Not long back from leaving Anthony.
I am not sure i remember the workout I just did!
Firslty I would like to thank Will, PJ and of course Ant for making this great prize possible, its greatly appreciated (and Nichola for being patient!) Ant told me so much stuff, I think I will be hard pushed to remember most of it, but hopefully alot of it will come back.
Workout in no particular order.
Leg Press. Picked up quite a few things I wasnt doing quite right. I think with most of the exercises the key is keeping your form when it starts getting tough.
Things I need to do :
As expected I wasnt close enough to the plate. I started at 10 then recently moved down to 9. I should have been at 6! I think this puts less emphasis on the quads and allows your hamstrings/glutes into it more. This has the effect of reducing the weight to around 145kg. Will try next time out. I need to keep my feet shoulder width apart, and slighlty pointing out. I had a tendancy of letting my knees come in as it got hard, I need to keep them out a bit more. I also need to push the seat with my lower back, I had a tendancy to push it with my upper back. As on most exercises I tense my shoulders/neck/face towards the end. I need to focus on not doing that.
I then did a dumbell chest press I think. I think my form was mostly ok, except I moved my shoulders if I got any shoulder pain/discomfort. Anthony recommended I try the chest press machine instead. He positioned it so I was pushing much lower than what I had previously tried. I didnt have any problems with it, so that was a bonus.
Ant was keen to help me with my shoulder issues and suggested I do a row, but instead of pulling it low, pull it quite high. I think it was to help with the muscles on the back of my shoulders as I have some kind of inbalance. I am sure there is stuff I forgot.
Instead of doing crunches (which I dont particualrly like) I tried some leg raises with my hands under my pelvis. I sometimes have trouble breathing when doing crunches and this was much better.
Dips were good. I have to move the handles out instead of the inward setting. I also have to slightly dip my chest (not from the waist).
Chins (I think my form was ok) was pretty brutal. I done 7 on my own last time, with Ant giving some slight assistance (maybe a bit more towards the last rep) I managed to get 12 out. and I thought I had plateued.
Bicep curl - using the machine instead of dumbells.
I cant rememember much else I am sure there was a lot more, and I am also sure I have mis understood some stuff. Ant will clarify any questions I have when I have next been to the gym.
The key things I take away from this, above basic form on specific exercises is effort is maintaining form. Its always difficult to maintain form when things get tough. I now have the appreciation what form is on certain exercises. I had the tendancy of doing this or that when it got tough to make it easier, probably perfectly natural. I now know to fight against that and tensing my face/neck/shoulders.
The other key thing is failure. I know on the chins today I would have given up at 7 if ant wasnt there. I believed I had nothing left. But, I had something left. That something might not get me another 10 reps, it might not get me another 2, but it might get me 10 inches. I wont know unless I keep going. I think you kind of know in your head when your on your last rep, even before you have finished. I suspect my perception of finished being the number of reps I know I have in me. Its not that way. It has to be how many inches I have left in me. Or how many seconds not moving. I suspect its much a finer granularity then enough to do a full rep, but its there to be used.
After we finished I dropped my water, i was shaking. My shakes nearly disappeared by the time we had lunch.
Awesome stuff lardass, bet the session was pretty intense on the theory front as well as the actual workout. Great bit of advice there too, will use the bit about failure next time im at the gym
The key things I take away from this, above basic form on specific exercises is effort is maintaining form. Its always difficult to maintain form when things get tough. I now have the appreciation what form is on certain exercises. I had the tendancy of doing this or that when it got tough to make it easier, probably perfectly natural. I now know to fight against that and tensing my face/neck/shoulders.
The other key thing is failure. I know on the chins today I would have given up at 7 if ant wasnt there. I believed I had nothing left. But, I had something left. That something might not get me another 10 reps, it might not get me another 2, but it might get me 10 inches. I wont know unless I keep going. I think you kind of know in your head when your on your last rep, even before you have finished. I suspect my perception of finished being the number of reps I know I have in me. Its not that way. It has to be how many inches I have left in me. Or how many seconds not moving. I suspect its much a finer granularity then enough to do a full rep, but its there to be used.
After we finished I dropped my water, i was shaking. My shakes nearly disappeared by the time we had lunch.
Sounds like you have had a good time ! Let us know if it hurts tomorrow, ha ha.
I'm sure we all think we work to failure, but the twice that I have had someone standing over me, I have managed to find another couple of reps without a doubt.
I'm sure if you remember half of what Anthony told you, it will make all of the difference. A potentially lifechanging opportunity for you.
What percentage of the intensity you worked out at uinder Ants supervision do you think you achieved alone?
I would estimate 80 or 90 if your talking about the number of reps as such, excluding the fact I done 50% more on the chins. I think my problem was I thought in reps, not parts of reps. I found I always gave up at the start of the positive, knowing I was going to fail in the rep somewhere. I think I have it in me to fail just before the negative. I think thats where the real hard work starts.
Sounds like you have had a good time ! Let us know if it hurts tomorrow, ha ha.
I'm sure we all think we work to failure, but the twice that I have had someone standing over me, I have managed to find another couple of reps without a doubt.
I'm sure if you remember half of what Anthony told you, it will make all of the difference. A potentially lifechanging opportunity for you.
I am hurting already!
I think it was life changing in quite a few ways. Not just on the specific information, but my attitude towards the workouts. I want to learn now too. I want to start reading and understanding. Ant know so, so much.
I dont think its the fact I managed another couple of reps. It more for me about understanding how much I can do more. Maybe not in terms of reps, but in terms of going through the pain, even just to get a bit more. I have DOMS in my biceps right now, and thats probably the first time in months. I am too used to working in my comfort zone, even though I think I have been trying hard.
