DAY 7 - 20th JUNE 2015
TRAINING - BACK & CARDIO
WEIGHTS DURATION: 61mins CARDIO DURATION: 32mins
I'm feeling freshly inspired after a great back session today, looking to finish the end of week one strongly. I think its important that one works out on different exercises every session to keep all the different muscles working in different ways opposed to doing the same exercises every time they train that specific muscle.
Today of course, started with 30 minutes on the ab plate whilst watching Masterchef. Ironic that in the half an hour I was doing it, they were all making bloody deserts!
Whilst last week's back session concentrated directly on lats, todays session is more concentrated to the middle of the back. Obviously I will be working on the lats too, but I like to keep it changing at all points. This exercise is similar to the BENT OVER OLYMPIC BAR ROW that we did in session one but again, due to having the freedom with free weights, it works a variation of muscles. The photos of this exercise aren't great but when starting the rep, I try to keep the hands close together and pull out and go wide to finish the rep.
CABLE LAT PULL DOWN - 3 SETS - 6-15 REPS
On my first set, I pulled as heavy as I could and got 6 reps. On the second and third set, I almost halved the weight and repped out 15. Give it a go, another way to shock the body!
THE CARDIO
Thought I'd stick to the basics and continue with the Cross Trainer. After a great first week, I decided to do a massive extra two minutes!!! Just kidding, I just thought I may as well hit 2km. Today I did up the level and managed to burn some extra calories which is a bonus; I burnt 494 cals in 30mins the last time I did the cross trainer, so ill take the extra 78 cals!
THE DIET
After plenty of worry about not being able to eat at work, I've got a good feeling that this whole Ramadan fasting might actually do me some good; I just need to make sure that I'm strict enough when it comes to the 6pm meal to eat as clean as possible and have the dedication to keep on prepping my snacks for post-gym/pre 6pm feed before I leave the house in the morning. Im finding that I have to have a bigger breakfast to try and make it more bearable when I get into work.
Meal 1
FINAL THOUGHTS
Im extremely happy to have had the first full cycle of working out on every muscle group one time over and today looking at working on back again. A great weights session matched by a good cardio stint, too. We go again tomorrow with Legs, but I want to look at trying to up the cardio.
Which session do you prefer? The First back session we did or this one? Am I missing any really key exercises? Any tips on what I should concentrate on more next back session? Get BACK to me, get it?! I want to hear it all.
Today of course, started with 30 minutes on the ab plate whilst watching Masterchef. Ironic that in the half an hour I was doing it, they were all making bloody deserts!
THE WORKOUT
Motivation is high in my camp at the moment; I feel that I'm making progress faster than initially anticipated, I'm starting to think that Ramadan's fasting challenges could actually be helping the cut - I'm only eating small and clean snacks in between meal 1 & 4 and stuffing my face around 6pm full of all things high protein so when meal 4 comes around, I don't need as much as I have been having. Today also marks the start of the second cycle; every muscle has been worked out on so its time for session 2 on back. Whats that Queen song again? DONT STOP ME NOW!
EXERCISE ONE
Motivation is high in my camp at the moment; I feel that I'm making progress faster than initially anticipated, I'm starting to think that Ramadan's fasting challenges could actually be helping the cut - I'm only eating small and clean snacks in between meal 1 & 4 and stuffing my face around 6pm full of all things high protein so when meal 4 comes around, I don't need as much as I have been having. Today also marks the start of the second cycle; every muscle has been worked out on so its time for session 2 on back. Whats that Queen song again? DONT STOP ME NOW!
EXERCISE ONE
BENT OVER ROPE LAT PULL - 3 SETS 20 REPS
Similar to the straight arm lat extension that I did in my first back session on Day 1 but allows more range of movement to stimulate other muscles. I aim to have my arms as wide as the rope will allow at the top and squeeze the lats in, bringing the hands central as you come to the end of the rep.
EXERCISE TWO
Similar to the straight arm lat extension that I did in my first back session on Day 1 but allows more range of movement to stimulate other muscles. I aim to have my arms as wide as the rope will allow at the top and squeeze the lats in, bringing the hands central as you come to the end of the rep.
EXERCISE TWO
BENT OVER DUMBBELL ROW - 3 SETS 12 REPS
Whilst last week's back session concentrated directly on lats, todays session is more concentrated to the middle of the back. Obviously I will be working on the lats too, but I like to keep it changing at all points. This exercise is similar to the BENT OVER OLYMPIC BAR ROW that we did in session one but again, due to having the freedom with free weights, it works a variation of muscles. The photos of this exercise aren't great but when starting the rep, I try to keep the hands close together and pull out and go wide to finish the rep.
EXERCISE THREE
BENT OVER CLOSE GRIP CABLE ROW - 4 SETS 15 REPS
This exercise is similar to the BENT OVER TWISTED CABLE ROW we did in session one, but again, were trying to concentrate on the middle of the back which is why we have changed thy way we do it. When the arms are fully extended at the start of the exercise, I like to lean forward to really stretch out the lat. Then look to sit back a little further when finishing the rep.
EXERCISE FOUR
SUPER-SET; LION LAT PULL & LOWER BACK RAISES - 4 SETS - 20 REPS
Complete exercise A and then B to complete one set.
EXERCISE A - LION LAT PULL
The photos of this exercise don't nearly do it justice. A new exercise shown to me by my training partner, make sure you try this out. Position the bench quite far from the cables so when you do come to grab the handle, your arms are fully extended. Join both cables at the top, then use the bench to lie down at about a 45 degree angle. Arguably quite similar to the CLOSE HAND LAT PULL DOWN, but by lying at around 45 degrees, it works the lat in a completely different way. Simply pull the the handles to the top of your chest and feel the burn!
EXERCISE B - LOWER BACK EXTENSION
I said in the last blog that I did that I struggle with my lower back; therefore I generally only do one exercise on the lower back per back session. Because I did DEADLIFTS on day one, I wanted to change it up again so I did by completing this classic exercise which is extremely simple and effective. If you want to give the love handles a real good work out, you can concentrate on coming up either side to work them that bit harder.
EXERCISE FIVE
DROP-SET; CLOSE HAND LAT PULL DOWN - 1 SET - 10 REPS HEAVY/20 REPS LIGHT
An exercise that I did that was also in Session One on the back. By this point, I was on a role so I just wanted to keep going. It probably wasn't entirely necessary but hey, it was only 1 drop set and still felt beneficial. Again, same technique that I used in session one; on the knees, fully extent the arms up to start the rep, squeeze the lats in a pull down so the handles come to about chest/diaphragm level.
EXERCISE SIX
CABLE LAT PULL DOWN - 3 SETS - 6-15 REPS
I'll admit it, I attempted to do some wide grip pull ups but physically couldn't do one. A sign of a good session, right? Either that or I need to get back to the drawing board! Anyway, I figured I should do one more exercise and what better way to finish off than completing the classic lat pull down?! The other exercise thats copied from last weeks session.
On my first set, I pulled as heavy as I could and got 6 reps. On the second and third set, I almost halved the weight and repped out 15. Give it a go, another way to shock the body!
THE CARDIO
Thought I'd stick to the basics and continue with the Cross Trainer. After a great first week, I decided to do a massive extra two minutes!!! Just kidding, I just thought I may as well hit 2km. Today I did up the level and managed to burn some extra calories which is a bonus; I burnt 494 cals in 30mins the last time I did the cross trainer, so ill take the extra 78 cals!
THE DIET
 |
| MEAL 1 |
 |
| MEAL 2 |
After plenty of worry about not being able to eat at work, I've got a good feeling that this whole Ramadan fasting might actually do me some good; I just need to make sure that I'm strict enough when it comes to the 6pm meal to eat as clean as possible and have the dedication to keep on prepping my snacks for post-gym/pre 6pm feed before I leave the house in the morning. Im finding that I have to have a bigger breakfast to try and make it more bearable when I get into work.
 |
| Meal 3 |
- 4 Eggs but only 2 yolks in scrambled form
- 1 Rice Cake
- 1 Rice Cake with Organic Peanut Butter
- 100g Chicken Breast
- 1 Small Glass of Organic Orange Juice
- 1 Apple
Meal 2
- 100g Chicken Breast
- 15 Almonds
- 1 Tin Tuna
- Boiled Egg white
- 1 Apple
Meal 3
- 2 x Beef Skewers
- 2 x Chicken Skewers
- 100g Chicken Breast
- 100g Rice
- Small Salad
Meal 4
- 1/2 a Chicken
- 200g Brown Pesto Pasta
Snacks
- 2 Handfuls of Fruit & nuts
- 1 Protein Shake
Im extremely happy to have had the first full cycle of working out on every muscle group one time over and today looking at working on back again. A great weights session matched by a good cardio stint, too. We go again tomorrow with Legs, but I want to look at trying to up the cardio.
Which session do you prefer? The First back session we did or this one? Am I missing any really key exercises? Any tips on what I should concentrate on more next back session? Get BACK to me, get it?! I want to hear it all.
Auf Wiedersehen!
 |
| DAY 7 |
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