Re: Post your daily exercise routine

My leg training is a few days' overdue now. As I mentioned on Sunday we went out for lunch, so that meant a postponement and yesterday I had to visit my mum's grave as it was two years since she passed away. That left no time for a proper workout without clock-watching, so I'll be doing that later today.

I've been thinking about my leg work at the gym and I'm now at the stage (which you may gather from my write-ups) where the 'stack machines' are too light for me, i.e. I'm pushing the maximum fixed weight on these plated machines and to get any further resistance I would need to go heavier or do a whole load more reps, which isn't practical with strength exercises. True, I can still use the incline machine that is disc-based and can add plenty more weight, but the sled press and extension machines are now at their limit (200 and 100kgs respectively) and I'm just not gaining anything.

So with this in mind I've been looking back at some of my old notes from my bodybuilding days - I found a notebook from 1993 - whereby I was doing "Isolation" exercises a lot. These involve training a particular muscle group as normal but to gain definition and the ability to go heavier, you then further break it down to concentrate on the indivdual parts (i.e. sinews) that make up those muscles in question.
So for instance if we are training legs, I would be talking here about the quads, which are then further broken down into four parts:
Outer (the long sides of the thighs).
Top (the front of the thighs).
Inner (the lower muscles just above the knees).
Hamstrings (obviously the back of the upper legs).
Those are the four main areas of the upper legs (above the knees).
To these you add:
Glutes (the bum, which needs training as it supports the lower back from strain).
Hip flexors (the sides of the glutes).
Inner top (the very inside top of the thighs, near the crotch).
The remaining (8th) area of the legs is of course the calf muscles below the knees.

Are you following me so far?

So the various exercises I do cover all of these areas withing the various apparatus, most involving more than one part at a time. But now I am going to return to some real bodybuilding on the legs (to start with then maybe some upper body work too), which will isolate each leg part separately, causing extra individual muscles to grow and be more defined. With this in mind I have drawn up a template which will need to be be spread over two days per week for the legs, starting today. I have amalgamated the tension training and my "50-reppers" routines to work together, concentrating on specific muscles on each opf these days.

I'll explain more after my first of these workouts later on

Re: Post your daily exercise routine

Thanks Floydy. I’m taking notes on your routines as well as Tachyons but mainly just listening to my body.
Logically I completely understand that everyone is there to work out and that is their main objective. Unfortunately my emotions take over my logic BUT I’m impressed that I’m even going. On a social scale I’m branching out. In 2 weeks I’m seeing another concert and meeting an old friend I haven’t seen in decades so I’m surprising myself. Our family and their family were really close in the , ‘60’s, ‘70’s & ‘80’s.

Your workouts are sounding serious. You seemed to have stepped it up to. Progression is nice.

Re: Post your daily exercise routine

You're doing extremely well with your training, Bratti. We all feel a little self-conscious in certain situations. believe me, I was very timid and shy when I first went to a gym being a skinny 11-stone weakling. You gain confidence every time you go and get better at your training, believe me

Yes, I'm stepping things up a notch. True, I'm probably 'big enough' anyway and that isn't my goal but I might as well do what I do best. Rather than 'bulk up' too much I can actually get bigger muscles without the extra bulk, be more defined in essence.
My usual routines will still appear including the high reps from time to time, but I must retain some kind of high strength workouts to hang on to the natural muscle wastage which will no doubt begin to appear before too long. Best to strengthen those muscles as much as possible, which in turn keeps the bones and ligaments in good working order

Re: Post your daily exercise routine

The ten and a half stone weakling just ran a five this morning....
And it felt sooooooooo good!....

Re: Post your daily exercise routine

Fabulous work Bob. No dig at different people body shapes by the way, you'd run me out of town with your style of training anyway. We all have our own kinds of exercise

Re: Post your daily exercise routine

Tuesday 2/3/19: Legs: “Isolation exercises” (incorporating “Tension Training” & “50-reppers”) 1hr. 25mins.
(All weights in kgs)
NB: Feet bottom: Quads, calves. Feet top: Hamstrings, glutes.

As per my notes on here last night, today I went back to 1993 to dig out an original method of bodybuilding really just to see if I was till cut out to do a similar session 26 years on. I amalgamated my current 'tension' training and '50-reppers' programmes together to give some kind of idea what this “isolation” training is all about. No need to go over all that again though, here’s the workout and I’ll recap at the end…

Incline press A: Tension - Outer, top & inner knee quads.
(Feet low on plate/heels close/toes pointing out; DEEP push)
20x200–pause, 15x200–pause, 10x200
10x300–pause, 6x300
7x350 to failure

Incline press B: “50” - Hamstrings, glutes.
(Feet high/heels & toes centre plate)
20+5 x220, 10+5 x250, 8+2 x270
50x160 high reps

Seated ham curl B: Tension - Hamstrings, glutes, calves.
(normal position)
20x45–pause, 12x45-pause, 8x45
10x65–pause, 6x65
6x75 to failure
50x35 high reps

Seated ham curl A: “50” - Hamstrings, glutes, calves.
(normal position)
20+5 x35, 10+5 x50, 8+2 x60

Sled press A: Tension - Outer quads, top quads, hamstrings.
(Feet low on plate/heels close/toes pointing out)
20x160–pause, 15x160–pause, 10x160
15x200–pause, 10x200
12x200 to failure

Sled press B: “50” - Glutes, hamstrings.
(Feet high/heels & toes centre plate)
20+5 x170, 10+5 x180, 8+2 x200
50x130 high reps

Sled press C: Tension – Calves.
(Toe push only, bottom of plate)
20x100–pause, 15x100–pause, 10x100
15x120–pause, 10x120
18x140 to failure
25x60 high reps

Lying ham curl: Tension - Hamstrings, glutes, calves.
(Prone on bench, curling legs back)
15x25–pause, 10x25–pause, 8x25
10x32.5–pause, 6x32.5
7x40 to failure
20x20 high reps

Adductor: “50” - Inner knee quads, inner top quads.
(Seated, pulling thighs inwards)
20+5 x50, 10+5 x55, 8+2 x60

Abductor: “50” - Hip flexors, outer glutes, outer quads.
(Seated, pushing thighs outwards)
20+5 x50, 10+5 x55, 8+2 x60

I tried to add a machine called the calf raise, which you will recall as a seated piece of apparatus whereby you put a weight on the front and place the machine’s pad on your knees and lift up with the calves. Unfortunately my legs are too big to fit under the highest setting on the adjustable setting, so this couldn’t be done. In fact, this pleased me no end in a way to think my legs had developed so much since I last did this one!

That was incredibly hard work, utterly devastating for my legs but I got through it. I even added more sets and reached the weights I used to manage when I was fully at my bodybuilding peak. I was pleasantly surprised but I knew my legs are in tremendous shape at the moment, lifting some killer weights so I didn’t give up and pushed my way through all of it, except the extensions because the machine is still out of order. I did used to use the squat machine in my younger days which does pile more weight on as you are pushing with the big front quads more than any of these exercises can achieve, but then the weight has to be lower because you are balancing a barbell on your shoulders, so in effect I lifted far more today on the incline press (double in fact) and reached a dizzying 350kgs – the most weight I’ve pushed in a very long time.

This training won’t take place too often though as it takes so much out of me these days. I was under 30 in 1993 and had far more energy, but as far as strength is concerned I still have it, in my legs anyway. I’ll figure out some kind of upper body style similar for the weekend’s big session.

Tomorrow it’s back to one of my regular upper body routines, not sure which one yet.

Thanks for reading.

Re: Post your daily exercise routine

I'm going up to the gym at 8pm I will do 30 minutes cardio and 30 minutes muscle work then I'm off for a swim. I wanted to do Zumba but didn't get back from my dads in time so missed the class Just having a cuppa then I'm off up.

Re: Post your daily exercise routine

Enjoy it, Lion Queen. Have a go at my session if you like

Re: Post your daily exercise routine

Just messin' Floydy, I have the greatest of respect for you....

Going for a Bluecrest Health check tomorrow, a bit expensive but they specialise in heart function, it will be interesting to find out if everything is working to it's max.....

Re: Post your daily exercise routine

Where our health is concerned Bob, money is no object, especially following your history with heart attacks mate.
let us know how you get on.

I get an NHS health check every five years, next one due October when I turn 55. For what they are worth, they are mostly worth doing - blood pressure, blood tests and so on but most of it is common sense. It's all to do with your lifestyle and how you take care of it. The height vs. weight aspect of the check is seriously outdated though. Seventeen stone of obesity is not the same of seventeen stone of muscle and good bone condition. They simply cannot figure that one out yet!

Good luck today bud