Training & Diet Progress

My last few blogs have been centred around topics outside of my own training so now I thought it would be a good time to touch base on my progress, as much has changed!!

Ok so Ive been back into serious training for about 6 solid weeks now and everything is going brilliantly. My plan of attack is working and my new diet and training program from my new coach is working well. I am making some very solid gains and I have already seen some extra size added to my main areas of focus.

I have also set my new goals and also planned what comps I will be competing in next!! 

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Taken just moments after coming off stage at the 2012 Adelaide Grand Prix

Body weight is at 110kg and that's on an empty stomach, I am definitely feeling strong! My current training split is as follows.

Saturday - Chest & Calves

Sunday - Arms

Monday Off

Tuesday - Back & Abdominals

Wednesday - Shoulders & Calves

Thursday - Legs

Friday - Off

This routine is working great for both me and my training partner. My workouts are very focused and in each session I have a plan off attack. I record every session, each rep and every weight we lift, the following week my job is to perform either more reps or more weight on all given exercises. I never compromise form in order to increase the weight however if my training and diet is working as planned I should in theory be able to lift more and more on a weekly basis, up to now I have been upping the weights weekly keeping my form which is great!

My diet at the moment is high in both proteins and carbohydrates and my coach recently instructed me to adjust my carb intake to actually increase them even more. I have added an extra 60grams of good fats to my diet in the form of Flaxseed oil also. Mass Nutrition have of course supplied me with all the supps I need however I typically only use a Whey Protein Isolate in the form of ON Whey Powder and I also use Gen-Tec Pure Carbs. I sometimes use a Pre Workout and I will mix this around and try the new ones that seem to appear on a weekly basis but I don't like to have too many stims. I use Universal Aminos and I also use Animal Pak as a daily Multi.

Currently I am eating 7 meals a day, this is because my job as personal trainer sees me starting work very early so my first meal is in me by 5:30am and my last meal is just before bed at about 10:00pm. I eat every 2.5 hours and for me I make eating my full time job, nothing comes before my food, I plan my day around when I need to eat because all my mentors and trainers drilled into me that food and a consistent diet is the key, so for me my nutrition comes first, always!

Next week I plan to have some photos of my progress thus far as well! Keep training hard!

James!

Training Styles

Ok, so this week I had a few guys in the gym ask me about my style of training and what I have used in the past to develop both strength and muscle size.

Firstly I need to highlight that most styles of training work and work very well, however like most things your training style must be changed to stimulate change in your routine, this change in routine is what will provide fresh results in both size and strength. For many years I performed reps of only 1 to 3 as I was doing competitive weightlifting, at this time I was solely focused on building strength and power so this rep range was fantastic, constantly pushing my 1RM        (1 rep max)

This style of training saw me build huge amounts of strength over a 5 year period, when I then made the change to body building I was lifting rather heavy weight quite quickly. My reps increased from 1-3 right up to 10-12 as now muscle size and muscle shape is priority.

I change my routine every 6 weeks as I believe after a 6 week period the body will start to become accustomed to the routine and you need to change it in order to shock your body once again. I generally ensure the weight I lift increases each set with my first set beginning on 12 reps then second set 10 then my final and heaviest set I will aim to fail on 6-8 reps and have a spotter assist me for an extra 2 forced reps. I will generally do  3 sets per exercise after an initial warm up has been undertaken. I don't warm up on every exercise, I don't understand why I see some people bench 150kg for 3 sets then as they start say Incline dumbbell press they warn up again using a light weight, once the muscle is warm I go hard and fast. I will do 4 exercises per body part as long as I am not in the gym longer than 45minutes to an hour, I try and get the major body part completed in 45minutes then use the remaining 15 minutes for some abdominal or calf training as well as stretching.

I will use the above routine for say 6 weeks then lower the reps down into a "power category" where the reps will decrease and weight increase. Here I will focus on building strength and power. Then I will repeat the initial sequence of training again. I never really do high rep training, even getting ready for comp I still only hit 10 reps most of the time, 12 at the absolute max and that's generally only on a warm up. A lot of people search high and low for the best style of training. I have learnt that there is no secret, there is no perfect way to train, you do however need a mix of quality mind muscle connection based movements using perfect form and focusing on contraction and you also need your pure, basic and brutal strength based movements, changing between these at the right times is what will bring you results.