Hi Guys, here is todays quick training update. Please let me know if you are getting bored with these. It was always intended to be just a quick insight into what i do but I’m not here to preach and definitely not to bore you. I’m now struggling with a couple of niggles so not quite able to do exactly what i want in the Gym. However that is not an excuse and you can always do something. My left shoulder is still very sore, and now so is my left hip and lower back which is causing a sciatica type pain down my left leg…..I think I’m just getting old!!

So due to the slight injuries i wanted to avoid doing any further damage. I’m usually a big advocate of free weights over machines but went the machine route today because of the more limited range of motion and control they give you. Once I’m rocking again I’ll be back onto the Barbells and Dumbbells. So here is todays programme.

Firstly over to the Smith Machine for some seated overhead press to hit shoulders. I did 10 sets, 5 behind neck and 5 in front Military press style. I kept the weight fairly low at 30kg (+ the bar) and concentrated on really squeezing and isolating my shoulders rather than pushing with my Triceps. It worked and by the ninth and tenth set i was struggling to get to the full 10 reps.

Next over to Lateral raises. For these i DID use Dumbbells but kept the weight low and instead did Giant drop sets. So i grabbed 3 sets of Dumbbells at 10kg, 6kg and 3kg. I did a set of 10 reps with the 9’s, dropped them, straight into 10 reps with the 6’s and then straight into 10 with the 3’s and for the final set with the 3’s tried to squeeze my deltoids as hard as possible. That was one set and I did 4 in total.

I then sat on a bench, leant forward and did exactly the same routine, same weights, reps and sets for bent over laterals to work on the posterior head of the Delts. That was it, shoulders almost done.

Next up were some shrugs to build up the Traps. 32kg dumbbell in each hand and did 3 sets of 15.

Next some leg work although I didn’t want to go mad as they were still sore from earlier in the week. I went over to the Leg press machine. I cranked out 2 sets with both legs at 70kg. I then dropped the weight to 30kg and did single leg presses. 3 sets of 10 for each leg. I also moved my foot up and down the foot board to try to change which part of the muscles it worked and tried to focus on the Glutes as much as possible.

I then stayed sitting where i was and proceeded to do Calf presses. One leg at a time, 4 sets for each leg at 25kg.

That was it, i was sort of done. However it felt like a bit of a feeble session. I’d wimped out on the legs and didn’t want to leave it like that. My arms felt fine so thought I’d have a very quick superset blast on Biceps and Triceps. In a previous post (here) i talke4d about a Cable based Bicep and Tricep ladder workout where you go up in weights on Triceps whilst coming down on Biceps. So i did that. Started at 20kg on Triceps and 55kg on Biceps and then came down/up in 5 or 10kg increments, supersetted with no rest at all. It worked out at 5 sets each side. That was it, i was done and felt better having added that in at the end.

Let’s see what tomorrow brings. I seem to have a few broken bits at the moment but will see how i feel in the morning before deciding what to do or maybe just having a day off.

Take Care,

John