DLTBB Progress Log

[DLTBB]

2nd January

Cardio:

• 25 minutes incline treadmill 140-150BPM

Legs:

• Machine hack squat 4 x 6-12
• Back barbell back squat (partials/pulses) 3 x 20
• Abductor 3 x 6-12
• Adductor 3 x 6-12
• Standing calf raise 5 x 6-15

Misc:

• 30 minutes full body mobility

Energy levels still zapped. Combination of going out before new year and a bit of cold/flu. Not the best way to start the year’s training but things should improve from here on.

 

[genetic freak]

Looking great brother, awesome calves!

Put the last couple days of funk behind you and drive on!

 

[Tomas Payne]

Awesome wheels! Gotta love them outer-sweeps; intensity.

 

[Tomas Payne]

Finally had my biopsies reviewed from my colonoscopy months ago (the NHS is shit at the moment) and they're saying it looks like ileocolonic Chrohn's disease. Not ulcerative colitis as I'd originally expected but not too far off. They're going to arrange an outpatient clinic to discuss what treatments are needed. In all fairness, my symptoms are pretty tame at the moment and it isn't bothering me. It's just nice to have an answer, be sure I've not got cancer and be in the right hands to get treatment if my symptoms flare up again. Obviously not ideal to have it in the first place but feels much better than having things going wrong and being in the dark about what it is.

Hope you deal with it with minimal issues. I had a condition in the first decade that they thought was Chrohn's. Never had it but did a lot of reading on it. There are some "soils" that heal the gut and Chrohn's, there a book by i believe Kevin Trudeau on how he healed himself. I hope for a best outcome for you.

 

[DLTBB]

Looking great brother, awesome calves!

Put the last couple days of funk behind you and drive on!

Thanks GF, always appreciated. Precisely, onwards and upwards with the new year. Ready to take it up a notch.

 

[DLTBB]

Hope you deal with it with minimal issues. I had a condition in the first decade that they thought was Chrohn's. Never had it but did a lot of reading on it. There are some "soils" that heal the gut and Chrohn's, there a book by i believe Kevin Trudeau on how he healed himself. I hope for a best outcome for you.

Hopefully. I should have been reading more about it myself but I've been really side-tracked with other things I've got going on. I'm going to dedicate some time in to reading about the condition itself, medication, potential remedies etc. I need to be an expert on it if I'm going to have to live with it forever!

 

[DLTBB]

I've been wanting to re-shuffle the training a little bit for a while now. I love PPL and I think it's probably given me the most gains out of any split I've done over the years but I fancy trying something a bit different. I'll still end up training 6 days a week because I go stir-crazy when I'm sat at home, so I'll continue to split the training over 6 sessions. Cardio will stay in at 20-25 minutes per session at 140+ BPM (depends how much energy I have on the day, sometimes I'll veer closer to 160) to maintain some fitness/look after my heart. Legs I'll still hit twice a week with one day more quad-focused and one day more hamstrings. I'm thinking of trying chest/back in the same session but rotating from one chest exercise to one back exercise back and forth so I can recoup some energy in between exercises and hopefully hit some higher top sets on my compounds. And then the other day will be shoulders/arms. My shoulders don't need tons of focus but I feel like my biceps/triceps will benefit from being fresh in the session rather than being tacked on after hitting back or chest in my usual push/pull sessions. Abs and mobility work I'll do from home as usual.

May read as gobbledygook because I am just spit-balling but I will try it out over the week and see how I feel/report back.

 

[DLTBB]

3rd January

Cardio:

• 25 minutes incline treadmill 140-150BPM

Chest & Back:

• Chest-supported T-bar row 3 sets 12, 10, 8 (4 plates) - Wider grip & more upper-back focused
• Flat barbell bench press 3 sets 10, 8, 8 (top set of 8 150KG) 1 set to failure with 130KG (failed after 14 reps) - Felt good to have some blood in the upper back before pressing actually!
• Wide-grip pull-up 3 sets to failure (Bodyweight, purposely failing by 20 reps with slow negatives, pauses, dead hangs etc as set progressed).
• Incline Hammer Strength press 3 sets 10, 8, 8 (4.5 plates per side top set)
• Pec-deck 3 sets 12, 10, 10 - Lower chest focused
• Iliac pull 3 sets 10, 8, 8

Misc:

• Full body mobility routine (the video below is what I do daily for anybody interested in working on their own mobility, it’s helped me immensely).

Bloody hell. Could barely lift my arms to put my hoodie back on after that. Pump was immense. Hitting chest and back back-to-back is never something I’ve done before. Gassed me out badly but I felt as if the exercise sequence worked well e.g. the upper back being pumped and feeling open when going in to pressing.

I have a very minor dry cough. I hope I’m not coming down with something as I am keen to get off to a good start this year. Me and the Mrs have sat down together and written out some goals and changes for the better we’re both making after a bit of a falling out on our pre-NYE night out. We’re all good now and I think if anything it’s brought us closer together and we know we’ve got things to work on together. Hoping to get her training with me a couple of days a week soon!

 

[DLTBB]

4th January

Cardio:

• 20 minutes incline treadmill 140-150BPM

Shoulders, Biceps & Triceps:

• Plate-loaded shoulder press 3 sets 6-8 reps - Would've went with a DB press for this session ideally, but trained by myself unexpectedly and feel I can push the envelope a little more weight wise with a plate-loaded press, either way, PB at 6 reps this session
• Cable Y-raise 3 sets 8-12 reps - Went into a drop set on set 3
• Inverted row 2 sets to failure
• Standing DB curl (single arm) 3 sets 6-10 reps = Was planning to do EZ-Bar but watched a video from hypertrophycoach earlier in the day about how he prefers DB, gave it a try & preferred it
• Weighted dip 3 sets 6-10 reps
• Cross-body cable extension 3 sets 8=12 reps - Drop set for set 3
• Machine preacher curl 3 sets 8-12 reps - Drop set for set 3

Misc:

• Full body mobility routine (slightly condensed version compared to yesterday, 22 minutes rather than 37).

Still trying to figure out the right volume for the sessions etc., so things may change over the next couple of weeks. This felt about right and I did feel like I moved more weight for exercise 1 on shoulders, biceps and triceps than I usually would have as they were placed in the PPL split. But again, early days and still need to figure out what works best.

Had a wholesome moment speaking to a Dad and his 14 year old son who’s 1 week in to training. Must’ve weighed 100lbs tops. Told him I started at his age and was smaller and told him to focus on technique and worry about weight later down the line.

Still feel a bit under the weather but it's not any worse than it was yesterday which I feel is a good sign. Continuing with the cold/flu tablets and high dose Vit C. Got some MT2 also, but I'll hold off on starting with that until I feel 100%. I'm looking a bit pasty at the moment.

Calum Von Moger is making a comeback after drug addiction/near death experience/avoiding a prison sentence. It will be interesting to see how much size and shape he can gain back. His physique was nuts a few years ago. He must have been one of the most popular/well known faces in fitness at the time.

 

[DLTBB]

Sleep quality is up at the moment. Like I slept through from 11PM til 6:30AM continuously. Usually it’d take me longer to drift off and I’d be up 3 times in the night. So I feel more well rested for sure. But I’m waking up with pains/aches in my mid-upper back. Not sure if it’s the position I’m sleeping in or whatever. It usually fades as the day goes on. Anybody ever had this?

 

[DLTBB]

Actually managed to have a rest day. Almost persuaded myself to go and train because I feel lazy when I don’t. But I’m not 100% and have had a couple of tiring sessions on the bounce. Wouldn’t have done me any good. Spent 20-25 minutes following a routine for spinal flexion/extension. My back feels better but I reckon I’ll still wake up with a bit of soreness. Due to train legs tomorrow so hoping I’m over the worst of this cold.

 

[DLTBB]

6th January

Cardio:

• 15 minutes cross-trainer 160+ BPM

Legs:

• Leg press 5 sets 6-12 rep range - Look at the state of my gym’s horrible makeshift leg press contraption below, legitimately fees dangerous loading it with any significant weight!
• Bulgarian split squats 2 sets 10-12 rep range
• Abductor/adductor superset 2 rounds to failure 15-20 rep range
• Leg extension 3 sets 8-12 rep range
• Lying leg curl 3 sets 6-10 rep range
• Standing calf raise 5 sets 8-15 rep range

Misc:

• 15 minute hip mobility

Dodgy looking leg press:

https://imgur.com/a/ecjrlsS

My gym is shocking at the moment. 2/3 treadmills and 1/2 stationary bikes out of order and 4 broken machines. They’ve just got a new chairman so hopefully they sort things out soon or I’m going to have to look elsewhere. It’s only a small gym with limited cardio equipment to begin with so they can’t afford to have so much kit out of order.

Yesterday’s rest did me some good but I’m still not 100%.

Been pretty consistent with my food this week and prepared/cooked every meal. Ordering something in tonight as the Mrs is out with friends but going to keep it reasonable and still hit calories/protein.