THE BULK IS ON ! RENO v HIIT MAN

[Doug Miles]

Darn if I can't get that cardio in. Something comes up every night, and I end up getting to bed late. This weekend for sure!!

Had a great back/biceps workout last night. I really feel some mass coming on. It's a great feeling. Lately I have been getting into a zone when working out, and it makes for a much more intense session.

My wife made some pumpkin pie yesterday, and I couldn't resist having a piece (ok, two). It was awesome. Oh well, I'm bulking right? What's a few extra calories?

Shoulders/traps tonight!!

Hope everyone has a great weekend. Get some rest, I know I need it.

[Reno_1ted]

More comments to come over the weekend lads, but just a quick note to say well done thus far, have a good weekend, and heres to next week being easier and more productive.

Get some rest ? Darn right !

[HIIT MAN]

Well another weekend and I was well behaved.

Why?, because I was fighting off a 24/48 hr cold that tends to grab me once a yr. I usually dont get more than 1 cold a yr, so hopefully this will be the only one this Winter.

It did mean though, I didn't get to the gym on Friday, Did do a shoulder/trap workout at home though.
Didn't eat much on Saturday,as I was totally without appetite. Sunday was better , felt better towards evening and went out to a party and ate too much pizza,!!! So I count that as one cheat meal.

So back to Monday, and although a little under the weather, I am determined to get up back on track. Gym tonight. Chest and tris as they missed out last week. I guess I will have to view the last week as a maintainace week and get back on track from today. My abs have started to get a little bit more defined again, so I think that I must have lost some fat/weight with the lack of food this weekend. Although I have set my goals on the Bulk, I must admit Cutting phase 2 in January , is something I am really looking forward too.

These extra cals are hard to keep up with, although the casein and whey are helping.

Nothing else to report but am checking out some places around the home trying to find best place to take pics for the next update.

Keep on Bulking!!



HIIT MAN

[Reno_1ted]

In the last 2 weeks, my workout plan has all but disappeared. I have kept rugby training, but weights training has taken a back burner in the last fortnight, and that is the first time i have let that happen since i started my transformation. Yes ive had time off, rest weeks, holidays etc, but they were all planned. This 2 week break was not planned, and thats why im not happy about. Ok, so a lot of stuff has been going on. Ive been working very hard to tie up loose ends and train up new staff for when i start my new job and thus leave my old position. I have been reading up on the area of law i am to work in, and admittedly that has to have been a priority. Couple that with failing to be selected for the first team, despite feeling i should have been, a works night out midweek, and 2 weekends of too much beer, and what you have is a whole bunch of reasons as to why weight training has become non-existent in my life. But what you also have is a whole bunch of excuses. And im not one to make excuses. Weight training has always been my priority, and i will NOT let that slip. 2 weeks off the wagon is enough, its time to get back on board and get going.

No damage has been done, i am no fatter, no leaner, no bigger, no smaller then 2 weeks ago. The good work i had done on the bulk thus far is still evident, but i havent progressed any. The one good thing is that i have been watching my diet and keeping it at maintainance, and because i know my body so well, i have limited any damage that might well have occured.

So today marks the RE-start of the bulk. Ive given you guys a chance, a 2 week head start if you like. (just kidding guys). Today marks the day i get back to it and dont let anything come between me and my goals. Serious bulking time from here on in, no excuses, no reasons, no nothing.

I have made a good start, all food is prepped and with me, tonight will be legs, i didnt get drunk at the weekend, i ate perfectly and to top it all off, not only did we win our rugby match (woo hoo, about time!), but i found out that i WAS due for selection to make my first team debut, but it was discovered i was NOT league registered, and so couldnt be picked. If i played, it could have cost us league points. So i guess although i have failed my goals weight lifting wise, i have moved a lot nearer my rugby goal of making my first team debut. So all is not lost.

Im back baby, ready to lift big, get big, gain some weight and generally throw the iron about once again.

Its good to be back !

[Reno_1ted]

HIIT -

Well, at last i have time to take a proper look at your pics.

I have to say, your rear delts are superb. Easily your most noticable body part. Id be interested to know what excersizes you do for them, as personally i feel im lacking a bit in this area.

Shoulders as a whole are looking big, as are arms. And your traps are well proportioned.

Can i ask, do you do deadlifts ?

Looking great. Dont worry about minor fat gains, its worth it for the mass you'll add, and then when you cut up again, you'll look great.

And i wouldnt say you look your age. Top draw m8 !

[HIIT MAN]

Thanks Reno fo your comments,

When Reno describes one of your muscle groups as superb, I take that as one of the greatest of compliments!! ( I have been inspired to reach for greater things)

I am not sure that I can Isolate any particular exercise for rear delts but my usual routine for traps and shoulders are: Lateral Side Raises (generally first)
Shoulder presses(dumbell) upright rows, (either dumbell or barbell), standing scarecrows - (a real killer and you dont need too heavy a weight, and I guess this may be the exercise that helps the most) dumbell shrugs,( as heavy as I can and till I burn)

I dont know if bent over rows have any roll to play on rear delts when doing back exercises.

Also, when I do dumbell flyes for Chest, I concentrating on squeezing shoulder blades together when arms are down and slighlty below the bench and concentrating on squeezing chest muscles when at top of lift (arms above). I must say that I have always concentrated on form and really slow on lowering weights, nothing rushed.

I hope that helps, I think I may go away and study up muscle pysiology and little more.


HIIT MAN

[Reno_1ted]

Whats a scarecrow, and a upright row ? Not too hot on names ? Can u link to them on exdr ?

And deadlifts ?

[HIIT MAN]

Here's a demo of an upright row, still searching for a scarecrow

http://www.menshealth.com/cda/articl...-0-152,00.html


HIIT MAN

PS maybe also bent over rows, also on link

[Doug Miles]

Well, I managed to get in a few minutes of cardio this weekend. But, I literally mean, a few minutes. Nothing substantial. I did however average about 8 hours of sleep each night, so I feel more rested and ready to hit the weights hard this week.

We now have TONS of Halloween candy around the house. I had a bunch of it yesterday, and I don't feel too good about it. Weighed 77kg (170.4 lbs) this morning. Yikes. So I am up about 5kg (12 lbs) since starting this bulk. In a way I am glad I never had visible abs. I don't have to watch them dissappear.

Otherwise my diet has been pretty good. Not the cleanest, and not enough protein. I have trouble keeping up with preparing all the food.

[HIIT MAN]

and here's the scarecrow:
http://www.mensfitness.com/fitness/workout/30?page=2

I can feel the pain now!!


HIIT MAN

[Reno_1ted]

Cheers for the links !

I used to do upright rows, but they hurt my elbows.

I will try scarecrows ! They look cool.

Deadlifts ?

[HIIT MAN]

Reno,


you can do a more advanced version on an incline bench:

http://www.menshealthsa.co.za/story....kout_v20A.html

Scroll down to see demo:

Believe me you dont need heavy weights for this one and if you keep the form, you wont do too many.


HIIT MAN

[HIIT MAN]

Reno,

I must admit I have only just started to do Deadlifts! especially having neglected legs for soooo long!

Why do you ask?


HIIT MAN

[JMR]

That scarecrow exercise is nothing but a rotator cuff movement. Great for shoulder health but not really a mass builder.

[HIIT MAN]

Hi Everyone,

Well, The beginning of the week has gone as planned and hopefully an indicator of the weeks ahead.

Diet was on target and using Casein and whey to get the extra protein and some cals.

WorKout at Gym was Chest and tri's. Really good workout and feeling good today. Full of energy, chest and arms feel rock hard and I have lots of positive thoughts about the schedule and routine and progress. Such a relief after last week's dip. !!!!! Love days like this.


HIIT MAN

[Reno_1ted]

Well, yesterday was spot on for me as well. A grueling leg session, upped my squats by an extra 5kg, my stiff leg deadlifts were the best yet. Ive found the trick is to drive your heels into the floor on the lift, rather then shifting the weight to your toes. I read this yesterday, and put it into use last night, and could really feel it on my hams. Upped the weight to 120kg's ! Owch !

I am also feeling positive about the week ahead. I think ive cut some BF last week, due to eating less then bulking cals. Seems like a kind of ABCDE diet at the moment. Lets see how the mass adds on this week.

Rugby training tonight, cant wait for that. Has been going well recently.

HIITMAN - The reason i asked on the deadlift front is that i think they would benefit your back greatly. They are the BEST excersize for shaping your back and bringing out all the supportive muscles as well as lats, traps, lower back, rhomboids etc etc. I hope its proper ones your doing, not the stiff leg kind. Dont get me wrong, i do both, and stiff leg is awsome for hams, but you need proper ones for back on back day. Im glad youve started to do them. I think you'll find them very beneficial to your overall shape.

Doug - How you getting on this week ?

[Doug Miles]

Things are going ok for me. Not as good as last week though. The weekends candy has caught up with me, in the form of fat. It has gone directly to my midsection, where it always goes first. I am trying to keep calm about it. It’s just hard putting on fat that I worked so hard to take off. I know that cardio will help. But, if I can’t work it into my schedule, then I think I will have to cut back my expectations for this bulk, and reduce my calorie intake.

In other news, I have now officially outgrown my home lifting equipment. It never was all that great to begin with. <confession>I don’t even have a bench! </confession> The problem is that I will need to do some pretty good convincing of my wife in order to put money into it. She knows how important it is to me, but things are pretty tight these days. I think $500 would do it. That would get me a bench, a ‘short’ rack (my basement ceiling is low), some more free weights, and a bar. And this would be buying pretty cheap stuff. I don’t even know if I could get all that for $500.

Wish me luck!

[vovo]

hey reno a man of my own love (RUGBY)

what position do you play by your physique and your quest for speed i think you play on the flank or half back, or possibly on the wing.
who do you play for, are you playing for a club or uni. i don't know much about rugby in england other than i played against (Colston's)? college or something similar.

in this bulking challenge are you doing specific exercises for rugby (strength, speed) or are you doing exercises for aesthetics.

~v

[Reno_1ted]

I play on the wing, no way big enough to be a forward and i cant kick well enough to be a stand off !

My training is very much geared towards rugby, but i admit a big part of my motivation is how i look. If i was training purely for looks, i would do higher reps (6-8 range) and heavily limit the intensity of my cardio. But because of rugby, i have 1 training session and one match a week, plus i do reps in the lower range of 4-6 to help build strength rather then just focussing on mass. I do each rep explosive as well. Im sure that my bulk would be more sucessfull if i didnt play rugby, i would have more time for the gym as well for one, but having said that it does keep the BF down, and i am gaining muscle slowly, plus i enjoy it a lot, so its a good thing.

[vovo]

Originally Posted by Reno_1ted

I play on the wing, no way big enough to be a forward and i cant kick well enough to be a stand off !

i must admit i thought wing first but you got broad shoulders and you look like you have a powerful chest which was why i thought you might play openside flanker (fetcher(7)). i didn't mean fly half(10) as half back i meant scrum half (9) not sure what you call it, the names seem to vary all over the world. in oz fly half is called five eighth how the hell do they come up with that. Aussie logic

yeah i was wondering about explosive lifting.
keep us posted on match results and personal tally.

~v