VinceJH Current Training Journal

Current Stats:
6ft 2in
177.2lbs
BF (I will need to update this part and LBM when my calipers arrive)
LBM

Goal Stats: Will change as I progress
210lbs (about)
8% BF
200lbs of LBM

By looking at myself I don't have any really need to loose body fat at all but I will try to keep it as it is for now. I would like to hit the 200 lbs mark for Lean Body Mass.
I have no real date in mind for this goal as it is hard to tell with muscle growth being a slow process anyway.

Bit about me.

Look: Ectomorph , low body fat, tall, wide shoulders, also I don't have a real skinny look to me as I have been previously training on and off since I was 16.

Why training on and off?: Always told 3 days+ per week triple split volume, eat like a horse, pop a ton of pills and powder for gains. I now know this not to be true but was a real put off a few years back.

Style of training now: High Intensity Training obviously. The Big 5 Workout in Body By Science and will progress to a double body split (upper and lower), then Mike Mentzer's Ideal Workout 3 way split then progress from there. I will change from the Big 5 to the double then the triple split only when my strength gains start to drop. I will work out 1 day per week, mainly on Mondays. If I have to wait a day extra for whatever reason no problem. (I know form experience that working out 2 days per week results in fatigue after about 7-9 weeks)

Nutrition: I will basically eat whatever I like. I do eat healthy anyway. I don't really have a taste for 'junk food' that much. I would say I will eat 60% carbohydrates, 25% protein and 15% fats but I will not be counting macronutriens and calorie intakes for 3 reasons:

1) I have no reason to decrease my body fat. If it happens then it happens. If I put a bit on then I will.

2) I have come to realise through thinking a lot and reading loads that muscle gain is not to do with what you eat but how you train. That is how intense and productive you train. You just can't force feed your muscles to grow. Fat loss is more to do with what you eat (or don't).

3) I have a very good understanding of how many carbohydrates, protein and fats there are in foods and can make good judgments on what to eat and how much I will be getting without looking at the packets. I wont have protein guilt (I think its called) because such things are silly.

He are 2 examples of what I will eat during the day:

1)
Breakfast: 6am
2 peanut butter toasties and a glass of milk.

Work break snack: 9am
Chicken and rice salad

Lunch: 1pm
Chilli and pasta

Dinner: 5:30pm
Steak and vegetables and glass of milk

2)
Breakfast: 6am
5 Weatbix, milk and linseed sprinckles

Work break snack:
Cheese sandwich

Lunch:
Tuna and jacket potato and some nuts

Dinner:
2 slices of beef, feta cheese and tomato salad, cottage cheese and milk.

These are just examples of what I have. It does change on days off from work etc
I also get up a little later on days off (7:30am).
Also I will probably snack at other times, have a chocolate bar here and there but I naturally don't really do this too much. Also I wont stick to strict times on when I will eat. I just eat when I'm hungry.

You may notice that for dinner I have no solid carbohydrates at all eg rice, bread, potato, pasta. Reason: I do not want an insulin spike before I go to bed at 9:30. Natural human growth hormone can't be released from the pituitary gland (just under the brain) if the insulin levels in the body are high (or existent to any large level I think). As you will know our bodies repair and grow during the night and HGH is one of the hormones responsible for it. I am doing a lot of research into sleep and exercise at the moment, so I can write up my finding on here if you all like. (It's all very interesting if you are not aware of it.)

I will do a 24hour fat once per week and see how I go. Maybe once every 2 weeks. we will see. That is to burn extra calories off that I may have eaten during the week and to give my body a 'day off' from digesting etc.
This is controversial I know. For those of you who think I'm crazy read Eat Stop Eat by Brad Pilon or look up fasting and muscular growth on Google. It's every enlightening.

Supplements: non

So that's it for the background 'fluff' here is the workout.

Big 5

Seated row
Chest Press
Palm Up Pull Downs
Shoulder Press
Leg Press

-These will be all performed on machines
-Full rush factor (roughly 15mins per workout)
-1 set to failure
-Will not count reps but will time my TUL (time under load). That is how long my muscles are working with the given weight.
-I will aim for a minimum of 60sec TUL and when I reach 90secs I will increase the weight by 5-10% or 1 position on the machine stack.
-No warm up.
-No cool Down.
-No stretching at all.
-The only 'intensity technique' I will use is when I can't complete an other 'rep' I will hold the weight in the contracted position (or close to it) for as long as I can.

As you can see I take a very no tradition view on the whole subject of bodybuilding.

I will post up my workouts each time I do them with various comments of how it went. Also updates on weight and measurements on a fortnightly basis.

I would love any comments and views on my journal.

Thanks

Vince

Note: This is annoying but at the gym on the machine stacks it is numbered 1-20. There's not weights. I will have to find out how heavy each weight block is.
The leg press is used with weight disks in kg. I will write the total weight of the leg press.

Key
TUL - Time Under Load (in seconds)
?? - forgot to time (oops)

Date: 25/07/2011 Monday
Time: 17:25
Finished: 17:40
Total: 15mins

Seated row: TUL ?? Weight 12
Machine Chest Press: TUL 71 Weight 12
Palm Up Pull Downs: TUL 137 Weight 10 then moved up to 12
Shoulder Press: TUL 63 Weight 8
Leg Press: TUL ?? Weight 110kg

Felt good in this workout.
Was unsure of the weights to use at first but I got it good.
First time in this gym.

Note: This is annoying but at the gym on the machine stacks it is numbered 1-20. There's not weights. I will have to find out how heavy each weight block is.
The leg press is used with weight disks in kg. I will write the total weight of the leg press.

Key
TUL - Time Under Load (in seconds)
?? - forgot to time (oops)

Date: 01/08/2011 Monday
Time: 14:16
Finished: 14:29
Total: 13mins

Seated row: TUL 99 Weight 13
Machine Chest Press: TUL 58 Weight 13
Palm Up Pull Downs: TUL 82 Weight 13
Shoulder Press: TUL 67 Weight 9
Leg Press: TUL 120 Weight 120kg

I increased the weights on all exercises but my TUL decreased on all recorded except shoulder press.

I will keep the Chest press, Pull downs and shoulder press the same weight but try to increase the TUL.

For the Seated row I will do weight 14.
For the Leg Press I will do 140kg.

I have been thinking about the 24 hours fasting a little bit since I made the 1st post. (Admittedly not long ago).
I think I will give it a miss normally, but I will include a 24 hour fast if I feel that I have been putting on a little more fat than I wish due to measurements and observation.

What you guys think about that?

Vince

Looking good and you seem to have everything in order for your goals. You should look into the Leangains as an IF protocol. It is what I do with the Anabolic Diet eating plan in my 8hr feeding window.

Cool thanks I will look into that.

Vince

But lives for another day!

Note: This is annoying but at the gym on the machine stacks it is numbered 1-20. There's not weights. I will have to find out how heavy each weight block is.
The leg press is used with weight disks in kg. I will write the total weight of the leg press.

Key
TUL - Time Under Load (in seconds)
?? - forgot to time (oops)

Date: 05/08/2011 Friday
Time: 14:30
Finished: 14:45
Total: 15mins

Seated row: TUL 93 Weight 14
Machine Chest Press: TUL 60 Weight 13
Palm Up Pull Downs: TUL 75 Weight 14
Shoulder Press: TUL 60 Weight 9
Leg Press: TUL 120 Weight 120kg

Ok so you may have noticed that I have trained on Monday then on Friday!!! Reason was is that I was curious to see if I could do the Big 5 twice in one week. The answer is NO! Kind of....

Seated Row: I increased the weight to 14 but my TUL was down 6 seconds. This I consider an INCREASE so that's good.
Chest Press: I kept the weight the same (13) and my TUL increased to 2 seconds. This I won't consider an improvement.
Pull Down: I Increased to 14 although I said I would keep it the same.(This was an error in the heat of the moment!) My TUL dropped 7 seconds but I think the increased weight is an improvement.
Shoulder press: Kept the weight at 9 and TUL decreased by 7 seconds. However last workout I started with 9 then dropped to 8. So this is on the line I'd say.
Leg Press: Increased weight to 140kg and TUL decreased around 10 seconds. (I was so tired after this I forgot to check the time!!!) But that's an improvement.

I did this to feed the curiosity in me (against logical reason) that I need to have around 7 days off and that I am not an exception to the rule. I felt fine to work out but half way through I started to find that I was tiring quicker than normal.
Basically I think I must have 'short cut' the recovery or growth (or both) somewhat.

I Seem to be strong on the seated rows and pull downs but chest and shoulders definitely need the extra time off.

Someone said that if you feel fine to work out leave it a 2 extra days. Who was that? I can't remember but I know this to be very true, for me anyway.

So 1 day a week it is!!!

Seated row: I will increase to 15.
Chest Press: Keep weight the same but hope to increase TUL.
Pull Downs: Keep weight the same this time at 14.
Shoulder press: Keep weight the same and increase TUL
Leg Press: Increase weight to 160.

Vince

That is Bill Sahli's Two Day rule.

http://ezinearticles.com/?120%-High-Intensity-Training-Recovery&id=4425941

http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Two-Day-Rule-Rules&id=2571168

http://ezinearticles.com/?expert=Bill_Sahli
This last link takes you his article database.

Daron
The Heavy Duty HITman