SportsShoes Blog

Well, almost a month has gone by now and my training seems to be going well.

I can definitely notice a difference. I have reverted to the good old classic split of 4 days a week.

Monday: chest & triceps

Wednesday: Shoulders & Abs

Friday: Back & Biceps

Saturday: Legs & bodyweight press-ups.

I feel like I am stripping some fat away and building muscle again so over all I am quite pleased.

However, it could all go a bit wrong this weekend as I am away seeing some friends and we are going for a slap up tapas meal. That means buckets of chorizo…. umm, I can taste it now! All washed down with numerous beers ( and a cheeky tequila) I predict.

Ah well, back in the gym on monday… pretend the weekend never happened!

James

Well, a new year again already! New year’s resolutions and new promises to myself ( some I have already broken ).

Towards the end of last year my training really fell at the wayside! Other commitments and grief from the Mrs about too much dedication to the gym ( and not other stuff that is equally as important ) really stopped any training in it’s tracks and I was lucky to get to the gym once a week!

I have decided though that I just can’t spend so much time in the gym so I have had to rethink training and goals to make them more likely to achieve.

I am now training 4 times a week…

2 full upper body workouts and 2 full lower body workouts.

I have decided I can’t commit to splitting it all down and training each body part individually so I am having to find another way and this is a 4 week trail to see how it goes.

I have done a couple so far and believe me, if you stick to mainly compound exercises you really ache the next day!

I am interested in other peoples’s opinions on this matter. Has anyone else done training like this and do they believe that it works just as well?

Snow coming down hard today so it may be a long walk to gym! If it is even open that is!

Hi everyone,

Apologies for being slack on my blogging recently but my training has really taken a back seat of late and i’m very disappointed in myself. It seems to have been one injury after another.

First my neck, then my back then my wrist and so on! makes me wonder whether keeping fit is good for your health! haha.

Anyways, I had a good session back last night on my chest and triceps. Bit tight in the back today but that is to be expected i guess.

Just got back from a week in the lake district and did a lot of walking which seems to have been a good kick start to my summer regime ( although no point as it is such RUBBISH weather at the moment, so much for the promise of a good summer ).

Going again tonight, going to try and have a workout on my shoulders, i’ll let you all know if they hold up tomorrow.

James.

Right, well I have had some time off ( well, not time off, but not committed training ). I am now feeling like I have my direction back, now that the days are lasting longer and I am in talks about this years holiday, and if you have been following my blog you know I like to try and achieve that “unachievable beach body”.

Anyway, had a large back and bicep workout yesterday and it felt great. Off again tonight to hit the “delts”, and do some cardio …. boohooo.

j.

So … It has now been over a week since my neck went again and my cold has cleared ( why does everyone want windows practically glued shut in the winter, just to create a playground for germs ? ). Anyway, a short back and bicep workout tonight is definitely in order. I’ve already gorged on quality streets for my breakfast for the past week so now starting to think I better do something about it, especially after walking round with my neck stationary and not moving for more than 10 yards at a time!

So, tonight, I need to start back into it slowly and not over do it…

I think just some wide grip pull ups, deadlifts, bent over rows and shrugs should be enough for my back. Then I am going to do curls and hammers for my biceps, then depending on if my body has held up I am going to have a quick 1000 meter sprint on the rowing machine.

I must help the abs to appear again and knowing I have quite a few clothes coming my way for Christmas, I don’t want to disappoint Santa with them not fitting!

I’ll let you all know how I get on,

J.

I was asked today exactly what “compound exercises” are when weightlifting as i talk about their importance quite alot with fellow colleagues at work.

A Compound exercise works several muscle groups at once, and includes movements around two or more joints at the same time. For example a bench press is a compound exercise because when you are performing the exercise you are primarily using your chest but it uses secondary muscles to stabilize it, such as the triceps and shoulders.

Same theory behind deadlifts. These are ”compound exercises” because you are primarily using your lower back but also pulls in muscles from your legs and forearms.

I use compound exercises a lot as i feel i get a much better workout than doing all isolation exercises. Ultimately you build muscle depending on how much testosterone is created and doing “compound exercises” creates a lot more testosterone than performing isolation moves…hence, building muscle faster.

Also, i want to strip fat from my weight training sessions as well as put on muscle and when I am doing exercises such as deadlifts the sweat just pours off me and i feel great!  

If you are unsure a quick checklist of compound exercises are:

Bench press, Deadlift, Barbell Squat, Deadlift, Lunges, Row, Push-Up, Dips, Bench Press, Military Press, Hang Clean and Press.

The simple rule is that you use compound exercises as the core of your workout and isolation exercises to “fine tune”.

I found this video on how to perform a correct bench press … one of my favourite compound exercises!

Enjoy!

Well, it has almost been a week now i have been off training with a niggling cold. Really wanna go hard but feel like i am jinxed now!!!

I joined the gym, after one week i did my back, came back from that for one session then got a really bad cold… DOH!!!

Oh well, gunna try and balance it a bit better now so i don’t run myself down.

j.

Oh dear.

I joined a my new gym about a week ago and it was going great until this morning. Doing my normal chest flyes ( normal 26’s), and that annoying, niggling muscle has gone again in my back! So, had to cut my training short. Hope it is only a short lived problem though, hopefully will be back in a couple of days.

Think i may start back with some cardio anyway as thinking i am quickly slipping into comfort food teritory after holiday, need to stop that asap!

J

Just a quick question to throw out there …

I have recently just joined an outside gym ( as the gym i use in my buiding has run its course). This out side gym is an independant gym and hence a bit smaller than the larger chains but is considerably cheaper.

I was wondering how much everyone pays for gym membership? I enquired at a large chain earlier this week and they quoted me £50 a month and a £30-£50 joining fee. Surely this is EXTREMELY EXPENSIVE???

The one i joind was £85 for 3 months which works out about £28 a month which i think is very reasonable. Just interested how much these gyms can charge up to.

Anyway, was there at 7.00am this morning, me and one other person. Huge deadlifts … loved it.

J.

Afternoon everyone.

Well, i’m back on the blog. I have had my holiday now and you know what? I was actually quite happy with the results. I was a lot leaner and more defined. However, it all went wrong quite quickly. This was due to the fact we ate out every lunch and evening and ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING was served with chips, not just a portion, but a bucket load and i was never one to leave food. It was always drummed into me to eat all my main course! So the six pack started to disappear quite quickly. Not just blaming the food but the hot weather really make you crave a cold lager as well and we all know the claorie content of those bad boys!

Anyway back now and feel like i want to find my next challenge. I have just been reading about the Mens Health cover model challenge and all the contestants etc. Now, this is something i have always talked about but never had the discipline to do. I think now though that it may be something i would like to try and aim for, the only thing is that at the moment i am training in a small under-equipped gym so am looking into joining a large gym again and then i can see where i could go with it.

Untill then, i am watching what i am eating again and going regularly to the little gym. Off tonight for a shoulder workout.

J.