DAY 14 - SIMPLY THE CHEST

DAY 14 - 27th JUNE 2015

TRAINING - CHEST & CARDIO

WEIGHTS DURATION: 66mins                    CARDIO DURATION: 60mins

All systems go! I am feeling surprisingly good, happy and inspired to have finished week 2, almost reaching the half way stage of the challenge. Today was a little bit of chest with some rogue traps thrown in there. Im happy to report that no ice cream has passed the lips in 72 hours; the diet has been clean, the training has been almost perfect and the cardio even better. I'm starting to see this challenge in the same way I see a cardio session; the first bit your motivated for, you'll hit a lull soon after that, you get a second wind and then when you hit half way; you're on the home straight!

THE WORKOUT

This was my third chest session of the programme. The first looked at flat bench, the second looked at incline and due to having no decline bench (annoying) I am back to concentrating on flat benching. 

EXERCISE ONE

BENCH OLYMPIC BAR PRESS  - 7 SETS - 8-15 REPS

Same style as what I did last time as I feel that its working well for me. If you feel the same then I would suggest sticking with it for a bit before you change it, but make sure you do change it up at some point. 

Check out the comparisons of both flat bench exercises:
SESSION 1 FLAT BENCH                                      SESSION 2 FLAT BENCH

Set 1 - 10 reps - 70kg                                        Set 1 - 15 reps - 60kg

Set 2 - 10 reps - 90kg                                        Set 2 - 15 reps - 60kg

Set 3 - 10 reps - 100kg                                       Set 3 - 10 reps - 90kg

Set 4 - 8 reps - 110kg                                        Set 4 - 10 reps - 110kg

Set 5 - 4 reps - 120kg                                        Set 5 - 6 reps - 110kg

Set 6 - 3 reps - 130kg                                        Set 6 - 7 reps - 110kg

Set 7 - 15 reps - 60kg                                        Set 7 - 8 reps - 90kg

Set 8 - 10 reps - 90kg

Set 9 - 8 reps - 90kg

Set 10 - 6 reps - 90kg

EXERCISE TWO

BENT OVER CABLE FLIES  - 5 SETS - 10-20 REPS

Another exercise I did in session 1 but last time I did just 3 sets. This time concentrating on 5; the first three sets I did the normal weight and 20 reps and then I tried heavier than I have ever tried and managed to get 2 sets of 10 out. Always good to shock the body!

EXERCISE THREE

INCLINE DUMBBELL MILITARY PRESS  - 5 SETS - 12 REPS

Last week I made the mistake of going from one press to the next and was suffering the next day because of it. So today was good: press, flies, press. 

Military is something I haven't worked out on yet and I find it to be a great exercise to develop the middle of the chest. Sometimes I use just a weight plate and hold it as if I'm trying to clap my hands - maybe we'll look to do this next time.

I find the best way to describe the technique of the military press is its half flies, half pressing. Whilst coming down, bend the arm but look to keep it as narrow as possible and then explode up into the middle. 

EXERCISE FOUR

CABLE DIPS  - 4 SETS - 20 REPS

I was going to try and do actual dips but I didn't feel I had the energy to get decent form out so I thought i'd do them on the cables instead. 

Look to keep the elbows as tucked in as they would be when doing dips, try and keep as upright as you can and squeeze the chest in when at the bottom.

Need to work on those facials! Poor from me.

--->

EXERCISE FIVE

UPRIGHT CABLE FLIES  - 2 SETS - REP UNTIL FAILURE

I looked to do a light couple of sets on this exercise to finish off. I was going to try and attempt it on the bench doing normal flies but there were none available.

I found an endurance set a good way to finish what was predominantly a heavy session.

I managed to get 31 reps on my first go, kept the weight the same and got 26 the second time round.

EXERCISE SIX

OLYMPIC BAR SHRUGGS  - 3 SETS - 20 REPS

I would never normally do shruggs in a chest session but then I realised that it didn't matter and I fancied doing some!

Different technique to how I did them last time, I went considerably heavier and used the bar instead of dumb bells. I put the weight up by 20kg for the 2/3 set but still managed to maintain 20 reps.

THE CARDIO

After doing 40mins on the cross trainer yesterday and an hour the day before that, I thought it was only fair to get back on the bike. I wasn't planning on doing an hour but after a decent candy crush stint and a FaceTime with the mother. I managed to clock up 60 minutes at a somewhat ambling pace. Better some than none, right? Also a good loosener if I decide to do legs tomorrow.

THE DIET

Meal 1

Meal 2

• 1 Large bowl 'Fitness' cereal
• 3 Boiled eggs (1 Yolk)
• 1 Apple
• 2 Cups of coffee

Meal 2

• 2 Boiled eggs (no Yolks)
• 200g Chicken
• 13 Almonds
• 1 Apple
• 50g Broccoli

Meal 3

• 200g Chicken
• 100g Rice
• 1 Beef Skewer
• 3 Small slices of Watermelon

FINAL THOUGHTS

Really, really please to be back on track, feeling good and focused. The session was very good and I'm please that I managed to get in a 60 minute (albeit not very strenuous) bike ride. I'll always take a bit of extra cardio for not much extra effort! When writing this, at the end of meal 2 I need to make sure I maintain this focus. I'm thinking I need some kind of target to hit to try and achieve maximum results. I'll have a think about this one and hopefully remember to post and inspired ideas tomorrow.

Which session do you prefer? Am I still doing too much in the first exercise? Do you ever throw some rogue exercise in your sessions? Let me know.

Hasta mañana

WEEK 1 - DAY 7. DAY 7 OVERALL.

WEEK 2 - DAY 7. DAY 14 OVERALL