3059365’s BodyBlog

Dear Readers,

I am deciding to remain on a bulk for another month as my university holidays have just started and it will give me ample time to perfect my diet, sleeping and lifting programs to get the most out of my muscle gains. I am adopting a 5 x 5 style program for my bench press - with a small twist of my own. My current 5 rep max is approx 92.5kg, and one rep approx 104 - 106kg. I am going to do something like this: (all measurements in kilos)
1 set - 85kg - 6 reps

3 sets - 87.5kg - 6 reps

1 set - 90kg. - 5 reps

- I do bench on a Monday and a Friday, so twice a week - in conjunction with 4 sets of incline barbell on Monday and cable crossover on Friday.

The next week after doing this on the Monday and Friday I will start with 85 again then 87.5 for 2 sets then one sets on 90 and then another on 92.5kg. I will then do the same for 2 workouts and then up it again starting at 87.5 for 3 sets then 90 for one and then 92.5, this will be for one workout, then 87.5 for 3 sets then 92.5 for one set then 95 - you get the picture. I know its a long shot but i am going to try and achieve 5 reps on 100 after 4.5 weeks which will give me my targeted one rep max of 113, 3kg above what i am aiming for. I am goign to push hard to develop as much mass as possible before i begin my cut phase and hopefully this new routine will help me smash my current one rep and five rep max. I will keep you all posted on how it goes, the high intensity will be sure to hurt for the first fortnight with 5 heavy lifting sets rather then 3 usually but i’ll push through and adapt. Stay tuned and keep lifting!And feel free to add any comments - id love to hear peoples verdicts on this program.
Kind Regards,

Robert Murphy

Readers,

I am now 20 years of age! feel the same, and i did not magically wake up different with more muscle as i had hoped. But seriously i managed to keep off the alchol and only drank 3 glasses of wine in celebration at dinner. I went camping as well, that made it much worse and hard to keep away from it. I brought weights with me and my mates called me insane. But regardless I am happy and impressed with my efforts and I think it shows that my will power has developed well over the last few months and that i am goal orientated and dedicated to working on my goals and Body Building aspirations - however i am not saying i will never drink again… following camping I had a great workout, deadlifts were awesome and I am going back to a 5 x 5 routine for bench press to increase it in the coming weeks. Ill keep you posted.

Kind Regards,

Robert Murphy

Readers,

Updating you on my last post on grip strength i must say that doing farmers walks (aka holds) and static holds really do work! amazingly so. I have done farmers two times now and statics once and I have noticed amazing change in grip power! During deadlifts my hands are lasting longer! I am able to keep up with my body because my hands and fingers always gave in and the body was capable of more. I did 140kg for 7 reps today (no bouncing of the weight) from last weeks 135kg for 4! My fingers eventually gave in but lasted so much longer! I highly recommend these exercises - TRUST ME THEY REALLY WORK! my gym partner too has experienced gains with the grip strength routine going up 2.5 kilos and 3 reps also. It works! all in 1.5 weeks. Your forearms look better as well, veins are showing out well and the ligaments and tendons are more pronounced. So if you feel your grip is lacking give these a try - there are plenty of articles on BB.com - just browse grip strength.

Kind Regards,

Robert Murphy

Readers,

Had a good workout today - chest, legs and triceps. Also today I started on grip strength training, and i must say it was quite the workout! After all my exercise i set up some mats approx around 25 - 30 meters apart, I then picked up the dumbbells (started conservatively) 35kg, and walked the distance between them and then turned back. I then upped the weight to 45kg and then 47.5kg for the last set. I must say this works you alot more then you’d think, farmers walks are amazing! After doing the walk then standing until grip failed once the walk was over i could feel my forearms hurting, my traps and my wrists. Thank god i decided to do this last cause if i didn’t i would have had poor grip for the remainder of the workout. I highly recommend this, even if people look at you strange who cares they are the ones missing out. Give it a try and see what happens, I almost guarantee you’ll feel instant work on the grip area.

Kind Regards,

Robert Murphy