My Journey: "Learning the ropes"

[BigJ-Moore]

My journey has started. Guess I should start with abit of information about myself,

I am 17 years old from England, started lifting properly at the age of 16 after I had to quit rugby due to a very serious neck injury which practically left me fighting for my life. But here I am, I was told I would never walk again by the doctors, so to be here now is an honour and my journey is only just beginning. I plan on competing in a body-building contest early next year and that is what my journey will be leading too.

Right now I am currently in a "cutting" diet, after I put on a little too much body fat than I would of preferred over the holidays, current diet sits at this:
Meal 1: 80 grams oats, 2 whole eggs, 4 egg whites, 25 grams almonds
Meal 2: 200 grams chicken/white fish, 50 grams brown rice, veg
Meal 3: 200 grams chicken/white fish, veg
Meal 4: 200 grams chicken/white fish, veg
Meal 5: 200 grams chicken/white fish, veg
Meal 6: 150 grams fat free Greek yoghurt, handful frozen fruit

Yes, its boring... but I strangely like eating this way, and with college commitments the meals are quick and easy to wolf down in lesson.

Training schedule is currently looking like this:
Monday: Chest/triceps
Tuesday: Legs
Wednesday: Active rest
Thursday: Shoulders/biceps
Friday: Back
Saturday: Arms
Sunday: Active rest

Any advice would be greatly appreciated, as the title suggests I am still very much "learning the ropes" and am learning something new everyday, any advice would be taken on board, Thanks guys

[BigJ-Moore]

So I was up at 05:00 AM this morning for my fasted cardio, something which I really enjoy lately. Had my 10 grams of BCAA during the walk around my local villiage. This was followed my normal first meal and 5 grams of creatine drink alongside. Weighed in at 189.7 lbs morning weight.

Diet was same old same old... and college dragged...

Got to train with my old training partner today, a lad I played rugby with and he has now transitioned into bodybuilding, he came 4th in the teen class at the ibfa saxon classic earlier this year and he is helping me through my journey to the same competition next year.

Reverse grip pulldowns: 3 x 15
Narrow grip pulldowns: 3 x 12
Seated cable row: 3 x 10
Cable pullovers: 3 x 20
Hammer strength single arm row: 3 x 15
T bar rows: Worked up to 5 plates and final set was a strip set down to a single plate
Rack pulls: 3 x 10

Finished off with some triceps as I missed them earlier in the week, cable tri-set:
Rope pushdown: 15 reps
Standing skullcrusher: 15 reps
Dips: Failure
Repeated 4 times

We didn't intend to do that many reps/exercises however energy levels were extremely high, and the juiced aminos kept me and him going.

[BigJ-Moore]

So I had to take a rest day yesterday (saturday) due to work giving me a ring, but no worries as it gave me a rest day which I needed after the back on the friday. Today I trained arms, very high reps, very few sets, wasn't too sure how this workout was going to be, but hey.. in the end yes it was fantastic! ridiculous pump despite the low carbs.

Triceps

WARM UP SETS - Tricep pushdowns X 3 12-15 reps (gradually increasing weight each set)

Superset X 2
Tricep pushdowns & overhead cable extensions 20-25 reps per exercise

Superset X 2
Lying EZ bar skull crushers & French press 20-25 reps per exercise

Giant set X 2
Cable rope extensions 10-15 reps
Close grip bench press 10-15 reps
Dips failure

Biceps

WARM UP SETS - Alternating dumbbell curls X 3 12-15 reps (gradually increasing weight each set)

Superset X 2
Seated rotating dumbbell curls & seated hammer curls 15-20 reps per exercise

Superset X 2
EZ bar curls & drag curls 15-20 reps per exercise // Triple drop set X 1

Cable straight bar curl 15-20 reps per drop (totalling 45-60 reps)

Other good news is, is only 4 weeks of this short diet left, was just used to pull back a little body fat so I can continue to hit some calories for the rest of the year to put some size on, I am fully aware that as of now I am not going to be the biggest on stage, however that isn't going to stop me on bringing the conditioning I know I will need to bring. Being 190 lbs at the moment, yet far out from any competition shape. I do have alot to do over this next year, however im thriving on the expectation.

[BigJ-Moore]

Chest day! one of my favourite days in the gym, which is ironic considering my chest is my main weakness!

Started the day once again with my fasted cardio for 45 minutes sipping on my bcaa, and then came home to a delivery of some more bcaa's for the final 4 weeks of my diet. Looking forward to being able to put muscle on again, this diet is becoming difficult but im still sticking to it and in a strange way loving it. Okay so the workout consisited of the following:

Flat bench press: 5 x 10-12 reps

Flat dumbbell press: 4 x 12 reps

Superset -
Incline machine press/cable crossovers: 4 x 12 reps

Weighted dips: 3 sets to failure (used a chain as added weight not 100% on the weight)

The session was a grinder, I feel my chest needs a lot of development still as it is an obvious weak point, plus energy was a little low today so did have 2 scoops of a pre workout to get me through the session, strength was okay... was not to how it was during the winter but im still happy with the progress im making over this short diet

[BigJ-Moore]

Leg day, my best body part from what im told, so every leg day I push myself to the limits every leg session. My usual leg session is alot of reps, not as many sets but lots and lots of reps. This came from when I was doing the Y3T training programme and loved week 3 (bizarrely) but here it goes:

Leg extensions 2 x triple drop sets (Failure each time)

Squats: 3 x 20-25 reps

Dumbbell lunge (onto platform): 2 x 20 reps (each leg)

Leg Press: 2 x 30 reps (rest pause)

Superset:
Lying leg curls: 2 x 20
Stiff leg deadlift (dumbbells: 2 x 20

Finished off with 30 minutes on the bike for extra cardio and to get some recovery time for my legs, always have done this after every leg session as I have found it to aid in my recovery for my legs.

Once again I did my fasted cardio this morning, 45 minutes walk around the villiage, as much as I like it, its starting to get abit boring. I do HIIT 4 times a week later on in the day, but does anybody have any other ideas for fasted cardio in the morning?

Rest up for the rest of the day ready for an active rest day tomorrow

[BigJ-Moore]

You guys must of had it, your animals for heavens sake! You wake up one day and think, "damn! im gonna deadlift today!" Well thats what I felt like this morning when i woke up so thats what I did, luckily it was back anyway! so here goes

Deadlifts - 8 sets, worked up to 180 kg (400 lbs.. i think) for a nice double. Almost hit a treble but wasn't sure on my form on the last one so dropped it.

Reverse grip pulldown - 4 x 10 reps (dropset for another 10)

Seated cable row - 3 x 10 (triple drop set)

Cable pulldown - 3 x failure

Basically.. the deadlifts all but killed me off for this session, it has been a long long time since I've done deadlifts properly so it was nice to get 180 kg out, but still abit off my pb which is 200kg.. not far, I will see if i decide to stick at the deadlifts and maybe get some strength up again once I start putting more calories in my system.