Going forward?

Richard

Hello all

Here is my progress pretty much from start to present.

Any tips going forward?

http://www.news.swadlincoteparanorma...omparison2.jpg

Richard

More Information:

Started around 3 years ago but have only been doing it seriously for about 8-10 months.

On the first pic (on the left) i was about 10.5 stone
On the secon pic from left im about 11.5 stone
On the third about 12.5 stone
On the foruth 14 stone

Height: 6ft 3"

Tall

What are your goals mate?

Richard

I think, looking at the pictures, that my arms and shoulders are a weak point. I have spent alot of time working on the chest.

My aim is to be at least 100kg before i even think of cutting and i would like broadness and bulk in the shoulders.

Tall

Have you posted your routine up anywhere?

A general rule of thumb is 14lb of mass to add one inch on your arms (but everyone is different...)

If you want bigger arms and shoulders you need to Squat and Deadlift more.

More of these are big mass gainers.

You've gained good size in the period.

Don't worry so much about cutting - everyone gets like that from time to time. I'm still carb cycling to slowly the drop the fat off while gaining mass.

Fire your routine up and diet if you haven't already and we can have a look for you.

Richard

My routine is currently HST. The following is done 3 times per 7 day week.

Legs
Squats x 2 sets of 20 with 20kg on Bar
Leg Press x 2 sets of 20 with 50kg

Abs
Leg Lift x 2 sets of 12
Abs Rotation x 2 sets of 10 (each side) with 50kg

Lats
Dual Link Pulldown x 2 sets of 12 with 80kg
Pulldown (Cable) x 1 sets of 12 with 55kg

Chest
Flat bench dumbell Press x 2 sets of 12 with 22.5kg Dumbells
Incline bench dumbell Press x 2 sets of 10 with 20kg Dumbells

Back
Seated Row (Machine) x 2 sets of 10 with 50kg
Bent Over Row x 1 sets of 12 with 35kg

Shoulders
Barbell Upright Row x 2 sets of 10 with 35kg Bar
Shoulder Press x 2 sets of 10 with 15kg Dumbells

Traps
Dumbell Shrug x 2 sets of 15 using 25kg Plates

Biceps
Incline Bicep Curl x 2 sets of 10 with 12.5kg Dumbells
Standing Barbell Curl x 1 sets of 12 with a 30kg Bar

This takes 1 hour to complete.
Sorry for the poor layout, the info is off my Excel spreadsheet. I have dropped the weights from what im capable of so that i can concentrate on the form and speed plus the extra reps.
Seems to be working well so far.

As for my diet, im basicaly eating as much as i can focusing on Calories and Fat as it usualy seems to work well with HST routines rather then just focusing on protein. What i really need is something i can snack on while at the desk at work.

I will probably do this for 12 weeks in total before switiching back to a Split-rotuine.

british beef

just out of interest how come you are squatting with such a light weight? you're lifting more on your chest!

Tall

How come you aren't deadlifting mate?

As Brit says how come you are only squatting 40kg? Even with 20 reppers thats still a very light weight IMHO. 20 reppers were 'designed' to basically be done as a working set where you can't do any more afterwards.

How come you are doing a full body workout 3 times per week?

Seated Rows and Bent over Rows will target the same areas - are you doing bent over rows to exhaust the muscle?

You are not doing any direct tricep work either.

I know you have been progressing from your photos, but and I'm gonna be honest here I think a fair bit of your weight gains has come from fat. Which is understandable if you are massing as you have been - but we dont want it to continue uncontrolled. Don't worry about massing or cutting, just worry about lifting heavy and striving for greatness.

Oh and just to jump in - desk snacks - see my chicken recipie in the diet section. You may also want to consider carb cycling.

Personally I would look to go for a 3 day split. If you are lifting all of the above in one session then it stands to reason you can lift more weight if you went for a split.

You've hidden your legs on your photos so I'm gonna hazard a guess that you aint that keen on them - the weight you are moving would indicate that also...

Some classic splits are Push/Pull/Legs, Chest&Tris, Back&Bis, Legs,Abs&Shoudlers.

These may work for you.

I'd also say for you to drop to reps from 12 down to maybe 6-8 and have 3 really intense workouts per week. Each should take 45mins to 60mins even though you will be doing less body parts you will need more rest.

I know thats alot to take in, and I've written it fairly quick. But it may help.

The others will correct me if I've missed anything off I'm sure.

bulldozer

I dont rate HST at all for noobs

I think your main goal to start should be strength, then when you are moving some serious iron worry about Hypertrophy.

Thats just my opinion of course



article on HST if anyone is interested

Hypertrophy-Specific Training : : Official Home of HST

Tall

I think some of the principles are sound, progression, overloading, de-loading etc but I dont like the look of the workout...

No deads, the same exercises being done 3x per week...

I know they've proven this 3x per week whole body workout thing on Rats but I dont think there have been any decent human studies have there?