Update

Been awhile since I've blogged as I've been really busy with work etc. but here is some progress photos, they were taken in May.

The 300 Workout

If you don't know what the 300 workout is, it is the workout that the actors on the movie '300' did in order to get into the amazing shape they where in. In the work out you smash out 300 repetitions as hard and as fast as you can.

 This is the workout:

a) Pullups - 25 reps

b) Deadlifts with 135lbs(60kg) - 50 reps

c) Pushups - 50 reps

d) 24-inch Box jumps - 50 reps

e) Floor wipers - 50 reps

f) Single-arm Clean-and-Press with 36lbs(16kg) Kettlebell - 50 reps

g) Pullups - 25 reps

My Review: My goal time for this workout was anywhere between 30-45minutes, I managed to achieve 45 minutes including setting up the weights, box jumps etc. I wouldn't say I'm happy with the time, however I tried the 300 workout when I first started working out and didn't even manage to finish it, so you could say I'm content. The deadlifts would have slowed me down, and definitely the floor wipers! If I manage to improve on those, I would be looking at a much better time. As for the claims that it will get you into that amazing shape if you keep doing this, I can't say since I haven't tried it over a period of time - however in my opinion I don't think it will get you to bulk up if you were doing this over and over as they suggest, as your body is going to get use to it and you will then need to push yourself further, but if you want to just get in shape and get lean go for it. Try it out, get a good time and attempt to get that spartan body!
 "THIS IS SPARRRTAA!!!"

GSP's Workout

So I was browsing bodybuilding.com and found the supposed workouts that Georges St. Pierre the Welterweight Champion of the UFC (and also my favorite fighter). So I decided to try them out, here is the link to the workout:
http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/train-like-gsp-advanced-guide.html

Day 1: Legs

Cardio:
Tabata on the Stationary Bike: 20 sec on, 10 sec off. Repeat 8 times.
Barbell Complex Legs Cycle: Repeat cycle 3 times, rest 90 seconds
• Deadlifts: 1 warm up set of 12 reps
• Deadlifts: 5 reps
• Stiff Leg Deadlifts: 5 reps
• Cleans: 5 reps
• Front Squats: 5 reps
• Push Press( to put weight behind head): 1 rep
• Squats: 5 reps
• Good Mornings: 5 reps
• Single Leg Bodyweight Squats (ex. shown with barbell): 1 set to failure on each leg
• Jumping Lunges: 1 set to failure (hold dumbbells/wear weight vest)
• Jump Squats: 1 set to failure (hold dumbbells/wear weight vest)
• Calves: Bodyweight Standing Calves: 1 set to failure (hold dumbbells/wear weight vest)
Rest 90 seconds. Then move on to the next cycle.

Barbell Complex: Means not letting the barbell touch the floor, meaning you do exercise after exercise till you finish the round.

My Review: I only completed 1 round, the reason for this is because I don't like doing stiff-leg deadlifts and good mornings because I have poor hamstring flexibility which hinders my form whilst doing these movements and will strain my lower back and in my line of work I have no time for injuries! After I finished the first round I changed the work out to

-10 reps of back squats

-10 reps of leg extensions

-Single leg squats to failure

-Walking lunges to failure

-Jump Squats to failure

-Calf raises to failure

I know I cut it down a lot but 12 overall sets to failure is more than enough to smash out a good workout, its fair to say my legs were sore for quite a few days after this workout! As for the actually 'GSP Leg Workout' I wouldn't do it again.

Day 2 - Pull & Abs

If you don't know what a pull workout is, it is comprised with exercises that uses pulling movements which target your back and biceps. The workout goes:

Cardio:
Tabata on the Rowing Machine: 20 sec on, 10 sec off. Repeat 8 times.
Upper Body Pull Cycle: Repeat cycle 3 times, rest 90 seconds
• High Pull: 1 warm up set of 10-12 reps
• High Pull: 5 reps
• Pull-ups (Underhand Grip): 1 set to failure
• Medicine Ball Slams: 1 set to failure
• TRX Inverted Lateral Rows (Overhand Grip) or Smith Machine with legs elevated: 1 set to failure
• Single Arm Dumbbell Rows 1 set of 5-12 reps (to failure)
• Optional Bicep Curls 1 set to failure
Rest 90 seconds. Then move on to the next cycle.
Abs Cycle: Repeat cycle 3 times, rest 90 seconds
Abs cycle should be done the same day as Upper Body Pull Cycle, but let your body recover before starting your Abs cycle.
• Barbell Twists: 1 set to failure
• "Stir the Pot"*: 1 set to failure
• Leg Raises: 1 set to failure

My Review: It was a pretty good workout, I could of went on slamming the medicine ball for quite awhile so I decided to consider failure for that to be not getting too much height on the slam, I don't like barbell twist as I don't really feel too much tensions and feel is puts my shoulder in dislocation position, stirring the pot on the other hand was great it really targeted my core a lot more than I though it would! The whole sessions took me about 45 minutes.

Day 3: Push

Cardio:
Tabata on the Stationary Bike: 20 sec on, 10 sec off. Repeat 8 times.
Upper Body Press Cycle: Repeat cycle 3 times, rest 90 seconds
• Warm Up lift: Standing Push Press: 10-12 reps
• Standing Push Press: 5-8 reps to failure
• Dumbbell Chest Press: 1 drop set
• Standing Lateral Shoulder Flyes: 1 set to failure
• Triceps Extensions: 1 set to failure
• Push-ups: 1 set to failure
• Front Dips: 1 set to failure
• Rear Tricep Dips: 1 set to failure
• Push-ups: 1 set to failure
• Front Dips: 1 set to failure
• Rear Triceps Dips: 1 set to failure
Rest 90 seconds and then move on to next cycle.

My Review: Awesome! I did this workout with a friend and it was killer! All those sets of failure from the dips and push ups absolutely killed my arms, especially my shoulders! In the third round I had to reduce the weight so much because my muscles for completely fatigued. I definitely felt my chest, shoulders and triceps for the next few days! Out of the three workouts this is by far my favorite which I would do again!   

Clean Bulking Vs. Dirty Bulking

This post is just me sharing a article I read about clean bulking vs dirty bulking. You can read the article and a HIGHLY recommend you do at:

http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/sports_body_training_performance/the_truth_about_bulking;jsessionid=3F78484EECEFF11C183CA336D448F0F2-he.hydra

For all of you who don't know, dirty bulking is when you eat as much as you can to gain a lot of 'muscle'. However this article speaks the truth to the people who don't know that a natural trainee can only gain about 10kg of dry muscle a year. It explains that no matter how much you eat, after you've fed your muscles and the muscles have grown the excess calories will be stored as fat! Dirty bulking is only for those who want to look good at certain periods throughout the year (competitive bodybuilders), however those on anabolic drugs will be able to gain much more than us natural guys.

So for us natural trainees who want to gain optimum muscle all year round without gaining much fat and staying lean (around 8-10% bodyfat), we need to eat a calorie excess for our muscles to grow but not too much of a excess that we start to store fat.

It also makes a good case stating that by clean bulking you actually would gain more muscle then dirty bulking because, over a time period of a year you would have to spend at least 2-3 months cutting on a dirty bulking diet if you wanted to look in good shape, compared to clean bulking where you may only need to spend 1 month which means more time throughout the year for the clean bulker to gain more muscle ( as you can't really gain too much muscle when your trying to lose fat and restricting calories).

Here is a table of how much calories you need to eat, you need to find your lean muscle mass so if you are 80kg with 14% bodyfat you lean muscle mass would be 80x0.86 = 68.8kg
This table is taken from the article so if you have problems with pounds and calories you need to divide pounds by 2.2 to get KG and multiply the calories by 4 to get KJ.

So in summary;
-Read the article if you haven't already it will be worth your time!
-Don't dirty bulk, I'm sure you don't want that fat all around your body and then having to spend months dieting it off (because we all know dieting sucks!)
-Stay clean, you only need to be gaining 1-2kg a month (muscle and glycogen) this is the optimal amount where you are gaining muscle and not much fat.
-Be realistic! Your body cannot gain 20kg of muscle in a year its impossible for the natural, don't force feed yourself to try and achieve that!

The Truth About Building Muscle by Sean Nalewanyj

For all of you who don't know this is a book/program that expresses that their method is the best way to gain muscle. The sum the workouts is revolved around the 5-7 rep range and reaching muscle failure in every set. Muscle failure is when you can not humanly push out another rep, you want to reach this between your 5-7 rep, if you only manage to do 4 or less the weight is too heavy or do more that 7 reps the weight is too light. After you reach muscle failure in your set, you must wait 2-5 minutes to recover you creatine phosphate stores to be able to push out another set just as hard. You most definitely need a training partner, as each and every set you reach failure it can be quite dangerous if you drop the weight on yourself - Choose yourself a good training buddy!

The program was as followed a 3-day split; Legs & Abs - Chest, Shoulders & Triceps - Back & Biceps. Normally 12 sets per workout.

My review of the program:
Strength Gains: 8/10
Size Gains: 5/10
Time Effective: 7/10
Fun: 6/10

Strength gains where amazing, however size didn't increase as much as I would have hoped. It took me and my training partner close to a hour and half to finish the session, but only 3 times a week is not too bad. As for fun, I personally love amping myself up and SMASHING 5 reps of a HEAVY weight! However the 2-5 minutes rest is can be quite boring.

Feel free to post any comment and questions!

Current Diet

This is my current nutrition intake, I've included options both meal and portions so you can mix and match, for both your taste and your calorie intake. I work with Kilojoules(KJ) instead of calories - so to work it out divide the KJ by 4 to get calories. I'm not strict on Protein:Carb:Fat ratios as long as I get sufficient caloriies and protein to achieve my goals.

Breakfast - 2000kj or 500 Cal

-4 egg whites/ 1 yolk with 2 pieces of toast OR

-Oatmeal with sulatanas and almonds.

Mid-Morning - 700kj (WPI) or 2200KJ(Max's Supersize)

-Protein shake & 1 piece of fruit

Lunch -  2000kj

-Spaghetti/Pasta OR

- 2 cans of tuna (95g cans) and 1 small tub of yoghurt

Post-Workout - 500kj (WPI) or 2000KJ (supersize)

-Protein Shake

-MultiVitamins

Dinner - 2000kj

-Chicken breast or steak or fish with salad or vegs or sweet potato

Nighttime - 700kj (WPI) or 2200KJ (Supersize)

-Protein shake & piece of fruit

January 2011 Update

Started a new year starting a new body! My knee's are still going through rehab but I have quit the drinking and have started a 4 day split, trying out a new rep range of 8-10 as oppose to my old rep range of 5-7.

I am not happy with the method of dirty bulking, as I've gained too much size over a short amount of time I have also gained quite a bit of fat with it. In February, I plan to undertake Max's 12 week body transformation challenge, not really expecting to win but just to give me motivation, I plan on getting down to under 10% body fat, which roughly means losing 8kg whilst maintaining my muscle( or increasing it =]), and will start fresh May counting calories and 'clean bulking' to see if that works better for me.

I also start full time Personal Training at Fitness First in February, Wish me luck! And message me if you need a personal trainer : )