Preperation is key

A field where a lot of people go wrong when it comes to gym training is preparation. This could be from anything between planning their workouts or even what meals they are.

So for me planning my workouts really depends on when I go, If I go first thing in the morning then I will plan or have a brief plan of what I'm going to do the night before, possibly watch some videos on YouTube to help motivate me for that session. But If I am at work and go to the gym after, then I will plan throughout the day.

Meals are another thing you could consider. Maybe before you do your weekly food shop, write down a meal plan for the week so you know what to buy and that way it will save you buying stuff you don't need.

Tomorrows leg session:

• Squats - 7 sets of 10 reps - including some drop sets
• Seated leg press 5 sets of 21 reps - 7 reps on different angles hitting each quad muscle
• Leg extension - 6 sets of 10 reps - including drop sets
• Dumbbell squat - 5 sets of 10 reps
• Dumbbell sumo squat - 5 sets of 10 reps
• Straight leg deadlift- 5 sets of 10 reps
• Lunges - 5 sets of 10 reps
• Leg curls - 5 sets of 10 reps
• Calf raises - 6 sets of 10 reps

Day 19 transformation

So had a great push session today, really focusing on the negatives and hitting that 4 second on the negative and 2 seconds on the way up. Started off with the incline dumbbell press and really noticing some strength gains. Started one 18kg dumbbells for 10 reps and have progressed to 22kg dumbbells for 8-10 reps. That's another thing I want to speak to you guys about, don't be afraid to up the weight even if you only get 4-6 reps out of it. In due time you will be able to gain the strength and on the weight you only get 4 reps out of you will be able to get 10, 12 or even more. Dropset the weight if you hit 4 reps that's great now without rest get a lighter weight and hit as many reps as you can, that way you will really work that muscle.

The rest of my workout went as followed

• Incline Dumbbell press - 5 sets of 10 reps
• Flat Dumbbell press - 5 sets of 8 reps
• Incline Dumbbell flies - 4 sets of 8 reps
• Cable crossovers - 3 sets of 15 reps
• Pec dec - 3 sets of 8 reps
• Military press - 4 sets of 8 reps
• Lat raise - 6 sets of 10 reps
• Machine lat raise - 2 sets 10 reps
• Tricep pushdown - 5 sets of 12 reps
• Tricep extension - 4 sets of 10 reps
• Machine tricep dips - 4 sets of 12

That is my routine as followed, give it a go and if you have any questions then don't be afraid to ask them I will be more than glad to help.

Transformation progress

So it is day 6 into my bulking transformation . Not seen much results just yet apart from my macros going up each day, really trying to hit them high calories. Currently taking in around 3800 at the moment and slowly going up. Had a cheat meal today, it's the little sisters birthday so we all had McDonalds, hey not every one is perfect aye.

Training is great absolutely loving it right now, never been more focused. Smashed legs today, did not have the energy today but platinum pre from optimum nutrition done the job. Recently purchased the raspberry lemonade flavour and it tastes excellent would fully recommend it to anyone who is looking to purchase a new pre workout.

Tomorrow is push day, looking to go heavier then before going to aim around 6-8 reps but on the last 2 sets, I am going to really focus on them negatives. That's a little training tip for you guys, if you are looking to get results fast and build size and strength then be slower on the negatives. For example on a bench press take 4 seconds to get the bar from the starting position to the chest and explode up. Performing this and adding to your routine will increase size, strength and power and you will see results.

Day 1 transformation

So here it is day one of my mass gain transformation. I'm looking to gain around 5-10 kg and then cut down. Follow me on this journey as I will be posting my nutrition plan for day by day and my training programme. I will be sticking to the legs/push/pull split but will be changing things each week such as the rep tempo to really work them muscles and increase size very quickly. I will be taking pictures every 10 days but may only put pictures up each month depending on how quickly results start to come in.
Leg day tomorrow so I will be posting my session and tomorrow I will also post my nutrition plan for the day so stay tuned and remember if you are following me on this journey take pics and comment with the link to show me your progress.

Switching routine ... AGAIN!!

So I'm finding myself slacking in the gym a little, not hitting my goals, lacking motivation. I find that the best way for this is to go back to my Legs/Push/Pull split routine as I found that with this routine I was more motivated then ever and was seeing results fast.

This time round I am going to be going harder then before making sure I hit my goals each month. The way I am going to do this is change the routine each time but then go back to it and repeat this for a month and then change that workout the following month. For example for my leg day, one day will be squats and the other will be deadlifts and just repeat this for a month and then change it. Supersets and drop sets will be included and on a de-load day (lighter weights higher reps) I will include circuits onto my workout to really hit those muscles and keep them guessing.

I will be posting up more workouts and my nutrition plan so keep posted, more coming your way.

Changing up my routine

So today I thought I'd give myself a rest from the gym and not go back until Monday and when I do go back, I come back with a new routine. It's not down to the fact I don't like the routine but I want to change in order to keep those muscles guessing to get the best results.

Iv gone for a simple routine and one that most people follow.

• Monday - Chest and Back
• Tuesday - Legs and abs
• Wednesday - Shoulders and abs
• Thursday - Chest 
• Friday - Arms

Now Iv got chest in my routine twice a week. The reason why chest is in the routine twice a week is because I find that it is one of my weak areas. You should do the same, whatever your weak area is try to hit it twice a week and then once you find that it is not so much of a weak area, choose another body part to work on more. See for me I have a few weak areas so I'm going to concentrate on them for probably about a month each before I change what weak area I am working next.

I will keep you posted from Monday onwards on how I find the routine is going.

Stay tuned for more fitness and nutrition tips.

Creatine

So there is a lot of questions and studies towards the supplement creatine and in this post I am going to  give you an insight on what creatine is, when should you take it and how much should you take.

So to begin with you are going to want to know what creatine is. There are different types of creatine but for this topic I am going to be talking about creatine mono hydrate as it is the most popular on the market. Creatine is naturally stored within our body and helps to produce/breakdown energy. Now how this does this is through ATP. ATP is energy and what creatine does is help increase the muscles ability to resynthesize ATP to increase energy demands. Taking creatine at the right amount will allow you to get them extra 2-3 reps in the gym to increase muscle mass and size.

How much should you take and when is the best time to take it? 

While taking creatine you want to take about 3-5g a day and take it everyday to see results. A lot of companies say to have a loading phase where you take 3-5g 3-4 times a day, well you don't need to. This is just a way for companies to get you to use up all their product and buy it again rather quickly. Just make sure when you take creatine make sure you drink 8 or so cups of water to make sure it flushes through your body. You can take creatine whenever you want, for me I have it with my post workout shake so it can't get straight to work on repairing. A lot of people will have it with their ore workout, that's fine it's up to you when you take it. 

So I have pretty much just covered the basics on creatine, it is the most used product in the industry and I recommend this for anyone trying to add size as it really helps your muscles go to them last reps. In the picture below is the creatine I'm currently taking. It's a micronised creatine so it is broken down even more so it can get into the system quicker. It's not the cheapest creatine but definitely not the most expensive. I picked this up for £13 and it serves its purpose. I only buy optimum nutrition products because they work for me. You may not agree its all down to what works for you. 

Any questions feel free to comment. 

Thanks.

Post Workout Meal

A post workout meal is probably one of the most important meals if you are looking to gain muscle. Your muscles have just taken a good beating from your workout and will take in any nutrients that enter the body so having a high protein post workout meal is the best way for this to happen.

What I like to have is four egg whites on two bits of wholemeal toast, with a protein shake. The protein I use is Optimum Nutrition's Gold Standard Whey. For all you people out there that don't like taking protein shakes because you don't want to put on weight, you should consider giving this or Optimum's Hydrowhey as they are filled with protein and have less than 200 calories per scoop.

But back onto the subject of this meal, I am going to give a quick few bullet points on preparation for this meal.

• Use four eggs and crack the shell and put just the egg white (not the yolk) into a jug.
• Add a tiny bit of milk (30ml) into the jug (semi skimmed milk) and stir mixture.
• Put into the microwave for about 3 minutes depending on how powerful your microwave is.
• Put bread into the toaster, then add low fat butter.
• Add semi skimmed milk into shaker bottle and 1 scoop of whey protein (shake mix).
• Dish up your egg onto your toast and add some pepper onto it.

And there you have it a nice easy post workout meal, around 600 calories and about 50 grams of protein, not bad for a 5 minute meal.

I have plenty of other post workout meals that I will post up on here, but this is a great easy meal for those who lack with time or have to go to work after the gym.

Comment and let me know what your favourite or what you currently have as your post workout meal.