Strength Training

The Last one and half month I am following a routine based on the methodology of Starting Strength of Mark Rippetoe.

My target is to escalate my strength and increase the weights on the basic exercises.

More informations on this type of training you can find on the books, Starting Strength: Basic Barbell Training by Mark Rippetoe and Lon Kilgore, Practical Programming for Strength Training by Mark Rippetoe and Lon Kilgore.

The Routine.

Routine A

Squat

Bench Press

Deadlift

Routine B

Squat

Press

Bent-over Rows

The program goes like this:

Day 1: Routine A

Day 2: Rest

Day 3: Routine B

Day 4: Rest

Day 5: Routine A

Day 6 & 7: Rest

Day 8: Routine B

Day 9: Rest

Day 10: Routine A

Day 11: Rest

Day 12: Routine B

Day 13 & 14: Rest

Back again to the Day 1.

The rest time between sets it will be three to four minutes for the basic exercises and one to one and half for the others.

Training with Hugo Rivera's book: Hardgainers Bodybuilding Handbook. End Season.

29/10/2011.
This was the last week of a long tough but ample with results and enjoyable 41-weeks program.

This three week strength training circle it was very good for the upper body especially for the arms. The down side was the imbalance between the the upper body and legs exercise. I also found out difficult to complete the routine in one hour.

Comparison of body stats between the beginning and the end.

Body Stats: (cm)(Kg)

At the beginning: 13/12/2010.

Weight:92.5 Height: 183

Wrist Right: 17.9, Wrist Left: 17.7.
Forearm Right: 35.5, Forearm Left: 34.
Biceps Right: 39.9, Biceps Left: 39.5.
Triceps Right: 36.7, Triceps Left: 35.7.
Quads Right: 61, Quads Left: 60.5.
Calves Right: 42.2, Calves Left: 42.6.
Gluteus: 103.7.
Chest: 113.3.
Waist: 86.
Belly: 90.
Shoulders: 125.
Body Fat: 20.1%, Lean Body Mass: 73.9 Kg.

Body Stats: (cm)(Kg)
At the end: 06/11/2011

Weight:85.6 Height: 183

Wrist Right: 18, Wrist Left: 17.8.
Forearm Right: 35.5, Forearm Left: 35.
Biceps Right: 40, Biceps Left: 39.5.
Triceps Right: 36.5, Triceps Left: 36.
Quads Right: 60, Quads Left: 60.
Calves Right: 42 Calves Left: 42.5.
Gluteus: 100.
Chest: 114.
Waist: 82.
Belly: 84.5.
Shoulders: 129.
Body Fat: 10.3%, Lean Body Mass: 76.8 Kg.

 Comparison photos between the beginning and the end.

Throughout this note-blog I had the chance to see the successfully and constant change of my body which was a huge motivation to keep training harder.
I am happy with the results and the experience I've gained from this little beautiful trip. But like any other journey so this one arrived to it last resort. I keep all the good things and continue, with you my friends, toward a new destination.

Training with Hugo Rivera's book: Hardgainers Bodybuilding Handbook. Part 5

Yesterday I finished the first from the three week training strength circle and the last as total for the whole training program. Below there is the table with the routine and the performance.

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I have a minor injure at the bottom right side of my back. I will try to pass it by with Alvedon, Panadol, Voltaren, massage, plenty sets of warm-ups and carefully executed low weight Deadlifts and Squat.

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21/10/2011. I finished the second from the three week training strength circle and the 40th as total for the whole training program. Below there is the table with the routine and the performance.

  

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One more week to go. The injure in the back persists so on the next leg training day I will make some changes.

Training with Hugo Rivera's book: Hardgainers Bodybuilding Handbook. Part 4

2011/09/19: I starded the week 16 of Hugo Rivera's basic program.

This training circle lasts for three weeks. It is a four day routine per week.
The Day A we training chest, back, biceps, triceps, upper abs and the Day B legs, delts, trap, lower abs.
The structure of the program is like this:
Day 1 Α (volume training)
Day 2 Β (volume training)
Day 3 κενό
Day 4 Α (strength training)
Day 5 Β (strength training) 
Day 6 και 7 κενό.

The table below it shows the routine and my personal KG/Rep records after I finished all three weeks.

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I spend the first week trying to find out the correct amount of weight for every single exercise. It was actually the weeks two and three that gave me an insight of what this program can do.
The Days 1 and 3 workouts good the upper body and they give a great pump especially on the arms. With Days 2 and 4 I didn't got any blasting feeling but it was certainly tough workouts. With this program I've managed to train with heavier weights, giving me a little boost on my strength, the day after workout and the next one or two days, I had DOMS "Delayed onset muscle soreness" on the trained muscles.
The down side of this routine was the failure to execute the days three and four with a decent time.

I learned that there is a big difference between free barbell squat and smith machine squat.
There is a big difference between thinking that your squat technique is fair than really knowing how crap your squat technique is.
The Smith Machine from now on is a cast away meaning, it belongs to the exile of abyss.
No more Stiff legget deadlifts for me, no sir.

Training with Hugo Rivera's book: Hardgainers Bodybuilding Handbook. Part 3

2011/5/9: The new training circles, measurements, calculations and changes.

Body Stats: (cm)(Kg)

On the main program (14 weeks after).

Weight:86.5 Height: 183

Wrist Right: 18.7, Wrist Left: 17.6.

Forearm Right: 35.5, Forearm Left: 34.5.

Biceps Right: 40, Biceps Left: 40.

Triceps Right: 36.5, Triceps Left: 36.

Quads Right: 59.9, Quads Left: 58.5.

Calves Right: 41, Calves Left: 41.5.

Gluteus: 100.

Chest: 114.

Waist: 80.5.

Belly: 82.

Shoulders: 127.

Body Fat: 13.7%, Lean Body Mass: 77.8 Kg.

  

Comparing the measurements before one year and a month with current body stats, I recognize the potential of the program to transform a novice body, getting me more leaner but the same time with more body muscle, I have lost 6 Kg from my weight and gained 3.9 Kg muscle.

I also observe the rapid loss of my body mass <weight>, which makes me to add 200 Kcal on my daily metabolism to correct the fault estimation of my previews daily metabolism. "see on the diet stats Diet Stats:  (2011/7/24) - (2011/9/5) the numbers of my daily burn vs eaten calories which are not justify the loss of weight at the same period".

The addition of more calories on my diet will help me with the last two circles and the more demanding training of the program. But before the two remaining circles I have one week of rest with two days mostly strength training and recalculating my 1 Max Rep on the basic exercises and one more week with two days training with active recovery program.

 

Rest Week 1 (2011/9/6 - 2011/9/11)

1 Max Rep Stats:
Squat 120 Kg.
Barbell Bench Press 106 Kg.
Military Press 67 Kg.
Deadlifts 124 Kg.
Barbell Rows 89 Kg.

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 Week 15 (2011/9/13)
Active Recovery Phase 3#.

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Photos Week 15:

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Training with Hugo Rivera's book: Hardgainers Bodybuilding Handbook. Part 2

2011/5/9: The journey continuous.

Happy from the previews 20 week resolts, I was ready and determed to follow the main program of Hugo Rivera's book: Hardgainers Bodybuilding Handbook.

Week 1 (2011/6/5)
Active Recovery Phase 1#.

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Week 2-7 (2011/6/12)
Hypertrophy Phase 1# Volume Training.

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Diet Stats:  (2011/6/5) - (2011/7/23)

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Week 8 (2011/7/24)
Active Recovery Phase 2#.

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Photos Week 8:

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Week 9-14 (2011/8/1)
Hypertrophy Phase 2# Volume Training.

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Diet Stats:  (2011/7/24) - (2011/9/5)

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Tjäna Pengar Nu! Gratis prylar och varuprover.

Training with Hugo Rivera's book: Hardgainers Bodybuilding Handbook. Part 1

2010/12/13: The beginning of the journey.

After one year of unsuccessful training with minimum gains at strength and at my physique I decided to follow the training program of Hugo Rivera as it was written in the book of Hardgainers Bodybuilding Handbook.

Starting Pictures:
 
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Week 1-4 (2010-12-13)

The Preconditioning Routine:

 

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Week 5-8 (2011-01-18)
The Preconditioning Routine:

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Photos Week 8:

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Week 9-12 (2011-2-25)

The Preconditioning Routine:

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Photos Week 12:

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Week 13-16 (2011-3-30)
The Preconditioning Routine:

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Week 17-20 (2011-4-30)
The Preconditioning Routine:

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Photos Week 20:

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This was the end of the preconditioning program. I found it very amusing with a lot of exercises, getting familiar with them and preparing my body for the main training program. I gained some strength. 1 Kg muscle but mainly I lost Kg from my weight and inches from my waist and belly.

Body Stats: (cm)(Kg)

At the begining of the program (20 weeks before).

Weight:92.5 Height: 183

Wrist Right: 17.9, Wrist Left: 17.7.

Forearm Right: 35.5, Forearm Left: 34.

Biceps Right: 39.9, Biceps Left: 39.5.

Triceps Right: 36.7, Triceps Left: 35.7.

Quads Right: 61, Quads Left: 60.5.

Calves Right: 42.2, Calves Left: 42.6.

Gluteus: 103.7.

Chest: 113.3.

Waist: 86.

Belly: 90.

Shoulders: 125.

Body Fat: 20.1%, Lean Body Mass: 73.9 Kg.

At the end of the preconditioning program (after 20 weeks).

Weight:90 Height: 183

Wrist Right: 18, Wrist Left: 17.7.

Forearm Right: 35, Forearm Left: 34.5.

Biceps Right: 40, Biceps Left: 39.

Triceps Right: 37.3, Triceps Left: 34.5.

Quads Right: 59.7, Quads Left: 58.8.

Calves Right: 40.8, Calves Left: 41.1.

Gluteus: 101.8.

Chest: 112.

Waist: 86.

Belly: 87.

Shoulders: 125.

Body Fat: 16.9%, Lean Body Mass: 74.8 Kg.

Diet Stats: (2010-12-12) - (2011-6-4)

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 Tjäna Pengar Nu! Gratis prylar och varuprover.