DAY 5 - 18th JUNE 2015
TRAINING - SHOULDERS & CARDIO
WEIGHTS DURATION: 73mins CARDIO DURATION: 20mins
I literally cannot articulate how happy I am that yesterday is over having been way too hungover the whole day. In a weird way though, it has inspired me and put me in a great frame of mind ahead of my shoulders session today. I figured, if I can get through a day like yesterday, then surely theres nothing that can stop me! Bring on shoulders!
THE WORKOUT
I was very ready to get back on the horse and smash a shoulder session out. I think its the best muscle to make you look good in a t-shirt. Whether or not its true I have no idea, but ancient studies have suggested that the shoulder is the main muscle that girls subconsciously look for making you more appealing to the opposite sex.
I did manage to get my 30 minutes on the old ab plate in today which was good, it seems to be getting a bit easier. Maybe I'll try for 35 mins tomorrow.
EXERCISE ONE
A good exercise to get into the session, very basic and generally works the whole shoulder. I made sure my hand were positioned where they were opposed to the other way as I'll be using that grip later when pressing with free weights. By using the grip that I did, it puts more stress on the front of the deltoid muscle.
Set 1 - 15 reps
Set 2 - 15 Reps
Set 3 - 20 reps
In hindsight, I think I could have pushed out 20x20x20. Atleast I have something to aim for in the next shoulder session I do.
Set 1 - 20 reps - 10kg Each Hand
Set 2 - 12 Reps - 35kg Each Hand
Set 3 - 12 reps - 35kg Each Hand
Set 4 - 12 Reps - 35kg Each Hand
DROP SET - 20 reps - 10kg Each Hand
Another classic exercise where you can change whether you extend in front or to the side, each way working a different part of the shoulder. I have a habit of bouncing when the going gets tough so if you struggle with the same try and sit down to isolate the movement and concentrate solely on the muscle instead of using momentum which will retract from the shoulder working to its max.
An absolute Mother F****r of an exercise, especially four exercises deep with a good intensity. Its important that you concentrate on not letting the bar rest on your legs when finishing a repetition and it only has to go just above eye-height in order to gain maximum benefit from the exercise.
Also, the aim of this exercise is to bring the bar down slowly, not try and get it up as fast as you can. No pun intended.
I can never remember if I usually do shruggs with my back workout or shoulder workout, but having not done it the other day I thought today was probably a good time to do it. Another exercise that I find one can usually do heavier that they think. Straps usually come in handy as we all know how hard it is to grip a heavy weight for the duration of 20 reps. I mixed up the speed, some slow and some fast and always tried to hold it for 2-3 seconds at the top of the rep.
I find it more beneficial to make sure I fully extend my arms both up and down. The exercise concentrates on working out the top of the shoulder and traps.
Similar to doing it with free weights but notice how my thumbs are pointing upwards. Aswell as working on the shoulders, its also a good core exercise as you use it all to shift the weight up and down. In the same way with the straight arm EZ bar extension, try not rest the plate on your legs when you come down.
Having down wide grip pull ups to finish my back workout on day one, I thought I'd do the same for todays shoulder workout. The only difference being that when doing back I did over-grip wide set where as today I did an under-grip narrow set. Pull-ups don't necessarily directly work solely on the shoulders, but work the whole body, which is always a good thing.
This time round I managed to get 5x5x5. Room for improvement there!
A really good chest session that has broken the trend of doing alot of sets on one exercise. Feeling good all in all and excited to have an easier session tomorrow!
I tend not to ache after a shoulder session, any suggestions why? Whats your favourite shoulder exercise?
Today marked the start of Ramadan which might complicate things somewhat considering I can't be seen to be eating/drinking infront of my Arab colleagues even though I won't be taking part in the month of fasting. It will almost certainly effect the diet as the work canteen is closed all day until the sun has set. More to follow.
THE WORKOUT
I was very ready to get back on the horse and smash a shoulder session out. I think its the best muscle to make you look good in a t-shirt. Whether or not its true I have no idea, but ancient studies have suggested that the shoulder is the main muscle that girls subconsciously look for making you more appealing to the opposite sex.
I did manage to get my 30 minutes on the old ab plate in today which was good, it seems to be getting a bit easier. Maybe I'll try for 35 mins tomorrow.
EXERCISE ONE
MACHINE SHOULDER PRESS - 6 SETS (3 WARMUP) 15-20 REPS
A good exercise to get into the session, very basic and generally works the whole shoulder. I made sure my hand were positioned where they were opposed to the other way as I'll be using that grip later when pressing with free weights. By using the grip that I did, it puts more stress on the front of the deltoid muscle.
Set 1 - 15 reps
Set 2 - 15 Reps
Set 3 - 20 reps
In hindsight, I think I could have pushed out 20x20x20. Atleast I have something to aim for in the next shoulder session I do.
EXERCISE TWO
DUMBBELL SHOULDER PRESS VARIED/DROP SET - 4 SETS
I've used the drop set technique plenty of times before, but never in the way that I did today. I basically started and finished in the same way; start light with 20 reps, then switch to heavy doing 12 reps then upon completion I went back to the weight I did in the first set and did another 20 reps which was bloody hard but felt great.
Set 1 - 20 reps - 10kg Each Hand
Set 2 - 12 Reps - 35kg Each Hand
Set 3 - 12 reps - 35kg Each Hand
Set 4 - 12 Reps - 35kg Each Hand
DROP SET - 20 reps - 10kg Each Hand
EXERCISE THREE
SHOULDER FLIES - 4 SETS - 15 REPS
SHOULDER FLIES - 4 SETS - 15 REPS
Another classic exercise where you can change whether you extend in front or to the side, each way working a different part of the shoulder. I have a habit of bouncing when the going gets tough so if you struggle with the same try and sit down to isolate the movement and concentrate solely on the muscle instead of using momentum which will retract from the shoulder working to its max.
EXERCISE FOUR
STRAIGHT ARM EZ BAR RAISE - 3 SETS 15 REPS
An absolute Mother F****r of an exercise, especially four exercises deep with a good intensity. Its important that you concentrate on not letting the bar rest on your legs when finishing a repetition and it only has to go just above eye-height in order to gain maximum benefit from the exercise.
Also, the aim of this exercise is to bring the bar down slowly, not try and get it up as fast as you can. No pun intended.
EXERCISE FIVE
BENT OVER FLIES - 3 SETS - 10 REPS
Trying to keep the variation in the workout, I opted to try and go heavy on bent over flies. They're different to the normal ones as seen in exercise three as theres more focus put on the rear of the shoulder opposed to the top side. Another exercise where you should aim to explode up and bring the weight down slowly.
EXERCISE SIX
EXERCISE SIX - SAT DOWN SHRUGGS - 4 SETS - 20 REPS
I can never remember if I usually do shruggs with my back workout or shoulder workout, but having not done it the other day I thought today was probably a good time to do it. Another exercise that I find one can usually do heavier that they think. Straps usually come in handy as we all know how hard it is to grip a heavy weight for the duration of 20 reps. I mixed up the speed, some slow and some fast and always tried to hold it for 2-3 seconds at the top of the rep.
EXERCISE SEVEN
SUPER-SET; UPRIGHT ROW & PLATE RAISES - 1 SET
Complete exercise A and then B to complete one set.
EXERCISE A - UPRIGHT ROW - 30 REPS
I find it more beneficial to make sure I fully extend my arms both up and down. The exercise concentrates on working out the top of the shoulder and traps.
EXERCISE B - PLATE RAISES - 20 REPS
Similar to doing it with free weights but notice how my thumbs are pointing upwards. Aswell as working on the shoulders, its also a good core exercise as you use it all to shift the weight up and down. In the same way with the straight arm EZ bar extension, try not rest the plate on your legs when you come down.
EXERCISE EIGHT
PULL UPS - 3 SETS - WORK UNTIL MAXED OUT
Having down wide grip pull ups to finish my back workout on day one, I thought I'd do the same for todays shoulder workout. The only difference being that when doing back I did over-grip wide set where as today I did an under-grip narrow set. Pull-ups don't necessarily directly work solely on the shoulders, but work the whole body, which is always a good thing.
This time round I managed to get 5x5x5. Room for improvement there!
THE CARDIO
Well, after my longest weights session so far, I thought I'd also try a different style of cardio. I still did the Cross Trainer but did 20 minutes on a higher lever opposed to what I have been doing; 30 minutes on a lesser level. The sweat was certainly pouring off me! Next step: try and maintain the level that I did for 30 minutes. Based on my Cross Trainer workout from session one, I roughly burnt 165 cals in 10 mins. Based on today, were up to 170. Every little helps!
THE DIET
As I said at the start, with Ramadan now in full swing, it means the place I get my food, the Diet House is closed during the day. This means even more pressure to wake up earlier to prepare lunch one to sneakily eat behind closed doors. Iftah (the free food the company offer when the sun goes down) is all buffet food with some healthy options and some not so healthy. But, free food is free food at the end of the day and the thing that has been most noticeable since starting the regime has been how expensive healthy food is, never mind the time implications when thats a scarce resource in the first place. It'll be interesting to see how it goes.
As I said at the start, with Ramadan now in full swing, it means the place I get my food, the Diet House is closed during the day. This means even more pressure to wake up earlier to prepare lunch one to sneakily eat behind closed doors. Iftah (the free food the company offer when the sun goes down) is all buffet food with some healthy options and some not so healthy. But, free food is free food at the end of the day and the thing that has been most noticeable since starting the regime has been how expensive healthy food is, never mind the time implications when thats a scarce resource in the first place. It'll be interesting to see how it goes.
Meal 1
 |
| MEAL 3 |
- 4 Eggs in scrambled form
- 2 Slices of ham
- 1 rice cake
- 1 coffee
Meal 2
- 350g Chicken Breast
- 100g veg
- 1 Protein Shake
Meal 3
 |
| SNACK TIME |
- Chicken Skewer x 3
- 100g Rice
- 1 Chicken Wrap
- 1 Small Greek Salad
- 50g Boiled Potato
- 2 Slices of Melon
Meal 4
- 200g Steak
- 100g Veg
Meal 5
- 100g Chicken Breat
- 100g Veg
Snacks
- 1 Protein Shake
- 20 Almonds
- 1 Apple
- 1 Rice Cake
FINAL THOUGHTS
A really good chest session that has broken the trend of doing alot of sets on one exercise. Feeling good all in all and excited to have an easier session tomorrow!
I tend not to ache after a shoulder session, any suggestions why? Whats your favourite shoulder exercise?
In the words of Steven Gerrard, we go again. Au Revoir!
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| DAY 5 |
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