Train Past Failure

Hi i decided to write a logg for my new workout, because am quite excited about it (i started it on monday 21, July, 2008) i feel pumped man, more than a full body session. Fairly new to training, ive been on the full body workouts, and i decided it was to mix things up so here it is :slight_smile:

==Day 1==

TARGET AREA - back/shoulders

volume = 7 sets, 7 reps

DL
BB Rows
Upright Row
Front Raise (DB’s)
Lat Pulldowns

-------one day of rest--------

==Day 2==

TARGET AREA - legs

Volume = 7 sets, 7 reps

Sqaut
Leg Press
Good Morning
Back leg extension

-------one day of rest--------

==Day 3==

TARGET AREA - chest/arms

Volume = 10 sets, 7 reps (this volume is for the bench only) everything else remains 7x7

Bench (a mix of incline and decline)
Pec Dec
close grips
incline bicep curls (Db’s)

-------two days of rest-------

+Supplements+

LA Whey protein powder
Cod liver oil tablets
Omega 3 fish oil tablets

And thats it, i also usually do some cardio (cycling) on the days am not lifting. Of course i cannot maintain like 70-80% of my 1RM for seven sets, so the weight does drop gradually, i took some ideas from this http://www.T-Nation.com/readArticle.do?id=658759.

Thats all for now.

I started this workout on monday, and i like the DOMS i get from it lol. The worst day by far was the legs, never done so much volume and intensity on them, and i was almost immobile, but they feel great now had a 40 minute cycle earlier did the trick, the pain will get less hopefully aswell, becuase my nervous system needs to adapt to this.

I would love to do chinups instead of lat pull downs, but am bit heavy 13 stones, about 5’10, i have a big frame, and am not strong enough yet to do em, well not for the volume i want.

Here are my 1RM for squat, benching, and DL to give you an idea of my strengh levels at the moment

DL = 120k
Squat = 100k
Bench= 80k

Am still pondering over day 3, i might switch some exercises up there, but we will see.

End of post.

Eat BIG, Lift BIG.

Done day 1 today, feel jacked.

DL
(warm up set 70k 10 reps)

100k 5 reps
100k 5 reps
90k 5 reps
90k 5 reps
90k 5 reps
80k 7 reps
80k 10 reps

Total sets = 7

(you can see the rep range differs from my orginal suggestion. But i like to listen to my body when i train, so really the 7x7 is as more of a goal or a bar for me, rather than a must target every time on each exercise, i simply listen to my body.)

BB Rows

55k 7 reps
55k 7 reps
50k 7 reps
50k 7 reps
45k 7 reps
40k 7 reps
40k 7 reps

total sets = 7 i ketped that one pretty consistent :wink:

upright row

35k - FAIL

28k 7
28k 7
28k - FAIL

total set = 2
my body was saying nono this week to the old upright ;o

Front Raise

7.5k DB 's 7 sets

Unfortuantly the hyper machine (i think that what is called) was in use, it was the last thing i was gonna do before going, typical -_-, our gym is small, so i had to compensate with bent over lat raises, did about 9 sets 5k db’s, pretty lame, i love doing lat pulls downs.

DIet for today

3 Samon sandwiches (1 tin) Wholemeal bread (6 slices).

120 grams of crunchy nut breakfast cereal, with about 200ml skimmed milk +2 pork pies - yes i know flame me :wink:

yogurt + protien shake with soya milk 200ml total proetin 25-29g.

Fruit saled with low fat cream ( a little splash dont worry, dont worry ;D) and another protein shake about 30+ this time and i used more skimmed milk in it for slow digestion, i use soya for pre gym shakes)

Protein shake and the fruit salad, is what i had to eat last today, i began eating at about 11.am with the sanwiches, and roughly had 3 hour intervals between meals throughought the day. ( i was in the gym about 5.40 pm, until 6.45 pm) ( woke up about 10.00 am)

probs have a pill of cod liver and omega 3 in min two, and think thats about it.

[quote]Der Candy wrote:
Eat BIG, Lift BIG.

[/quote]

Good lift :slight_smile: thanks for the motivation

woke up 10.00am suprisingly no doms joint pain or nothing, feel fantastic. Ill have a cycle later on today about 30-40 min and thats all for today.

More inspiration…

Complete day 2 today.

Squat

(squatted myself for 10 reps, and then 50k 10 reps, warm up)

70k 7 reps
85k 7 reps
85k 7 reps
80k 7 reps
80k 7 reps
70k 7 reps
70k 7 reps

total set = 7

succesfully completed 7 reps of seven sets on the leg exntension machines.

Sadly i didnt leg press today, because i was pondering switching this with good mornings to balance it out more, but i never got around to doing a hardy set of good mornings either.

I made a vital mistake here, should have planned ahead, because i was still wondering about the subject whilst i was training,

i think i will stick to leg presses next week, as i see deadlifting gives the hamstring sufficient stimulus on my day 1, but i would like some feedback on this, if you have any, i might post a seperate thread about this.

Overall i feel i didnt hit the peak today, a bit pissed, did some ab work, and did some stretching to compensate for the otherwise leg pressing time i had.

Note Allways plan ahaed, and have a plan of action.

Cycle 30-40 mintues (probs 40) and good nutrition, thats all for today. (body feels fine, just to damn normal, still pissed about not hitting my legs more yesterday)


.

[quote]Der Candy wrote:
.[/quote]

is this a suttle hint, to incorporate good mornings ;o? or just more motivation, which i appriciate :).

WAW, i was doing some browsing and i found out that a front leg curl is suspose to target your hamstring, i seriosuly dont get any stimulus in my hams when doing these more on the quads. Perhaps this shows am slightly quad dominant, therefore…:smiley:

[quote]TRAIN2Failure wrote:
Der Candy wrote:
.

is this a suttle hint, to incorporate good mornings ;o? or just more motivation, which i appriciate :).

WAW, i was doing some browsing and i found out that a front leg curl is suspose to target your hamstring, i seriosuly dont get any stimulus in my hams when doing these more on the quads. Perhaps this shows am slightly quad dominant, therefore…:D[/quote]

Actually, I just like postng motivational pics.

^ understood :slight_smile:

DAY 2 (NEW)

Squat
Leg Press
Good Morning
Back leg extension

I think that looks better.

Yesterday completed day 3.

Completed everything 7x7 and 7x10 for the bench.

i really wasnt comfortable yesterday. My left side allways seemed to slightly jolt ahaed whislt i was benching compared to my right (which was more like holding the weight, not pushing it), and yestrday the difference was quite substantial. Its kinda wierd, am right hand dominant, and allways thought that my right side was the strongest.

Anyways i really feel this strengh inbalance is seriously holding me back now, i need to take drastic action and wipe this problem under the carpet for good. Therefore i have decided every movement i can do with dumbells, instead of a BB, i will do with dumbells. I might have to sacrifice superior gains, poundages etc for a while, but it will all be worth it, once i sort out my body mechanics, ill go back to lifting heavy with a BB.

I was a bit pissed yesterday, my left side was pumping the weight up fine, and my right was acting like some fucking hardgainer or some shit.

More nutrition, train smarter, get stronger.

Day 1 completed today.

Deads set looked like this

105k 5 times
100k 3 times
120k 2 times - :slight_smile:

NOTE i think i should have slightly longer rest periods between deadlift sets

everything else was completed 7x7

MUST SORT OUT MY BODY MECHANICS.

starting to feel the muscle repairing itself at the moment, probs feel a slight sitffness in my back tomorrow.

More nutrition, train hard, get stronger.

Nice blog, I’m just confused about one thing.
Do you TRAIN2Failure or Train Past Failure?

sorry, that just bugged me a bit :slight_smile:

[quote]Bloobird wrote:
Nice blog, I’m just confused about one thing.
Do you TRAIN2Failure or Train Past Failure?

sorry, that just bugged me a bit :)[/quote]

lol, its more sarcasm than anything. Sometimes i do hit failure, i dont try to do it intentionally though, i just beleive in lifting heavy and repeated effort to gain muscle and strengh, just makes sense to me, and it sure feels damn right, and in time it will hopefully look right :D.

Ty :slight_smile:

(i edited that about 10 times lol tricky question)

[quote]TRAIN2Failure wrote:
Bloobird wrote:
Nice blog, I’m just confused about one thing.
Do you TRAIN2Failure or Train Past Failure?

sorry, that just bugged me a bit :slight_smile:

lol, its more sarcasm than anything. Sometimes i do hit failure, i dont try to do it intentionally though, i just beleive in lifting heavy and repeated effort to gain muscle and strengh, just makes sense to me, and it sure feels damn right, and in time it will hopefully look right :D.

Ty :slight_smile:

(i edited that about 10 times lol tricky question)[/quote]

My goal at the moment is to be big and strong, if i was to specialize in wanting strengh only i wouldnt neglect lifting really heavy with low volume, either if i wanted maximum hypertrophy i woudlnt neglect doing lower intensity and high volume. Hope i covered myself there, i just see my routine as a good all rounder.

Haha, my post was more humour than a serious question, but good answer anyway. Training to failure has it place, but I’d generally avoid it when going for strength. Although, it can be useful on isolation exercises where the CNS isn’t taxed very much.

Edit: Most people seem to go with it being better to get strong first then get big. You would most likely make better gains training for strength 6 months and then size 6 months than trying to do both at once for 12 months. If you decided to go with a strength program for a while you’ll still gain considerable size as well as getting your strength to a nice level.

Just my 0.02$

Day 2 completed.

Squat

70k 7 reps
85k 7 reps
80k 7 reps
80k 7 reps
70k 7 reps
70k 7 reps
60k 7 reps

completed 7x7 on the leg press, started on max level 25 and dropped down to 20 (sorry i dunno what the weight is on it)

When i was doing back leg extensions, i tried to push myself to far. I almost pulled my calf i would say, i was trying to hoist the weight up and i could feel my calf giving away (not in a good way), so i immediately dropped the weight (BANG), i had some pain in it after and i decided not do anymore, id rather come back next week and try again, than go all out in one session. Alls i did after was some ab work, and i did a brisk walk on the treadmill for my calves.

NOTE Perhaps i should add some streching for those chronicly tight muscle groups aswell, such as calves in my workouts. (and remember to do some mobility stretching after doing cardio on non lifting days)

My calves feel better now, thank god. After having a nice recoopa bath :).

Waw i came close to having a injury today, reality check, am not invincible ;p.

Train smarter, and then, AND ONLY THEN train harder.