What training are you doing/have done today?

[Animal]

This morning: 45 mins of spinning.

This evening: kettlebell swings (20kg to 28kg) 10x10 followed by 100 sledgehammer swings.

[LordGrover]

Speaking of kettle bells... I just received mine.
Fairly experienced in the gym so thought I'd start at the upper end of medium man-sized at 20kgs.
Cripes! Feels twice the weight of a 20kgs dumbbell - I think for starting I should've bought a 16 or maybe 12kgs. It's very different swinging a 20kgs lump than lifting a balanced dumbbell.

[dirty boy]

Today

8 mins on treadmill at 10mph

dumb bell curls 5 x 10

Bench press 3 x 10 (close grip)
Bench press 3 x 10 (wide grip)

Calf raises 3 x 8

Decline sit-ups 3 x 15 (weighted)

Plank/Side planks 30 seconds

50 crunches

Pec dec 5 x 10

Squats 4 x 10

4 mins on cycle

[roboxm3]

Squat - Bench - Dead again on monday night, 3x8.

Followed by the usual powercleans 3x5 @ 60kg and box jumps inbetween.

Followed by abs - leg raises and crunches with the medicine ball.

5k run at lunch time today in preparation for a repeat of Monday night's session tomorrow.

Need to get some gloves (as much as I don't like them) as well for tomorrow, as I shredded my hands a bit on Monday.

[ewenm]

ewenm said:

5 mile hilly run home last night with rucksack, 35 mins.

Tonight is a track session doing whatever my coach tells me to do Probably 4-6 miles of effort split into reps plus warm-up, warm-down and recovery jogs.

The session turned out to be 800m @ 85s/lap, 90s recovery, 2x5x400m at 73-75s off 60s recovery in the set and 4 mins between sets, finally another 800m @ 85s/lap. My first short fast session on the comeback trail, felt tough and I was off the back of the other 2 doing it but it was OK.

36 min hilly run tonight.

[Animal]

NeMiSiS said:

Animal said:

kettle swings and sledgehammer swings.

Have you got a purple velour tracksuit ?

Eh?

[Lost_BMW]

Animal said:

This morning: 45 mins of spinning.

This evening: kettlebell swings (20kg to 28kg) 10x10 followed by 100 sledgehammer swings.

Were you swinging/ hitting the hammer at a tyre as per MMA practice?

Did you know about this btw - though it's mainly for forearm work it could give similar possibilities in use, if shorter, but adjustable in weight:


Thor's Hammer

|http://thumbsnap.com/q5bMPQOf[/url]

http://www.gymequipment.uk.com/store/large/38j00/S...

[Lost_BMW]

LordGrover said:

Speaking of kettle bells... I just received mine.
Fairly experienced in the gym so thought I'd start at the upper end of medium man-sized at 20kgs.
Cripes! Feels twice the weight of a 20kgs dumbbell - I think for starting I should've bought a 16 or maybe 12kgs. It's very different swinging a 20kgs lump than lifting a balanced dumbbell.

There's quite a few places now that do adjustable kettlebells or similar like these:

from Wolverson



adjustable from 6.5 to 40 Kg

http://www.wolverson-fitness.co.uk/Adjustable-kett...


Or from 5 to 20lb or 10 to 40lb there are Weider Powerbells

|http://thumbsnap.com/tL1O1cTN[/url]

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Weider-20lb-Adjustable-Pow...


from Watson - like a cross between a dumbelll handle and a kettlebell but can be loaded to 120Kg - that'd keep you busy for a while!



http://www.gymequipment.uk.com/store/item/34w8c/Sp...

[Animal]

Lost_BMW said:

Were you swinging/ hitting the hammer at a tyre as per MMA practice?

Thor's Hammer

Yep, I have an old 4x4 tyre that occasionally looks at me funny and therefore deserves a good beating.

I've used my sledgehammer for Thor's hammer exercises in the past, they're a useful addition every now and then.

I was just thinking earlier that I've done quite well this year: in January I had only a 15kg dumbbell and my hammer. Now I've got a weighted vest, resistance bands and three kettlebells and I've still not been told off for making the place look untidy!

I can't want to have a garage...

[Halb]

LordGrover said:

Speaking of kettle bells... I just received mine.
Fairly experienced in the gym so thought I'd start at the upper end of medium man-sized at 20kgs.
Cripes! Feels twice the weight of a 20kgs dumbbell - I think for starting I should've bought a 16 or maybe 12kgs. It's very different swinging a 20kgs lump than lifting a balanced dumbbell.

Quite. It's a ballistic tool, and quite different to most things in thee gym, try the hollow one. I have a JB hollow one and like the ones bmw shown it's weight can be changed.
http://www.kettlebells.co.uk/buykettlebells.html

[DownUnder.]

Tonight shoulders and traps
Went heavy tonight as i really want to build these up

3 x 10 dumbell press
4 x 10 barbell press
4 x 10 anry press
4 x 10 front lateral raise
4 x 10 side lateral raise

5 x 8 upright row (??)
8 x 5 Shrugs

Is there anything more I can be doing to build up lats and shoulders?

[Meoricin]

Deadlifts (5x75, 5x95, 5x115, 3x135, 1x150kg)
Curls (a half-rep sort of thing - 7 lower half reps, 7 higher half reps, 7 full reps = one set)
Lat Pull-ups x 3 sets
Close-grip Chin-ups x 3 sets

Then 24 minutes on the turbo trainer.

[Phooey]

DownUnder. said:

Tonight shoulders and traps
Went heavy tonight as i really want to build these up

3 x 10 dumbell press
4 x 10 barbell press
4 x 10 anry press
4 x 10 front lateral raise
4 x 10 side lateral raise

5 x 8 upright row (??)
8 x 5 Shrugs

Is there anything more I can be doing to build up lats and shoulders?

24 *heavy* sets for shoulders. Mmmmmmmm, i reckon you are going to get told this is too much content for a small muscle group?

[didelydoo]

Phooey said:

DownUnder. said:

Tonight shoulders and traps
Went heavy tonight as i really want to build these up

3 x 10 dumbell press
4 x 10 barbell press
4 x 10 anry press
4 x 10 front lateral raise
4 x 10 side lateral raise

5 x 8 upright row (??)
8 x 5 Shrugs

Is there anything more I can be doing to build up lats and shoulders?

24 *heavy* sets for shoulders. Mmmmmmmm, i reckon you are going to get told this is too much content for a small muscle group?

Can't do heavy sets of 10... (I can't anyhoo)

[Davie_GLA]

Back an Bi's tonight, so will be something along the lines of:

Wide grip pull ups, probably assisted as i can't manage many other wise. 3x10

Seated row, heavy, 4x10
Bent over row, mild to heavy 4x10
reverse flyes 4x10 light

Bar bell bi curls, can't remember the name of it but one set comprise of 21 reps split into three at different positions.

Standing DB curls
Cable straight bar curls when lying down
Hammer curls
then finish off with the curl machine.

Probably isn't that structured but it seems to be working.

D.

[Lost_BMW]

Davie_GLA said:

Bar bell bi curls, can't remember the name of it but one set comprise of 21 reps split into three at different positions.

D.

Known as "21s" - all the rage for the past couple of years, or at least the Weider mags would have us believe.

Pardon my cynicism and I'm not trying to knock you (more sceptical about the faddists in the press) but I can't see much point in (regularly) doing - except, maybe as a change or shock tactic - something that forces such light weights to be used and to accomodate 7 'reps' in a portion of the movement where little tension is on the biceps, ie top 3rd of movement.

[balders118]

Lost_BMW said:

Davie_GLA said:

Bar bell bi curls, can't remember the name of it but one set comprise of 21 reps split into three at different positions.

D.

Known as "21s" - all the rage for the past couple of years, or at least the Weider mags would have us believe.

Pardon my cynicism and I'm not trying to knock you (more sceptical about the faddists in the press) but I can't see much point in (regularly) doing - except, maybe as a change or shock tactic - something that forces such light weights to be used and to accomodate 7 'reps' in a portion of the movement where little tension is on the biceps, ie top 3rd of movement.

I'll throw them in to my workouts every now and again. IMO the reason they should be used is to force training the whole range of motion of the bicep. Working in two gyms, I see some simply unbelievable form for curls, sometimes with the bicep doing very little concentric contraction at all. When people do 21's its all about training in different ranges, so they will train all of their bicep, not just the but in the middle that so many people seem to do. However, I have seen poor 21's form, where each different section looks the same!

[Davie_GLA]

Yes, i don't do them all the time, maybe do them every 2nd bi workout.

I'm all ears with everything gym related, i'm by far an expert but i know what seems to work for me.

I like to concentrate on doing things right rather than because i can.

I see so many people in the gym do things that look wrong to me, but might be right to them, or to you in fact.

With 21s, what is considered good form?

Like a lot of folk, i've been doing this a long time, but have always fallen away. Since i've started thinking about HOW i lift the weight according to form i'm still interested in it. Which is a record for me.

David.

[balders118]

Davie_GLA said:

With 21s, what is considered good form?

David.

Elbows pinned to your sides. You don't move them forward, back or out to the sides. This ensures that you totally isolate your bi's as much as possible.

For the bottom half, arms should start straigh and go to 90 degrees and back to straight. Top half, from 90 degrees to as flexed your bi's can be (do not move your elblows from yout position in order to ger the bar further up!). Then the full curls should be a combination of the above, from straight, to gully flexed.

HTH

[Davie_GLA]

Phew - i'm doing it right then.

Has anyone tried doing cable curls while lying down? I tried it last time and felt as if i was really focussing on my bis and i couldn't really move anywhere else.