Doc Hollywood’s BodyBlog

I have read that many guys have a protien shake about 2 in the morning whilst they are sleeping (well obviously they wake up for it). I thought i would give it a go. I bought some BSN Synth6 because it seems to mix and taste the best with water, and wasnt overly high in carbs. Because of my water intake i normally need to get up between 2 and 3 anyway, so i might as well give it a trial.

Two immediate results, firstly i am sleeping better. You really need, not only sleep, but good sleep to build quality muscle, everyone knows that. But before my night time snack the hunger pains would wake me up a good hour before i needed to and i would just lie around tossing and turning before the hunger got to much. Now i literally have to set the alarm because after that shake I crash into a deep restfull snooze and wake up far more refreshed. Good outcome.

Secondly and its only been two weeks, but i believe my all round musculature is far denser and i dont seem to flatten out as much during the night. I like waking up feeling as full as when i went to bed. My back is coming along pretty well as are most of the other large muscles, quads, chest etc. Mabye its the new itense training in the new gym, more knowledge garnered from this site, who knows. I really reckon Layne should do more frequent videos, love the motivation I get from watching the progress of natural athletes, no time for users of vitamin "S" its simply cheating yourself and your body. But if its your job i guess you gotta do what you gotta do.

Final note for all you Aussie out there, check out a new Aussie BB mag called HARDCORE AUSSIE MUSCLE. Stacks of decent content, and pretty good coverage of all the national and local events. And they even give INBA a fair deal, natural athelets in a glossy mag well i never hehehe. Anyway to all you guys and girls out there competing in the natural season in the next couple of weeks, hope you all do well and get yourselves a pic in this new mag.

Gee how different can two machines be. Well a squat is a squat but the leg press machine was something altogether different, much smoother and the angles really took the strain of the lower back and really kept you butt nice and tight against the seat.

Training with the wife is OK but she doesnt zone into her workout like I do, but she isnt interested in the competitive side of things so its a more spend time with me thing, whilst working out as well. She says shes really into it but i dont know. Have you ever noticed that some people get into a place and some people look like they are just going through the movements. I bench with a guy who just lies under the bar and starts lifting even when the weight hits 400. Me on the other hand, i switch my mind on and my focus comes right down tight on just what is in front of me, some power words (Ronnies light weight light weight does the trick) and its game on. This is on every set of every exercise in every workout, when i cant reach that zone i feel like I have just gone through the motions and have achieved nothing.

On an other note i really think doing legs on monday after the weekend rest was a good idea, all the core muscles seem stronger and that obviously gives me a better feeling of midsection stability whislt i am squatting, now grow damn you grow.

Well have to say, i am motivated, i wanted to stay and do more workouts, just so I could use all this crazy new gear. Theres something to be said about lifting basic heavy weights using compond type exercises, but this new way of feel and form over weight has its place as well. These new machines are so well designed and constructed, allowing the user to concentrate their energy on different parts of the movement. I didnt lift as heavy as i would normally but i used some different machines for my shoulders and my lord were they pumped and then sore the next day. There has to be some growth in this gym i can feel it. Hehehe.

On the downside which isnt that bad, they have rubber type dumbells, real comfortable handgrips, but it will take some getting used too. You just cant touch them together with anything more than the slightest touch or else you find yourself doing flyes instead of presses, funny as. Well its time too eat so i can go there again. Yippee.

Well finally took the plunge and went to have a bo peep at the new gym up the road from us. Its a few minutes further away than my current gym but after having a look around i was mighty impressed. I was in my gym doing a back workout, doing some 1 arm bent over dumbell raises with the biggest weight they had only 100 pounds and it is starting to get a bit easy especially for the 3rd exercise. Anyways this new gym has a "hardcore" area with db’s up to 200pounds so i was nearly sold. The equipment was all brand new (only open for 3 months) and start of the art from the US. I am thinking this is going to be expensive but when it came down to the nitty gritty it was actually cheaper than both mine and the wifes old gym and they gave us a discount because we joined together. Sweet.

So the holiday is over and the work begins again, motivated in some new hardcore surroundings. Yeah baby bring it on.  9 months to comp time.

At last after 4 weeks away visiting the wifes family in South Africa we are finally home, and its not all to soon. Sorry if you are from there but when you go on holiday, your personal safety should not have to be your main concern and dictate your every move in what should be a beautiful country. I am not a racist and being an Aussie we say G’Day to  anything that walks talks or happens to catch your eye. Unfortunately in SA this isnt the case in most places that we went. In fact the only place i felt a little safe was Cape Town, which unfortunately erupted into massive violent protests the day after we left. Saying that if anyone is down that way and needs a gym to train at I can only praise the way we were treated and virgin active in Sommerset west. The guys really helped a couple of travellors out with a weeks complimentary training whilst we were there.

We also trained at a little gym in Empangeni (Durban) which we liked to call the dungeon. We were on holidays so we trained 3 days a week, using a 5 x 5 routine. It worked a treat and i may have turned the missus to the dark side away from the jiggle it crowd to those that love the iron. Was able to keep some sort of constant influx of food thanks to the exchange rate, and the fact that protien bars end up being as cheap as chips, as well as most other supps, gee us aussies get ripped off.

On another note, i made it back in time for my teams Rugby grand final, which was today. After not being with them for the last few weeks (trip was arranged years ago for wife 30th) it was good to see it wasnt too big an interuption and we won by a point, after our colts had won the day before, great result, and after 5 attempts it was the first win by my seniors. ANyway i am still feeling jet lagged so its a shake and off to bed for me. And back to the hard work tomorrow.