Happy (late) Birthday Irene XXX

prac·tice [prak-tis]

noun
3. repeated performance or systematic exercise for the purpose of acquiring skill or proficiency

skill [skil]
noun
1.  the ability, coming from one’s practice, to do something well
2. competent excellence in performance; expertness

Hello Readers

It’s taken a little longer than intended but I’ve finally put finger to keyboard Why the delay? Part apathy, part happiness.  Come to think of it that’s worth a post in itself, but don’t hold your breath In short though I’ve been merrily trundling along here in Edinburgh, personal training, training myself, eating and sleeping, then rinsing and repeating  :) Life’s good Anyway enough rambling, without further ado here, slightly later than promised, again , is the ‘Old School Bodybuilding’ training routine that I’ve been following for the last 8 weeks

What’s Old School Bodybuilding?

Old school bodybuilding is a little out of fashion at the moment which is a shame as it’s a great way to train

“In the true art of bodybuilding this doesn’t mean lifting heavier weight, it’s intensifying your focus on the details in the exercise.

I call them pointers, such as

-   Pushing with your elbows during all pressing movements

-   Pulling with your elbows and thinking of your hands as hooks during back movements

-   Working for the burn in the muscle core

-   Controlling the weight

-   Envisioning how you want the muscle to look

It takes practice and skill to command all these pointers during every set and every rep.”

- Robby Robinson

I’ve been obsessively intensifying my focus of late I’m still practicing and I’m becoming more skilled with every workout but there is still plenty of room for improvement

Warm Ups, Cool Downs, Stretching

I really can’t be bothered to retype all this so I’m going to cut and paste from Jad’s Wisdom here It’s worth a read if you haven’t already as it has some good general workout pointers

“I still do all this, I’m just not going to go over it all again here   Take Responsibility and read these previous posts if you need a recap –

Basic Workout Structure, The Wonders of Static Stretching Parts 1, 2 and 3, The Kai Greene Tribute Workout aka My Workout and New Years Resolutions Anyone?

Sets listed below are ‘working’ sets and don’t include warm ups which vary, though as you’ve just read those links you already know that  ”

 The Routine

I’m training 4 days a week again – Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. Here’s what Mike has me doing I’ve put a few notes on performance in to make it bit more interesting

Day One – Back and Shoulders

Back

Hyperextensions 3 x 10-15 – I contract my glutes and erectors hard at the top of each rep

Close Grip Lat Pulldowns  4 x 8-12 – I use a V handle, sit pretty upright and pull to my lower pec

Low Pulley Rows 4 x 20 – I use a VERY short range of motion here or my rear delts do all the work

Pullovers  4 x 20 – Very light or my shoulder blows up

Shoulders

DB Bent over Laterals 3–5 x 8-15 – I use the rear delt machine occasionally for a bit of variety

DB Side Laterals 3-5 x 8-15 – I sometimes do single arms, again for variety

Front Raises 3-5 x 8-15 – I use DB’s or a barbell depending on how my shoulder feels on the day

Press Behind The Neck 3 x 8-15 – Nothing exciting to say here, I just keep them smooth and steady

Military Press 3x 8-15 – Love these, I like to think about Branch Warren when I’m doing them

Day Two – Chest , Triceps and Biceps

Chest

Flat Flyes 4 x 8-15 – I keep them smooth and contract HARD every rep

Cable Crossovers 4 x 8-15 – Again I contract these HARD

Incline Press 4 x 8- 15 – I’m happiest with a barbell on these, though lifting it in can be a pain

Decline Press 4 x 8-15 – And here

Triceps

Pushdowns 4 x 8-15 – I use a straight bar 99% of the time

Seated French Press 4 x 8-15 – I like an EZ bar but getting it overhead is a pain so I often use a DB

Biceps

Incline Dumbbell Curls 4 x 8-15 – I like to grin maniacally at myself as I do these

Standing Single Arm Cable Curls 4 x 8-15 – I focus on my inner head here

Day Three – Back, Hamstrings and Calves

Back

Wide Grip Pulldowns To The Chin 4 x 8-15 – Fast, smooth reps

Dumbbell Rows 3 x 20 – Again, fast and smooth

Bent Over Rows  4 x 20 – And again, fast and smooth

Hamstrings

Single Leg Curl 4 x 15 – More smooth, fluid reps. Seems to be Thursday’s theme

Stiff Leg Deadlift 4 x 20 – With a HARD contraction of my glute/ham tie in at the top

Calves – I’ve been doing this routine of Keifer’s from  www.dangerouslyhardcore.com

Seated Calf Raise  100 reps in as few sets as possible. Minimum 30 reps on first set, 30 seconds between sets.

Toe Press  6 x 6-10 – I vary foot position to hit different areas of my calf

Day Four – Shoulders and Quads

Shoulders

As Monday – Notes as Monday too

Quads

Walking Lunges 4 x 40  steps – I am crap at these but getting better

Single Leg Leg Press 4 x 20 – 30 – These are surprisingly unpleasant. I often picture Branch Warren

I use enough weight to make the exercise challenging while focusing completely on the muscle I’m working, contracting as hard as I can and constantly remaining mindful of those ‘pointers’ of Robby’s. Also worth noting is that I don’t train to failure, never, ever

This is my favourite way of training and I’m loving my workouts. Come to think of it I don’t remember ever enjoying my training this much

I’m going to sign off here, as if I delay any longer this might never get posted Do all the social networking stuff for me – ‘Like’, ‘Share’ – hardly anyone ever does this, hint, hint and ‘Tweet’ please. If you’ve any questions just comment below