biggabriel 
"I want to Gain Muscle."
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Archive for the 'Training' Category
Thursday, September 25th, 2008
As the day creeps closer to the afternoon training session I start to get edgy. I start to twitch. At a subconscious level my body knows that it is about to be put through some upcoming torment. It can either step up to the plate, or let down the team. After years of training I know that hitting my sessions with all I’ve got is much more productive and safe then training half-a$$ed. Hitting a session with your mind on other things is just a magnet for injuries.
I can’t sympathise when I hear people complain that when they get to the end of the day they are too tired to do anything. With obvious exceptions with those people in very physical trades, but the people I hear from are usually my colleagues, and I work in IT. The laziest, most A$$ growing job out there. Which is perfect for me. I save up my energy all day and hit the gym with gusto in the evenings.
If you don’t get that ‘drive’ its hard to describe just how intense it is. Its the difference between the people who go to the gym because they love it and the people who go because they know its good for them. I respect them both, but they are very different. When I leave the office the music goes on in my iPod and I start to get the urge to crush something. To beat the iron relentlessly with no remorse. It gives me goose bumps and by the time I hit the gym I so pumped I know that if I was to go home without training I wouldn’t be able to sleep. The mental preparation is stronger and more important than any physical warm up. I could never be told five minutes before a workout that I’ll be training legs. It takes me at least 24 hours to get my head around it. But when I have my sights on leg training I absolutely crush them.
Whether you run, chanting to yourself and screaming obscenities, to the gym or are dragged in kicking and screaming by a loved one, you can still make fantastic progress. Only one is far more pleasurable than the other, even if the workload is the same. I have been doing intense workouts 4 nights a week since I was 14. I started with martial arts, which I became obsessed with, later moving into the gym to make me a stronger fighter (strength was my weakness at the time). I loved weight training so much that I quit the martial arts altogether.
So for 13 years I have been training at a high intensity more nights a week than not. Its something I have to do. It gives me more purpose and direction than any one facet of my life. If I take time off (which is important at times) I start to twitch and get edgy. I snap at people because I just need that release, that only punishing your body and knowing you are becoming stronger for it, can give. Learn to love what you do. Be the enthusiast and embrace the rush that only living well can give.
Posted in Training
Sunday, September 21st, 2008
Country and western ‘classics’ aside, I’ve somehow injured my inner thigh/groin. I’ve been very lucky with my leg training up until now. I squat and leg press heavy almost every week and I’ve never had any major knee or hamstring issues. My legs have made good progress because I’ve smashed them week in, week out. It first started about 3 week ago, and became noticable when doing little things like raising my leg out of bed. Nothing serious, it just felt like a light pinch. Leg training that week really irritated it. It is the kind of injury that you can work through. After a couple of intense sets the pain is gone, thats the scary part. Obviously I don’t want to make it worse, but I don’t want to loose any size in my legs either.
So for the last 3 weeks I’ve trained through it, finally realising that its not going to go away on its own accord. I spent a good 20-30 minutes stretching on saturday morning which I think has helped. I’ve been meaning to start stretching my hammy’s regularly anyway, they’re starting to get quite tight. I’ve had more shoulder injuries than I’d care to remember so I know how to deal with them, and get on top of them without doing too much damage or sacrificing entire workouts. However, this groin has me stumped. If anyone else has some suggestions on how to fix it I’d appreciate it.
As for how it started? Well thats a sexy story that will have to stay in the vault  At first I was thinking “gee I’m getting old, hurting myself while getting freaky.” However I’m sure that when I’m an old man being told by the doc that I can’t have sex for a month due to an unrelated ailment I’ll be looking back fondly on this injury thinking “I used to cause injuries by having crazy sex… Ahh the good ol’ days.”
Posted in Training
Sunday, September 7th, 2008
I’m a lucky guy. I had the privilege of hitting the iron dungeon with one of my idols. When a colleague asked me what I did over the weekend and I said that I trained with an ex-Mr Olympia competitor, all I got was “oh OK”. I had to use the parallel of “it was like kicking the footy around with Darren Lockyer”. Then I was returned with a big smile and bright eyes “wow really?” I was totally geeking out. I made sure I became a sponge and soaked up every little bit of information I could. You don’t get to compete in the Olympia on any one talent alone. You have to be a genetic freak, you have to know how to eat and how to train and have the guts to put it to practice and stick to it, year in and year out. I must admit that I have developed a shallow quality in my training life. I try my best to surround myself by people who can take me further. People I can learn from and inspire me. That doesn’t always mean that they are bigger or even more experienced than I am, but if I feel that they are unmotivated or cannot bring anything to contribute to the partnership, I distance myself from them. Even though they may be fantastic people otherwise. I do feel a little shallow because of this, but in my training life, its the only way to get ahead.
Back to the issue at hand, training style. My previous full time training partner was an ex powerlifter, so needless to say we did alot of powerlifting movements in our training. Lots of speed work, 1rm lifts and barbells galore. I’ve gotten great results from heavy lifting and I’d recommend it to anyone to needs to thicken their physique. However, I feel like a need a change, both mentally and physically. I usually take big breaks between sets, have a fair amount of volume and shy 1 or 2 reps away from failure. The training style I was introduced to was the total opposite. Fast and explosive. Only enough rest between sets to be able to recover enough to do the next one. 1-2 warm up sets, 1 prep set (with a moderate weight, usually only around 4-6 reps, enough for a neural warm up but not enough to promote any kind of fatigue), then 1-3 all out work sets. The workout should never take longer than 1hr 15min, including your warm up. Much like the style made famous by Dorian Yates. I must admit I have my doubts. I have had great results from lifting heavy and getting the most recovery between sets. I have seen the benefit of heavy training and I am a little sceptical about letting it go. I’m also a little worried that I may not be doing enough volume for each bodypart. However, nothing ventured, nothing gained. The guy I trained with is massive and intelligent. I’ve heard great things about this training style, time to take a leap.
So far I’m going through a teething process. My training style has become a hybrid. I’m not moving through the sets quick enough, and I may still be doing too many. Also, I need to get a reliable spot for every set, to really make every working set count. I’ll work with this style for a few months, do my research on how to make it better and see how I go with the results. I’m 108kgs now, I’ll aim for a lean 2kgs, to bring me up to 110. I still plan to train heavy. I love it. However, no more regular 1rm lifts for a while. I’ll keep ya’ll posted
Posted in Training
Sunday, August 17th, 2008
No I’m not referring to estrogen induced gyno, or a massive pair silicone boobs. The muscles in my chest have come back to play!! After completing a personal best bench press late last year I started getting a niggling shoulder issue which I ignored to some degree at first. It gradually got worse and resulted in a 6 month injury. I couldn’t do any pressing besides decline, and most triceps movements we painful aswell. I must be getting mature in my old age, the old me would have trained through it for another month, which would probably have extended the injury to 9-12 months. Being mature and enlightened as I am, I cut all exercises from my training that irritated the shoulder in any way and did my best to make up for it with other exercises. I was doing heavy side laterals with 75lb dumbells, heavy upright rows and decline press for chest with every variation you can imagine! Decline barbell, decline dumbell, dips, low cable crossovers, hammer strength decline press, machine decline press… You get the picture! Decline was the only angle I could train for chest without making my shoulder bite. Working around it in this way I was able to maintain some mass and strength in my chest, shoulders and tri’s, but inevitably I lost alot of fullness.
In late May I started to tentatively train flat bench again. All my focus was on keeping my shoulders locked back and tight. Maybe 10% of my attention is on the lift, the rest is all on my preparation for the lift and staying tight while under it. I have managed to build up good mid range strength (6-12 reps) but the lower end work still needs more time under the weight to build up. In mid June I began using a MedEx (rehab brand equipment) shoulder press. With a neutral grip (palms facing your head) the stress on the shoulder is very minimal. Definately a great place to start getting my shoulder press back together. The pain was gone but the strengh and fullness still has a long way to go. Last night was the first night I really managed to get under a descent weight for seated DB press. The meat and vege of all shoulder exercises. I’m totally focussed on pulling my shoulders back HARD. Getting the weight up is the last thing on my mind. Although, I did finish with a nice set of 6 reps on the 85lb dumbells. It ain’t record breaking but it was smooth and controlled, great place to start. I can only see my strength moving up from here.
Most importantly, my chest, shoulders and tri’s are starting to fill up again:) Loving it!
Posted in Training
Tuesday, August 5th, 2008
Do you have a food that you continually justify to yourself as being ok to eat? I’m so cynical when I hear women crying over chocolate cravings because I simply cannot understand why it is an issue. You could dangle a chocolate bar under my nose for days and I wouldn’t be tempted to touch it. You could melt a full block and pour it all over me and I wouldn’t even be tempted for a taste. Thats why I get the urge to just say ‘harden up’ when I hear someone (mainly women.. I think its an estrogen thing..) crying over chocolate.
However, I have come to realise that I have the same kind of craving and temptation in my life… Japanese chicken curry! If any of you have tried it you’ll know what I’m talking about. It’s deep fried chicken with heaps of rice, covered in a rich curry sauce. If I even smell the stuff I go mad. I’m not one for indian curries, or spicy food at all. The Japanese curry has a totally different taste.
The problem is, I know that the meal is full of saturated fats and heaps of starchy carbs. I have no idea what’s in the sauce, and frankly I don’t want to know. I have developed the annoying habbit of justifying this meal probably once every 3 weeks. With the plan I’m following at the moment, it’s quite clean, well timed and proportioned appropriately for my needs. As I’m not dieting for a show I get a few ‘allowances’. You may have read about the 90% rule. I basically apply this to my meals as a whole over the week, and it turns out that I get about 4 meals off the plan. These meals still have to be reasonable, but its a great way to have a change from the norm. Keeps you sane. An example would be sushi or subway. Fresh, real ingredients, and reasonably lean. I also get one ‘cheat meal’ a week. This meal is an all out rebellion. A devine gourgefest. It serves its purpose, giving your metabolism a good kick in the A$$ and it does a good job of keeping cravings at bay. HOWEVER, I have been using the deep fried chicken curry as an ‘off the plan meal’. I know its too fatty to include it in that category, but I still do it! I’m like my dirty little secret. Loosing control in a fit of passion and then regretting it afterwards.
The leaner and bigger I get the more people I work with and train with come up to me and start to try and justify their lives. The chocolate story is so common (I work in the public service… ), I’m really sick of all those ridiculous excuses. The latest was ‘well I didn’t have any breakfast’. This was said to me just as I was walking past a colleague around 10am. I just smiled and kept walking, because I really don’t care. If you want to eat poorly, fine. Just don’t feel you have to justify it to me with insane excuses just because I watch what I eat. Oh my favourite is ‘I’ve tried dieting and it doesn’t work for me’. OMG, don’t get me started, thats a whole other topic that deserves its own attention.
The bane of my existence… Japanese Curry is my chocolate, and has turned me into a hypocrite. But damn its good.
Posted in Training
Sunday, July 20th, 2008
Have you ever seen someone pull off a side triceps pose really well? I’ll never forget seeing a photo of (now retired) Tom Prince hitting a massive side triceps pose. He looked like he was carved out of an obscenely broad stone. That photo was cut out an put on my desk for inspiration before workouts. He was not a good role model for me. Our genetic potentials are worlds apart. I’m tall and ectomorphic, where as Tom is much shorter and the picture of a true mesomorph. None the less I aspired to create a physique with the same thickness and density shown in that shot.My goals have since become much more realistic. I accept that I am tall and that to look big on stage I have to try and get as thick as possible. Getting lean seems to come quite easy to me, its building the mass that is the infinite struggle. I went up the coast for a holiday for 5 nights with my friends 2 years ago. While they all gained weight from all of the booze and dirty food, I lost 6kgs. When I’m not training hard and slamming down big meals I start to evaporate back to the classic ectomorphic shape. Tall, lean, narrow shoulders and waist. Basically, picture Cosmo Cramer without the wicked hair.
The universal rule is - we all want what we can’t have. I’ve always aspired to that classic, stocky bodybuilding physique, but it isn’t going to happen. Its time to take advantage of what I’ve got. I have the potential to show an excellent v-taper. I have a good thigh sweep, but I need to develop my shoulders more to accentuate that x-man physique. I should be looking to the Lou Ferrigno’s, Tony Freeman’s, Dennis Wolf’s and Arnold Schwarzenegger’s of the bodybuilding world. Dennis Wolf is an up and commer, with a 5th place at the last Olympia it will be very interesting to see how he places this year.
I intend to become what I find most impressive. When its finally time for me to step on stage I hope to have a killer side triceps pose. So watch out!
Posted in Training
Tuesday, July 15th, 2008
Most athletes in the bodybuilding game who compete refrain from those archaic notions of ‘bulking’. They have gone through 3 to 5 months of gut wrenching dieting and do not want to make it harder for themselves the next time comp season comes around. Don’t get me wrong, I beleive that periodisation with diet and training is absolutely necessary. I’m talking about the (mainly male) notion or gorgeing on absolutely anything that resembles food in the name of gaining muscle. Seasoned competitors know how many calories they need to grow. They know what they should be eating and have the dicipline to make it happen.I am a newly reformed ‘bulker’. Its an easy trap to get into. You eat huge amounts of calories, you get insulin spikes and have plenty of energy in the gym. You get stronger and look massive in t-shirts. People start commenting on how big you’re getting. It becomes a run away freight train thats not easy to stop, or even slow down. Feeling full all the time becomes an absolute must. The result? Have you ever seen ghost busters? You become the powder puff marshmellow man (without the stylish hat of course).
I remember reading an article on insulin, promoting it as one of the body’s most anabolic hormones (which it is). The article advised that when you are full and have plenty of carbs you body has an insulin spike and you shift to a completely anabolic state. In the last paragraph of the article it stated ‘if insulin makes you anabolic, never let yourself get hungry and have carbs at every meal’. This led to a paranoid war against hunger. The more stuffed I felt the more muscle I believed I was building. Not true. I was getting in at least 50g carbs at every meal (besides my shake before bed) and they were all heavily sharchy carbs. Lots and lots of bread. I am naturally very ectomorphic. Tall and thin. It has taken years of big weights and big eating to get as far as I have (and I have a long way to go). So the weight took a couple of years to build up, and without reslising it I was all of a sudden ashamed to walk around with my shirt off. I thought ‘I train so hard and eat even when I’m not hungry in the name of muscle and I feel like crap naked? Whats wrong with this picture?’
Like I stated earlier periodisation is so important, but to be successful in this game you have to watch your bodyfat even in the off season. I have seen several competitors who are desperate to make it in this game but get way too heavy in the off season and as a result come in softer and smaller than the other competitors who stayed in reasonable shape. For those barbell junkies who just like to look massive in t-shirts, then old style bulking is the way to go, and they do it well! However for anyone with the intention of competing, staying within reasonable shape in the off season is the only way to stay competitive. Loosing massive amounts of fat right before a show is a sure way to loose muscle and get loose skin (especially round the lower back and stomach, thighs aswell for girls). I’ve learnt that you can put on more muscle between comps by getting in quality food (and plenty of it) and doing more nutritional planning than just ‘lets go to the food court’.
Posted in Training
Thursday, July 10th, 2008
‘Socially awkward’. A term that easily describes life in the physique game. In a society where most social events revolve around practices that go against what we train so hard for, we become the abnormal. We become the outcastes. While our friends are going out boozing it up for 16 hours, we are making sure we are getting in our frequent, good quality food, keeping up our water and getting plenty of sleep.
Most athletes I have spoken with that are serious about bodybuilding or figure seem to go through the same stages with their ‘normal’ friends. When you take those first steps towards becoming a serious athlete and not just someone who wants to look good in a singlet, short shorts or have killer guns, you find yourself making changes to what you do when you go out with your friends. You start to always volunteer as the designated driver. You bring protein shakes with you, in case of a protein ‘emergency’. You make good choices when going to restaurants, or discourage your friends from going to places where you know you will have no choice but junk.
As you continue in this lifestyle you gradually get more and more dedicated to your sport, you realise that too many of these outings are slowing you down. As hard as you may try you miss more sleep on the weekend, and can’t catch up on it during the week due to work. You have just a few drinks, or sneak in a burger here and there. Coming to this realisation you start to say no to your ‘normie’ friends. In turn they start to resent your rejections, as they take it as a personal insult. The initial reaction causes some tension, but in time you both come to an understanding. But it doesn’t stop there. You decide to compete. You all but sever your old life in an attempt to be a winner and not just ‘that guy or girl who did a comp a couple of years ago’. You begin to socialise with like minded people and become good friends with people in the physique world, further decreasing time spent with ‘normies’. Life in these circles further affirms your physique lifestyle and leads to a completely different way of thinking. You are no longer the person who didn’t have that 12th drink so you wouldn’t throw up, or that 4th pill so you might get some sleep over the next week. You are the person who won’t drink, and won’t go a night without at least 8 hours sleep.
We love our friends and family, and will never want them out of our lives. We can only hope to get them to realise that we are living life as Abbey Normal. Of course we know better then ‘normies’. We know you should be eating 6 meals a day, avoiding simple carbs and saturated fats. Ever heard “comon, have some cake, a bit of fat is good for you!”. In a world where ‘cake is good for you’ we will continue to be the socially awkward.
Times are changing, watch this space.
Posted in Training
Tuesday, July 8th, 2008
What a head game our sport is… I have been seeing Jon Davie (www.prepared2win.com.au) for about 6 weeks now and I have made great progress. I have dropped significant bodyfat, and put on a kg or two. And in the natural BB world every gram counts! I couldn’t be happier with the results. However… even though I know this, I can’t help but feel ’small’ at times.
I’m 6′3 and 108kgs. As I get leaner my clothes are getting a little baggier. At training last night I had it bad. I know I’m looking much better and making good progress but here come the head games!  I don’t let is phase me, but I am trying to learn from it as it is going to get much more intense when comp prep comes around. My training style is very much you classic volume bodybuilding, combined with powerlifting. Or as some have referred to it as ‘Power bodybuilding’. I’m no stranger to the head games that come with getting under a new PB lift. The weight may feel like its going to push you through the floor, or crush your knees to dust the minute you take it off of the rack, but if you get your head in the right place you can power through the lift as if it were a warm up. I have often done a 1RM lift better than the previous lift 40kgs lighter! Purely due to getting my head around the lift.
I’m quickly learning that the physique game is just as, if not more, intense on head space.
Posted in Training
Tuesday, July 8th, 2008
The squat rack. We love her and we hate her. Ask any seasoned gym rat if they like to squat, and it will either be a ‘hell yes!’ or a ‘hell no!’. Either way there’s always the same look in their eye can be easily be mistaken for fear.
Respect…
You have to respect her or she will crush you. You can’t be afraid of her or she will crush you. You can’t think she’s easily beaten or she’ll crush you… But if you respect the squat she will make your wheels grow like nothing else! She is dependable, 100 years from now a 60kg squat will still be a 60kg squat.
Last night was squat night. I rotate my squat training from week to week. One week will be speed training, the next week will be a heavy day (every 3 or 4 weeks I do a pure volume squat day, will nothing under 6 reps). Last night was speed training, which is basically 10 sets of 3 reps in 10 minutes. The reps are explosive and fast but controlled. I found myself feeling savage as the day was comming to an end. I had a burning need to crush some serious weights. I knew I couldn’t skip speed work (Although speed training isn’t specifically for bodybuilding, it makes me stronger, therefore handling more weight when I do volume work, therefore getting bigger legs ) so I gave it everything I had. I stuck with 140kgs and it felt lighter than it ever has. I was tempted to put the weight up but I had to remind by self that weight is not the goal, it’s the speed, the explosive push out of the hole that was the goal.
So after 10 minutes of gut wrenching intensity, drenched in sweat (on apparently the coldest night in Brisbane), I finally got my wish to move on to leg press and move some serious weight After going through all those fast reps I was sure to take total control of the leg press, taking my time with every rep, actually enjoying the pain (sick hey!). By this stage my legs had blown up, full off blood. I love the feel a real heavy 6 rep set on leg press gives. You can feel it penetrating into every fibre.
We finished quads with some super sexy front squats. Since I haven’t done these in a while I stuck to w fairly light weight. The pain in my shoulders was worse than what my legs were going through. However, from past experience I know that the shoulder pain eases as you do the movement more regularly. So I think I will stick with it for a few weeks
I finished off with some drop sets on calves (which I have never done, I have only previously done straight sets) which were savage, I loved it. I put the weight right up to a point where I could only do a hard 6 reps, then dropped to a weight where I could burn out another 6-8. I have very long legs, so making them thick is my priority.
All I can say is I hope I have the same drive when leg training comes round next week. Take from the above what you will, I hope some of it may help you get through your next leg workout. Dig deep!
Posted in Training
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