kinkoshinkai’s BodyBlog

I went yesterday to Olympia Expo 07.  Let me just say it is the most motivational day in my year for training, and I can ride that motivation for most of the year.  Yes, loads of free stuff.  Yes, some good deals on stuff I bought.  But mostly, the cameraderie, friendliness and helpfulness of the most elite pros, my heroes taking time to greet me, shake hands and share knowledge as if I were an equal, not talking down to me like the avid fan that I am, was amazing.  OK, the hot women (which is what I love about this site, too).  But seeing in person, hugging Iris Kyle, Yaxeni Oruquen, Debbie Bramwell, Dena Westerfield, Lenda Murray - to name a few - and shaking hands with Vince Taylor, Gustave Badell, Darrem Charles, Johnnie Jackson, Milos Sarcev (WOW, what a superb human being!), Branch Warren, all of whom were competing that day, yet took time to be with the fans and treat them with such grace and respect!!  Not to mention all the other IFBB pros who were just as personable. 

Of course, I’d be extremely remiss if I didn’t mention meeting in person BodySpace’s own MSFitness, Fern.  What a gorgeous and wonderful lady she is.  Just amazing.  I wish I’d had more time to chat, pick her brain, flirt, commune, commiserate.  But there was lots to see and a short day to see it in.

I’m excited to train, to grow, to shoot for my goal of 215-220 under 10% body fat in the next year. 

In my constant quest to shock my muscles, (as per my last post regarding Ergas’s training) I decided today to try German Volume Training as outlined on BB.com.  10 sets of 10 on one major exercise per bodypart, essentially.  (See BB.com supersite for info)  Today was arm day, typically, but the way the recommended workouts are set up, it combined quads with arms.  Interesting pairing that I’d not done before, and I’d already done legs this week, but had done them on a day when I was already pretty tired, so hadn’t pushed myself a whole lot.  So I figured, why not.

I’d saved the workout routines to my files, so I copied them to my workout log book and went for it.  10 sets of squats at 50% of my calculated max, with 10 reps each, so that by the 8th set the 10 reps were very tough and the quads were VERY pumped.  Then 3 sets of leg extension for 10-15 reps, failure on the last set.  Then on to arms.  I supersetted these as I usually do, and, frankly, did a bit more than prescribed in the workout.  I am getting stronger, and really push to exceed each previous workout with a few reps more, or an extra set, or more weight.   Yesterday, for instance, on the seated Hammer row, I was up 20% in weight from what I was capable of 5 months ago.  So keeping the log book is really helping. 

I got a great pump.  Felt energized.  I’m really hoping for some good growth over the next 4 weeks as I follow this program. 

So, I read a recent Flex magazine article wherein Mike Ergas talked about low volume training.  He stated that he uses primarily Rest/Pause sets, and only 1 or two working sets per exercise.  I’ve had a rather erratic training regimen of late due to the demands of my acting/theatre job.  So yesterday, back in the gym after a bit of a break (all-be-it an undesired and unintende break) I put his method to use.  I did my chest sets after a few warm-ups, using rest/pause sets and only one or two working sets.  I don’t know what the ultimate effect will be, but I know that I can feel it today every bit as much as when I used a more traditional straight set approach.  I’ve always changed up my work-outs, varying exercise load, sequence, choice.  This, as I see it, is just one more tool in my arsenal to keep the muscle guessing and growing.  And based on todays tightness/soreness, it seems an effective tool for when my time is limited and I need to get in and out in 30 to 45 minutes and still hit it hard.  The intensity is still high, because your rest periods are very brief, but the volume is lower, allowing you to get in and out if you don’t have an hour or more to spare, which I frequently don’t. 

Today was Back day.  I hit it in a more traditional fashion.  Pull ups, 3 sets to warm up, Cable Rows, Lat pull downs, Barbell Row (forward and reverse grip), and DB Rows. 3 - 5 sets each with 8-12 reps each, finishing the last couple to failure.  Felt a good pump and look forward to feeling it tomorrow!!