Plan Of Action And Hand Stand Push Ups

Hi all,

Firstly thanks again for all the comments from the last post... Amazing!

So, I posted this picture on Twitter Friday last week.

I was at a stage where I felt I'd achieved what I had set out to do, which was to drop a significant amount of body fat but retain muscle mass... Mission accomplished. I don't think I really need to get any leaner than this for the time being; I have visible abs now and I feel pretty good with my accomplishment. That's all there is to say about that really. I will say that I will never try and bulk up by consuming a massive excess of calories... So here endeth this chapter of 2012! Thanks for joining me on my little journey... Right then, now what?

Plans For The Future

Immediate future (this week)

Formulate a plan of action - I do feel I need to work on bringing my legs on a bit more. I have decent separation in my quads and hamstrings, my calves have improved since last year and I don't think I'm that much out of proportion, but I would like bigger legs! With all that in mind the new plan is to continue to eat wholesome foods and stay healthy, obviously. I am going to change things slightly and increase my kcals on my training days (I will still be in a weekly calorie deficit). I will stick with intermittent fasting as this suits my lifestyle and training goals, and I will also stick to the carb re-feeds on training days post workout as I only train 3 times a week. This has been working really well and I feel and look full even though I'm in a calorie deficit.

Near Future (from Monday up to 8 weeks )

To train like a demon in the gym, to concentrate on my weaker body parts and to not let body fat increase. I have taken some measurements so I can monitor any changes with accuracy, then if need be change my diet accordingly. I am going to implement a new training method: GVT (German Volume Training), so if you see me tweet #GVT this is what I'm talking about. The plan is for this new method to kick start some muscle growth and increase muscle density - I'm pretty sure it's going to kick my arse, but the results you desire are never handed to you on a plate! I will write about this more extensively next week when I have completed a few sessions, but I think it will be based upon this:

-Training Day 1


Legs
Front squats 10x10   4 seconds down 1 seconds up  60 seconds rest between sets @60% 1RM
Laying leg curls 10x10 4 seconds down 1 seconds up 60 seconds rest between sets @60% 1RM

Superset
Seated calf raise 3x20 2 seconds up 2 seconds down
Hack squat calf press 3x20 2 seconds up 2 seconds down 90 seconds between super set

-Rest day /cardio and abs 

-Training Day 2


Chest and Back
Incline Bench press 10x10 4 seconds down 1 seconds up 60 seconds rest between sets @60% 1RM
Bent over row 10x10  4 seconds down 1 seconds up 60 seconds rest between sets @60% 1RM

Superset 
Dumbbell fly 3x10 2 seconds up 2 seconds down
Chins 3x10 2 seconds up 2 seconds down 90 seconds between super set (mixture of over and underhand)

-Rest day /cardio and abs 


-Training Day 3


Shoulders and Arms 
Standing barbell shoulder press 10x10 4 seconds down 1 seconds up 60 seconds rest between sets @60% 1RM
Barbell curl 4 seconds down 01seconds up 60 seconds rest between sets @60% 1RM
I will alternate this weekly for a triceps exercise then change the biceps superset for a triceps one.

Super set
weighted Triceps dips 2 seconds up 2 seconds down
(I will have to monitor shoulder pain doing the dips as I used to get a twinge in my right front delt)
Side lateral shoulder raise 2 seconds up 2 seconds down 90 seconds between super set

-Rest day /cardio and abs 
-Rest day /cardio and abs 

I never train two days on the bounce if I can help it, and as these are going to be gruelling sessions I think recovery will be needed. I also think my performance will be better on the next session. On the cardio and abs days I will be doing a fasted steady state power walk for half an hour before work (I may get another half an hour in later in the evening or in my dinner break). I will do 200 reps for abs which will include 100 hanging leg raises and 100 controlled crunches. I will try and do 15 minutes on the foam roller on my non gym days too. I will repeat this for a minimum of 3 weeks, then look at increasing the weight and dropping the reps to 6. If by some miracle I hit 10x10 @ 60% 1RM I will increase to 65%.


Distant future (up to 16 weeks from today)

To continue to stay lean and and build some lean muscle, to reach my genetic muscular potential
at a lean state, which for me is about 72kg , I'm currently 66kg ....this is why this falls in to the distant future category lol!

        "No plan survives contact with the enemy" ....but it's always good to have one! 



The BNBF Club Meet

As I wrote last week on Sunday I travelled over to Olympic Gym in Eccles which is owed by IFBB pro Paul George. The plan was to train and to do some posing practise with some other nattys. I had a really good time, I trained with @ChrisProSkills who came over from Leeds; we did an intensive shoulder and arms session and threw some calves in at the end for good measure - I can feel some shoulder DOMS coming on as I'm writing this! Everyone was really friendly and I picked up loads of valuable information, some on training and a load on posing and stage presence. Although we had trained hard, with purpose, it was nothing compared to the posing - my legs where tight and I was aching all over by the time we had finished, though I thoroughly enjoyed myself.


My recent obsession with Hand Stand push ups ...

I don't really know where this has come from, but I think that because I have lost some weight I have more control over my body in way of balancing and core stability. I have been obsessed with the Planche static hold for a while now, I had tried it a while back and failed miserably. I have been watching YouTube videos and reading a few articles on gymnastic forums etc. The majority advised that the handstand push up was a good place to start (or something to try in conjunction) on the quest to perform a good solid Planche, which is probably the coolest thing a human being, or should I say super human being, can do while staying completely still.

Here's a video of my handstand push up progress.

Barbell Benny

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