Work was a chore and despite the workouts cutting into your life in a significant manner it has been a lifesave in terms of reducting stress as well as the other benefits - from fitness to psychological benefits.

    So.....

    Monday - Chest

    Barbell Bench Press
    8 x 50Kg warmup
    8 x 100Kg
    8 x 110Kg
    8 x 110Kg
    3 x 120Kg
    1 x 130Kg failed !

    I am aiming for a good clean 3 sets of 8 reps at 110Kg. This felt really good as i was struggling on the 110Kg sets before my week off. Amazing what a week of rest can do for you !

    Incline BB press
    8 x 50Kg
    8 x 60Kg
    8 x 80Kg
    8 x 80Kg

    Again i normally feel my triceps beginning to fail on these but i was able to punch them with relative ease. I regret not going heavier tbh.

    Decline BB press
    8 x 90Kg
    8 x 90Kg (last rep assisted)
    8 x 90Kg

    A recent addition to the gym and a great piece of kit. Interestingly, again, these felt quite easy to dodespite having pushed hard in the previous exercises.

    Dumbell flyes
    8 x (2x25Kg)
    8 x (2x25Kg)
    8 x (2x25Kg)

    Interestingly the second set was the killer, arms shaking towards the end of the set. This was an increase on my previous weight of 22.5Kg per dumbell. I can really feel the muscle soreness this morning across the front of the shoulders / lateral chest area.

    Cable Triceps pushdown
    8 x 75Kg
    8 x 80Kg
    6 x 80Kg last couple assisted until complete failure

    The weight above is probably for my comparitive purposes only as i find that different equipment from different gyms 'weigh' differently depending on the pulley arrangement, etc.

    Other
    Abdominals
    20 crunches
    20 seated twists with 6kg ball

    Cardio
    5 minutes on the treadmill. I hiked the speed upto what it says is 8mph. Im not sure how they are calibrated but all i can say is that after a minute i ws regretting setting it at that level, but i am a stubborn bstad and a target is a target. If i fail then it has to be because it is not humanly possible..... the 5 minutes finished and i was on the verge of being sick.... thats what i call workout intensity !!!

    So for the first day back I was pleasantly surprised and pleased with what i managed to do.
    Last edited by Zippeyrude; 22nd July 2008 at 03:59 PM.

  4. #4
    LilacHarryQuinn
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    Default Re: Zippy's Journal

    Out of interest (and only if you are happy to share them) have you any idea of your stats as of today ?

  5. #5
    DF VIP Member Zippeyrude's Avatar
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    Default Re: Zippy's Journal

    Erm, i'd be more than happy to share but as I put more importance on how you feel and think you look than the actual raw statistics I dont really keep stats as such. On a basic level im 36 (crikey), 5' 8" and about 89Kg at a guess. Also some people can be very strong due to good muscle density whilst others appear huge but most muscle composition is probably made up of chocolate, cheap burgers and ice cream

    (Oh ive edited the above post to include the Triceps work as well.)

  6. #6
    DF VIP Member Zippeyrude's Avatar
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    Default Re: Zippy's Journal

    Tuesday - Back

    Deadlifts
    8 x 70Kg warmup
    8 x 110Kg
    8 x 140Kg
    8 x 160Kg
    8 x 160Kg

    The last set were absolute killers. A few weeks ago i was finishing a deadlift session with 180s and overcooked it, pulling my back muscle. Noting too serious, just a couple of weeks avoiding deadlifts but im a tad weary so im backing off a tad. I need to avoid losing technique and slipping into SLDL when im tired.

    Overall a good start to the session that had me puffing!

    Wide grip pull ups & close parallel grip pull ups (super set)
    Wide - 8 reps bodyweight
    Close - 8 reps bodyweight
    Wide - 8 reps bodyweight
    Close - 8 reps bodyweight
    Wide - 7 + 1 reps bodyweight
    Close - 6 + 2 reps bodyweight

    Absolute murder. I was losing grip on the last two sets, but was determined to finish them.

    Dumbell row
    8 x 50Kg
    8 x 50Kg
    8 x 50Kg

    Sweat was dripping off the end of my nose during these. They always guarantee to cook me !

    Smiths shrugs
    8 x 100Kg
    8 x 120Kg
    8 x 150Kg
    8 x 150Kg

    I love these. The last set had my legs shaking. The traps are a great muscle to develop imo. The deadlifts warm them up the the shrugs really work them. The traps provide great bodyshape and make the difference between someone who lifts weights and someone who 'looks like they lift weights'.

    Biceps
    Dumbell curls
    8 x (2 x 17.5Kg)
    8 x (2 x 20Kg)
    8 x (2 x 20Kg)

    The last two sets were very difficult. The last set in particular had me in difficulty just holding the dumbells! Slightly disappointing as I can normally thrash these.

    Cardio & Abs
    Sod that !

    Conclusion, overall quite satisfied but I need to reduce the number of sets with a view to increasing workout intensity. I need to be able to approach each set with focus and controlled anger whereas on some exercises i was relatively pooped - but a determined and motivated bstad which is what counts!

  7. #7
    LilacHarryQuinn
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    Default Re: Zippy's Journal

    I know what weight someone else is using is not relevant to where another person is at, but I find it interesting to see what people are using so thanks for including that Zippey.

  8. #8
    DF VIP Member Zippeyrude's Avatar
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    Default Re: Zippy's Journal

    No worries mate. We had this conversation last night at the gym.. Everyone is built differently. There are some monsters at my gym who have incredible power to weight ratios, pushing 180+kg on the bench (to finish off their bench session!). They are however friendly monsters and even a newbie pushing 50kg is treated with the same level of respect and offered the same encouragement.

    I keep records of the weights for my purpose of keeping track of where im at. Some weeks there are peaks, and inevitably some weaker weeks creep in from time to time. My philosophy is based on 'the average'. As long as you are making some form of progress then all is good. (Bearing in mind that progress for some is maintaining a physique and not bulking or losing weight).

  9. #9
    LilacHarryQuinn
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    Default Re: Zippy's Journal

    I keep a written journal for the reasons you give and so I think sometime this week it's about time I started posting it up as well in case it can help anyone or in case I can get some help when I need it.

  10. #10
    DF VIP Member Zippeyrude's Avatar
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    Default Re: Zippy's Journal

    Thursday is normally shoulders day.... but Thursday was cancelled

    I have recently decorated my spare room and had arranged to collect a bed, but this fell through. I ended up giving my mate (who was helping me move it) a lift home. He cooked fajitas which didnt agree with me this morning.....

    I woke up early and decided to hitthe gym in the morning, before work. Im not sure 6am starts agree with me. Maybe the fajita induced 'dehydration' in the morning didnt help.

    Friday - Shoulders

    Seated DB Shoulder press
    8 x (2 x 35Kg)
    8 x (2 x 35Kg)
    7 x (2 x 35Kg)
    4 x (2 x 35Kg) (to make up for 3rd set failure)

    I normally smash through three sets of these with relative ease. I failed on set 3 after the 7th rep, very disappointing. I had to make up for the last missed rep so I managed to pop 4 more as a part 4th set.

    These were very hard, i was hot, yawning, felt weak and lacked the focus that i shoudl have had. Im still trying to work out why. Poor sleep maybe added to this ? Hmmmm.

    Lateral Dumbell Raise
    8 x (2 x 15Kg)
    8 x (2 x 15Kg)
    8 x (2 x 15Kg)

    Again these were very difficult, i stepped up from 12.5Kgs recently so not too worries. Things started perking up towards the last set though.

    Front Dumbell Raise
    8 x (2 x 15Kg)
    8 x (2 x 15Kg)
    8 x (2 x 15Kg)

    Things were quite easy on the whole. I may do them for another week or two and then try a set at 17.5Kg per dumbell. The third set were in a different league and my circuitry had switched itself on at last !

    Seated Behind Neck Smith Press
    8 x 60Kg
    8 x 80Kg
    8 x 60Kg
    8 x 60Kg

    The second set was upped to 80Kg, which i managed. I felt that i wasnt getting the bar low enough so i dropped back to 60 for the remaining sets. Not sure why I did four sets on this one but i think it was because i was not at full throttle and wanted to 'catch up' for the lack of strength at the beginning of the session.

    Abs
    20 crunches
    20 leg raises
    10 crunches

    On the whole it was an acceptable session. I certainly sweated which is a sign that i havent meandered into the gym but i had put my heart into it. I cant ask for more than that. I have been wanting to up the dumbell presses to 37.5Kg a dumbell but this is proving to be a hard jump, albeit what would appear to be a measly 2.5Kg.

    Next session i promise myslef not to yawn between sets !
    Last edited by Zippeyrude; 26th July 2008 at 02:49 PM.

  11. #11
    LilacHarryQuinn
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    Default Re: Zippy's Journal

    Quick question zippey, historically have you spent a lot of time building your shoulders up ?

  12. #12
    DF VIP Member Zippeyrude's Avatar
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    Default Re: Zippy's Journal

    Erm, interesting question. I guess i looked at what i needed to develop and the 4 day split worked well.

    Dedicating a routine to shoulders isnt OTT imo. There are a couple of body parts that give good shape and they are the traps and shoulders. A nice rounded shoulder and strong traps look good on any body shape... to me they add some poise to what may otherwise be a 'droopy' look.

    I have done a dedicated shoulders day for the last year and absolutely i love it. I find that unless you really work at the shoulders it is hard to get a good pump or burn from them. Lots of people do chest and shoulders on a 'push' day of a push/pull/legs split but personally i cant give the shoulders the max on this type of routine as my triceps are normally cooked after the chest exercises. On the shoulder day the triceps get a second weekly workout which obviously helps with most of the chest exercises.

  13. #13
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    Default Re: Zippy's Journal

    Always try to incorporate an exercise that targets your rear delts, either in your shoulders or your back workout as these badboys pull your posture into line nicely to avoid the "droopy" look.

  14. #14
    LilacHarryQuinn
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    Default Re: Zippy's Journal

    I know everybody's body is different, but it was the difference in the weight you used for shoulder pressing and then side lat raises that made me ask because no way on god's earth could I DB shoulder them weights (as my journal for yesterday details) but I could probably do the other 2 exercises with the weights you used.

    Like I say I know everyone is different it just made me wonder if you'd really gone for it big on the shoulders at some stage.

  15. #15
    DF VIP Member Zippeyrude's Avatar
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    Default Re: Zippy's Journal

    Ive not gone out of my way to train them differently tbh. I guess if you target, say a 100kg, bench press the secondary muscles need to be quite good. So with a set of core strength and triceps/arms that allow you to push a 100kg bench it follows that the shoulder press will be quite good (assuming shoulders have not been forgotten in the routine).

    Perhaps as i said above i have trained them separately which has helped. Dont get me wrong, the side raises are not easy by any stretch tho'... dont wanna give the impression that i sailed em! Another factor may be that they are towards the start of the routine, also the fact that i aim to only do 3 sets.

    One thing that i must say is that stepping up the weight on a db shoulder press is a massive hurdle for me. It literally took months to go up from 32.5 to 35. I have had 37.5 in my sight but this is on a 'strong day' and i wouldnt be able to do a straight set of 8. I need to get the 3 sets of 35s easy again (I think getting enough good sleep is the key at the mo').

    On one occasion i failed to control the left dumbell, i let it slip back out of grip whilst overhead and it crashed to the floor behind me. Imbalance caused the right dumbell to drop from overhead, it clipped my kneecap, luckily grazing the skin (under my trackies) but nothing else (apart from numbness and a masive bruise). I am very careful now, i have seen how db shoulder presses can easily go tits up ....by bouncing them at the top when they touch or going too quickly can easily result in a bad bad injury imo.

  16. #16
    DF VIP Member super mike's Avatar
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    Default Re: Zippy's Journal

    Why do you choose to do seated smith presses?

  17. #17
    DF VIP Member Zippeyrude's Avatar
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    Default Re: Zippy's Journal

    i guess i like the seated part because it helps me isolate the movement and not worry about the other core muscles if i were to do a standing military type press. the smiths is quite helpful in that the rail movement means that dont have to worry about a heavy barbell swaying overhead (not that it should of course) so i can concentrate on the pure push.

    I have kinda good into the habit of this one as the rack is normally occupied by ppl doing bench press. I havent done the smith seated press long now but it does allow me to get nice and low with the barbell and i am guaranteed a burn on the delts by the end of the sets. as it is the last exercise i like to aim for failure towards the last reps.

    not sure if that answers but.... i guess i just like 'em

  18. #18
    DF VIP Member super mike's Avatar
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    Default Re: Zippy's Journal

    It was a badly worded question, but you still answered it. Basically I wanted to know why them as opposed to the standing press.

    Why do you choose behind the neck? Ever found any painful quirks, aches or pains from doing them?

    Don't really know why I am asking, because I personally hate smith machines and seated presses, but I am just interested in others training style.

    Cracking weight by the way.

  19. #19
    DF VIP Member Zippeyrude's Avatar
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    Default Re: Zippy's Journal

    Right im back. Lots of shit going on in my life at the mo so im a bit disorientated.

    In terms of the seated presses i find that it puts less strain and requires less effort than a standing press. When you get to the heavier weights the standing ones require effort to keep balance etc. It also isolates the press so you are less able to 'bounce' / jerk the weight up when it gets to shoulder height.

    The behind the neck press is to try and hit the rear part of the delts used in this exercise. I find that they really burn at the end.

    Now moving on to Mondays chest session.......

  20. #20
    DF VIP Member Zippeyrude's Avatar
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    Default Re: Zippy's Journal

    Monday - Chest

    Barbell Bench Bress
    8 x 60 warm up
    8 x 100Kg
    8 x 110Kg
    8 x 110Kg
    5 x 120Kg (last 2 assisted)
    3 x 130Kg (assisted)

    Im trying really hard to smash the heavys. I want 3 sets of 110, nice and clean. Im not quite there yet hence tring to increase strength by the heavy sets - till failure. I know some people state the the CNS suffers but as my chest routine is once a week i am confident that this is sufficient time for the chest to be ready for the next session. I need to work on the lower part of the press as i am increasingly tending to stop short of the chest. I dont consider this to be good technique and want to nip it in the bud. In having said that i normally aim for 3 sets of 8, this session had more sets than expected with one of the gyms monsters so i was helpfully pushed hard, no regrets whatsoever.

    Incline Barbell Bench Press
    8 x 60Kg
    8 x 80Kg
    8 x 90Kg (last 3 assisted)
    8 x 60Kg

    Four sets this time, again pushing as hard as i could. The final set of 60s were literally bouncing up from the chest. Interesting to see the effect of a little more or less weight on the bar. I tried the 90s and was surprised that the triceps didnt fail as much as i had expected. Overall i was very satisfied with this set.

    Decline Bench Press

    8 x 80Kg
    3 x 100Kg
    7 x 90Kg (3 assisted)
    8 x 80Kg

    The figures look disappointing but i am quite happy with this session. The first two exercises would have cooked the average person but i gave it my best bash. Tbh i was completely finsihed at this stage, at one point resting the bar on my chest as i thought i hadnt gripped the bar evenly. It was just my arms making me think i was unbalanced !

    Dumbell Flyes
    8 x (2 x 25Kg)
    8 x (2 x 25Kg)
    8 x (2 x 25Kg)

    Im getting better at these. The last few were very difficult and the gym experienced my vocal grunts in getting the buggers up but they got there !

    Another nice session. Glad 'the monster' was there in that it made a nice change. I suffered on the decline but im sure this was due to the additional sets in the first two exercises. Nice to do things a little differently

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