Travelling and Training

I am off again, going out of town for a couple days. Cooper had Freshman orientation at Chico State University so we are all piling in the car, driving north about four hours (more because I am in the car which means several pit stops from all the water I drink).


We will be staying at the Courtyard by Marriott and I am sure they have a "fitness center" but it won't have what I need or want.


I don't travel for work, I know some people who do and I have no idea how they maintain a training schedule (actually I don't think any of them really do). But when I travel I don't use it as an excuse to skip my training- you see I LOVE my training and I don't want to skip it,  I want to keep doing the same thing I would be doing at home, it just takes a little more planning.


So after I get the reservations made the next thing I always do is hunt for a close by gym. Turns out the Gold's in Chico has closed, so I started in on Google looking for gym's close to the hotel. 


The first has a virtual tour and the place looks like a very tacky whorehouse, and I see machines but no free weights. Next


Then another that has everything but...weights.


What the hell do these people do in their gyms anyway??!!


I call The Core. It's a Crossfit gym, a "box" I can tell. But it has a picture of several squat cages all lined up and the say they don't have ANY machines.


I call and a young girl answers the phone "hello?" I ask if this is The Core and I hear fumbling then a gruff male voice comes on the phone. I ask again and he answers "Yes it is, but it's Sunday which means my daughter answers the phone."


I think Sunday is his rest day and I interrupted it.


I explain what I am doing, can I train there just for an hour. He asks what I need. I tell him i am doing German Volume Training, I need a squat cage, an Olympic bar and some plates, and that's it.


Yes, he says I can come and he won't charge me. Then when I tell him it's Tuesday morning and I need to be in real early, he says I cannot come, they have rowing contests or something...something Crossfit I don't know about.


He tells me about two other places to try, and then adds "You can probably take a sauna after too." I think he was dissin me a little, but maybe he just has a very dry sense of humor.


I call the place he recommended, they open at 4:30 am, and I ask the girl if they have squat cages. "I don't know what that is." she says...I explain they might be called squat racks, it's where the big bar is inside and people do squats there. She still doesn't know. I ask if they have free weights or just machines. "Oh we have lots of free weights!"


I will take a chance, I am heading there in the morning when they open. It's my last day for GVT, I need to nail this one. They have towels and hair dryers, I can get ready there and then drive back and get the boys in time for orientation.


Wish me luck!

German Volume Training

Today was my last day of German Volume Training quads.  Tuesday we will do our final GVT shoulder workout.  I am gonna miss it.


Let's back up to Friday though. I was training with Roy and told him I was going out to Henry's Hi-Life with the boys to celebrate Cooper's high school graduation. Henry's is a fun place, guys love it. It is as far from fancy as you can get, it is a dark, loud and crowded bar where everyone goes before Sharks and Sabercats games. Henry's is in a very old building, that was originally a hotel built in the 1900's.


Henry's is a meat eater's restaurant and I told Roy that I wasn't sure if I would have the ribs or the prime rib, I go there about 3 times a year and the last two times I  had ribs. I also said I was not going to drink wine. "If I am going to drink wine with dinner it won't be cheap wine!" which is about all they really have there (it's a great place, but the wine list is less than desirable).


We started with a martini as we waited in the bar...The fellow at the front called our number to take our order- it's on a board in the bar, you stand there and look, then tell them what you want. Here are the boys waiting in the bar.

I ordered prime rib, rare. "Can I have a vegetable, any vegetable instead of the potato please?" I asked. "The potato is the vegetable" was the answer I received. David and Cooper laughed at me and David bent over to shout into Tom's ear: "Kristy tried to order vegetables at Henry's!!! ha ha ha"


They had a good laugh at my expense.


I looked up at the very limited menu and asked for a side order of grilled onion and mushrooms, I will not eat a one pound baked potato!

My dinner. The meat was great, I didn't touch the potato. They brought my mushrooms but ran out of onions, but I was happy and I ended up drinking cheap red wine, but had a fabulous time.

Saturday I woke up at 5:15, feeling not quite a good as I usually do, I had that martini and wine, I was kicking myself a little. It is my last day with German Volume Training quads and I was going up in my weight, up to 135. That's 100 squats at more than my body weight, all the way down to the floor.


I took my time drinking my shake, I really didn't have a specific time I had to be there, but I like to arrive when they open, it's not very crowded. Plus, I would need a squat cage and would have it for about 30 minutes, so I had to make sure one was there for me. That's right a half hour of non stop squats. Well, I would actually rest for 90 seconds in between each set of 10.


I got there about 10 minutes after opening and four of the five cages were already taken! What is this now Squat Saturday??! I quickly got the last one and started warming up, this would be hard today.


I started with 95 pounds, then 115 pounds. Then I took off the plates and put on "the big wheels", the 45 pound plates. I had done 130 with Roy on Wednesday and he said to go for 135- "Use the big plates- it will look impressive!" 


I started in with my first set of 135 and got through 10 squats just pissed off that I had any alcohol the night before. There would be no way I could do 100 squats, I was mad, but at the same time, who the heck would even know if I didn't do 100.

I would know and I am the only one who matters.

I kept plugging along, wiping the sweat off my face with my little dirty towel, huffing and puffing, talking to myself, I am sure I looked like a crazed woman.

After five sets I got a bench and pulled it up behind the cage so I could sit for 90 seconds when I rested in between sets.

I made my hash marks in my training book. When I got to seven I knew I could do all ten sets, I started zoning out, shaking my head, moving to the music. I was listening to the Beastie Boys "So What'cha Want"....(Email readers will need to navigate directly to the blog to view the video)

I finished my squats, all 100, then I sat on the bench for 6 minutes, just looking around and feeling pretty pleased with myself, and glad that I didn't screw this up. I walked over to the leg extension and did four sets of 10 at 90 pounds, very slowly. I could lift more, but not after all those squats, this was just the last thing to totally exhaust my quads.


Home, I had another shake with banana, coffee and got ready for wine tasting up in the Santa Cruz Mountains. It was a beautiful day and we would take MyRedRocket with the top down and drive through the redwoods.


Of course, I brought my food, a great big salad with curried turkey breast, I enjoyed it with some fantastic Pinot Noir from Windy Oaks Winery. 


Sunday would be Back and Biceps, and I am going to bed early!

Hypertrophy and Volume

I have been lifting heavy and eating a lot.  I always lift heavy, it’s not like I really “go light”, but when you are on a restricted calorie diet, the environment is not there for growth.

Here is some info about Muscle Hypertrophy from Wikipedia:

Strength training typically produces a combination of the two different types of hypertrophy: contraction against 80 to 90% of the one repetition maximum for 2–6 repetitions (reps) causes myofibrillated hypertrophy to dominate (as in powerlifters, olympic lifters and strength athletes), while several repetitions (generally 8 – 12 for bodybuilding or 12 or more for muscular endurance) against a sub-maximal load facilitates mainly sarcoplasmic hypertrophy (professional bodybuilders and endurance athletes). 

Progressive overload is considered the most important principle behind hypertrophy, so increasing the weight, repetitions (reps), and sets will all have a positive impact on growth. Some experts create complicated plans that manipulate weight, reps, and sets, increasing one while decreasing the others to keep the schedule varied and less repetitive. It is generally believed that if more than 15 repetitions per set is possible, the weight is too light to stimulate maximal growth.

Several biological factors such as age and nutrition can affect muscle hypertrophy. During puberty in males, hypertrophy occurs at an increased rate. Natural hypertrophy normally stops at full growth in the late teens. Muscular hypertrophy can be increased through strength training and other short duration, high intensity anaerobic exercises. Lower intensity, longer duration aerobic exercise generally does not result in very effective tissue hypertrophy; instead, endurance athletes enhance storage of fats and carbohydrates within the muscles, as well as neovascularization. An adequate supply of amino acids is essential to produce muscle hypertrophy.

Roy and I  started German Volume Training just after my competition; it’s a lot of reps and a lot of weight, which is increased every week. Add to that the fact that I have increased my calories, reduced aerobics and I take massive amounts of Amino Acids, my body is growing. It’s starting to frighten me just a bit.

Monday I hit Gold’s at opening and did 30 minutes on the stairmill then trained calves. I have been told to bring up the size of my calves, and I think they have really gotten quite shapely, but I still work on them three times a week. At 5:30, a little less than 12 hours later I am at BodyComp Gym training hamstrings with Roy, we would be doing deadlifts.

He loaded up the bar to start my warm ups and then said I would complete 10 reps per set. I told him that really wasn’t possible, I was lifting 200 pounds and I did this on my own last Monday, I could only do 4 sets of 5 reps. He didn’t really say much more other than tell me to start and he would tell me when to end, but I should try to do as many as possible.

I did 10, it was difficult but exhilarating. I kept going; on the 4^th set I could only lift 8 times, I think I just didn’t rest long enough.  On the 5^th set I did 10 again.

Volume is necessary for growth, so to cause hypertrophy you need to increase sets, reps, weight. You can calculate your volume this way:

Sets x reps x weight.

I lifted a volume of 10,000 pounds Monday night!

5 (sets) x 10 (reps) x 200 (pounds)

My hamstrings are killing me, especially the ham-glute tie-in, but they look good huh?

So to ensure I am keeping up with the “progressive overload” I must increase something. Anything. This is where most people fail. They do the same thing every week, every session. There is no progressive overload. You must increase weight, or sets, or reps, something, but to stay the same, is a wasted day in the gym.

Adequate food is important, so I must ensure a calorie surplus. This doesn’t mean eat whatever I like, on the contrary. I am eating more of my regular foods, although I am much more relaxed about it all. I will eat a bit more peanut butter, or maybe more fruit, but certainly am not hanging out eating candy bars, that won’t help my muscles grow.

I also take Branched Chain Amino Acids all day long. I have powdered BCAA”s in my water when I train (20 grams, 4 times the amount the bottle says is the recommended dose) and I take 1000 grams in gel tab format 5 times a day too.

Lots of BCAA’s

I am 129 pounds now, 10 pounds heavier than I was on May 5. I look muscular, like a little bull. Sure I have some fat, but I still look fairly lean. It’s making me wonder just how big I can get, and do I really want to get any bigger?

Today a guy at work was commenting on it. He said he was watching me walk, and I walk different. He said “Your legs…they are…bigger. You walk differently.”

Damn….

It makes me excited to go on a fat cutting diet; I am excited to see what I will look like then. I am waiting though, I am not done yet.

Squat

Saturday morning- squat day.

Actually let's back up to Friday. I am at Roy's and we re training shoulders, I have no energy. I think it's a culmination of really hard training everyday, and three of those days it's twice a day and it's been a long week. 

I am supposed to be doing German Volume Training, barbell shoulder press with 70 pounds. I did it on my own Tuesday, there is no reason why I cannot do it here with Roy, I have him to spot me so that makes it even easier!

He lowers the weight. I feel sort of like a failure, but he is explaining that we really need to de-load soon, I have been training way too hard for too long.

I look at him between sets and tell him: "At some point, there will come a time when the weights cannot continue to go up every single week you know."

He laughs and says: "Yea, but that's not for a long, long time!"


After I finish my 100 presses, and then my leaning lat raises (4 sets of 12 on each side, and I am supposed to be hitting a count of about 70 seconds for each set), I ask him what I should do for Saturday. I know it's still GVT- squats, but what weight?

120 pounds

100 squats

10 sets of 10

all the way down to the ground

90 second rest in between

I know I say this a lot, but I really don't see many people squatting low. Did you know that performing squats "half assed" (ha ha) is easy? If you don't squat all the way down, you don't hit the glutes nor the quads where you need to and you are not performing them correctly, so it's easy to do them that way! 

I can do it, it's almost my body weight, but it's still doable, and he seems to think I will just keep increasing weight.


Saturday I arrive at Gold's Gym at opening, 6:00 a.m. One thing I like about GVT is that it is a fairly quick workout, you do the 100 reps and maybe one other exercise to exhaust the muscle and poof! Done!


I like doing GVT squats, I get into a zone, I think you have to actually. I know people stare, and I don't mind people staring, it actually helps me continue. They are thinking that I am an absolute crazy beast. I talk to myself, I have to, it's the only way I can continue after the fifth set. I shake my head, I tell myself it's light, I have to convince myself I can do it.


I make my hash marks on the paper after each set. When I make the seventh, I think "only three more sets left, easy!" and then I realize it's not easy, it's hard as hell, but I won't quit, ever.


The feeling of accomplishment and exhilaration when I have finished that last squat, the 100th squat of the day, the 200th squat of the week, is nothing I can really describe to you, but it keeps me coming back for more.


I finish with four sets of leg extensions, sweat dripping down my back, now so wired I really don't even need coffee.


I am ready to tackle the day.

Training and Recovery

One of the biggest mistakes that athletes can make is not allowing their bodies time to recover. But...to even get to the recovery period- you have to train hard enough to warrant it!


If you haven't paid attention to what every expert in the world has been shouting yet, it is a well known fact that growth takes place after you leave the gym, you need to eat properly (another post) and allow the body time to recover and build tissue. Back to back heavy sessions or multiple sessions may make you feel like a beast but you are doing more harm to your physique than good. That's one reason why Bodybuilders use the body split method- they can train everyday but move from one body part to the next and still make gains.


Roy and I started German Volume Training (GVT) two weeks ago- this is a method used for only a short time span where the trainee will perform 10 sets of 10 reps with a very short rest in between.


Typically this is done with one body part and there may be several days- even up to 5 days between sessions. We are hitting quads and shoulders, these are two focus areas of mine.


I recently experienced for the very first time in my lifting career, something new, I had not recovered enough from the previous workout- in fact, it was so dramatic that I couldn't lift nearly what I typically would lift. It was an odd experience for me.


In the past I have felt fatigued, or just plain tired, those are very different and you should be able to discern the difference. This time my body was not physically capable of performing what it was expected, and it actually performed sub-par of the typical weight.


On Wednesday we did GVT squats- the weight was increased from the previous session (its two sessions a week at the same weight for one week, then moved up the next two sessions). I was squatting at 115 which is pretty beastly considering I am at 126 pounds bodyweight and am doing 100 reps with little rest in between. I sweat, a lot!


This was on Wednesday evening and I finished at about 6:45- I had to push the sled afterward, I think the weight added to the sled was 115 pounds? So I would do four sets of three runs, each run about 20 feet maybe.


Then on Thursday morning I woke up at 4:00 a.m. to get to Gold's Gym by 5:00 a.m. to train hamstrings. Usually this would not be an issue, this week it was.


Roy wanted me to add some deadlifts in now, we started this last week on Mondays, so I wanted to first do my standing leg curls then go into the deads. The leg curls were hard but I just figured I was tired, the workout the night before was fairly brutal. But then I moved to deadlifts and I could only lift 185 pounds, 3 sets of 5. I could not do more. On Monday I lifted more than that and I did 5 sets of 10, this was a huge drop off.


I went to the prone leg curl and found I was lifting the same weight for less reps as the week prior. I moved to the Glute Ham Raise and literally fell apart. I did two sets of 5 reps. Last Thursday I did three sets of 10 reps.


I talked to Roy about it on Friday- I immediately figured that I was not fully recovered but I was a bit concerned, I need to get my legs bigger and the only way is to hit them twice a week. Quads twice and Hams twice. If I was so exhausted from the GVT I couldn't do this, there are not enough days in the week. 


Roy agreed that it was the fact that I had not recovered fully and he was pleased. 

Odd? No- let me explain.

GVT is designed to over load the Central Nervous System (CNS) and cause muscle hypertrophy, causing the athlete to gain lean muscle mass quickly. Here is an article about GVT from the National Strength and Conditioning Association, I found it quite interesting.

If you are really lifting at the recommended weight of about 60% to 70% of one rep max, for 100 reps, you should really take quite some time to recover. It should not be so easy that you bounce back in 24 or even 48 hours, I don't care how strong or young you are.

So the fact that I was explaining to Roy that I hadn't felt fatigued, I felt completely physically incapable of lifting my weights, showed that indeed I had overloaded my system, and my body was still trying to recover. Adaptation was occurring. My body was reacting to the overload and trying to adapt, I was gaining strength and mass (as long as I was eating enough too).

He said that if that occurred again, and I was not capable of increasing my weights or reps, then I should call it a day and go home, I was doing no good spending time in the gym. It would be like those people we all see who go in every single time, do the exact same workout with the exact same weight, and they look exactly the same forever, or fatter.

Friday as we trained shoulders, utilizing the GVT method again, I had recovered, and my weight went up as it should.

Saturday morning I went into Gold's Gym on my own, I had a very busy day and a very short time to lift, I did my GVT squats at 115 pounds, and it felt easy, I mean fairly easy. I was high as a kite, I was singing (as much as I could considering I was panting in between sets) and smiling, I knew I was getting stronger and adding mass, and on Wednesday my squats would go up yet again...

Post Competition

Here I am in all my glory, it's about as big as I let myself get. I am trying to get bigger- more muscle that is, but not much fatter. And as long as I am diligent I should be able to maintain this level of bodyfat and still add some lean mass.


I am at 126 pounds, I was up to 128 a few days ago, and three weeks ago I was at 119. Now before you go all wonky on me, you must understand that pre-competition the body is depleted and dehydrated. When you eat carbohydrates, your body fills the muscles and liver with glycogen, and when you have glycogen in your body it holds onto water. 2.6 grams of water for every gram of glycogen....Instant weight gain!


Eliminate starches (or most of them) and water and zilch, you have nothing in the body to add weight.


After a competition, your body is primed for nutrients and fuel since it has been so depleted. Many people blow up from eating excessively and some do just getting back to normal foods, I have thoroughly enjoyed myself for the last few weeks and have eaten almost anything I wanted. Yes it shows, I an change that.


But, I have had my fill and am back to my clean eating (mostly) with a treat here and again. When I say treat this is typically savory foods for me. A pork chop, a lamb chop, cheeseburger, Caesar salad....wine.


My diet stays the same, I just allow myself more food. I eat at least one rice cake a day, with peanut or almond butter. I add a whole hard cooked  (well almost) egg to my salad. I allow myself to have my favorite thick spelt toast instead of oatmeal and I don't fret about tasting things here and there.


My lifting is heavy, I don't change it too much post competition. I am trying to add mass so I will lift heavy and focus on volume, I respond well to volume. That's where the German Volume Training comes in. It's hard to do it on a calorie restricted diet, so this is the time!


Wednesdays Roy and I do squats (10 sets of 10) and on Fridays we do barbell shoulder press (10 sets of 10). I repeat them both on my own, squats again on Saturday and shoulders on Tuesday. 


I did shoulders today on my own and was laughing to myself. I had to keep getting off the bench as I was sweating so much from the presses that the seat was wet and uncomfortable...As I always say - I know a good workout when I sweat and my feet aren't even moving.


I was talking to a woman in the locker room afterward and she made a comment about it, I said I was trying to add muscle and she got a look of surprise on her face. "Add more muscle?!" I forget that I am considered quite big and muscular to many other women.


I am back to running my stairs and jumping rope at lunch, so I get two workouts in almost everyday. I gave it up at the end as my competition got closer because I was too fatigued and I didn't want to lose too much more bodyweight. I am at the gym every single morning, and then running every lunch except Wednesday and Friday. Wednesdays I have GVT squats and I would be foolish to run and jump at lunch before that, and on Fridays I lift with Roy at noon so I really cannot fit it in. I do some form of cardio on weekends, either at the gym or on my treadmill.


So while I loved my svelte, lean competition body, It's not a good idea to try to maintain a level of bodyfat that makes an Olympic gymnast jealous, and I don't want to go through life like that anyway. I cannot stay so low all the time.


I will be starting to have more time for cooking and should be posting some great clean and healthy recipes soon.


I will be continuing to take photos, so you can see the changes in my physique and bodyfat, and let you know about dietary changes and my training. 

German Volume Training

German Volume Training, three words I love to hate! I was first introduced to it by SC, then  it seems to be a love of Roy's also. I love it and I hate it. The love wins though....

Roy changes my program continuously, you need to if you want to progress. People look the same because they do the same thing over and over again, for years. Remember the definition of Insanity from Albert Einstein:

"Doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results"

We started GVT again. This is where you do 10 sets of 10 reps, with only 90 seconds rest in between each set. It's easy at the start, and brutal at the end. No one does this one their own, except lunatics (yours truly).

Here is a bit of information from Bodybuilding.com:

Terms You'll Need To Know

Rest Intervals: When bodybuilders start with this method, they often question its value for the first several sets because the weight won't feel heavy enough. However, there is minimal rest between sets (about 60 seconds when performed in sequence and 90-120 seconds when performed as a superset), which incurs cumulative fatigue. (Interestingly enough, you might find you get stronger again during the eighth and ninth sets. This is because of a short-term neural adaptation.) Because of the importance of the rest intervals, you should use a stopwatch to keep the rest intervals constant. This is important, as it becomes tempting to lengthen the rest time as you fatigue.

Tempo: For long-range movements such as squats, dips and chins, use a 4-0-2 tempo; this means you would lower the weight in four seconds and immediately change direction and lift for two seconds. For movements such as curls and triceps extensions, use a 3-0-2 tempo.

Number of Exercises: One, and only one, exercise per body part should be performed. Therefore, select exercises that recruit a lot of muscle mass. Triceps kickbacks and leg extensions are definitely out; squats and bench presses are definitely in. For supplementary work for individual body parts (like triceps and biceps), you can do 3 sets of 10-20 reps.

Training Frequency: Because this is such an intense program, it'll take you longer to recover. In fact, if you're familiar with the writings of Peter Sisco and John Little, you'll find that the average "Power Factor Rating" of the 10-sets method is about 8 billion. Consequently, one training session every four to five days per body part is plenty.

Overload Mechanism: Once you're able to do 10 sets of 10 with constant rest intervals, increase the weight on the bar by 4-to-5%, and repeat the process. Refrain from using forced reps, negatives or burns. The volume of the work will take care of the hypertrophy. Expect to have some deep muscle soreness without having to resort to set prolonging techniques. In fact, after doing a quad and hams session with this method, it takes the average bodybuilder about five days to stop limping.

Wednesday Roy and I did squats at 110 pounds, Friday barbell shoulder press at 70 pounds, Saturday I was to repeat squats on my own, and my legs were still very, very sore.

I went out with the boys on Friday, and I had wine...but not too much, I still have to get up at 5:00 am and train. Here they are in the big warehouse, the rest of the place was packed! 

David and I had seared Foie Gras, we will be enjoying it again later in the week, it was stunning. I ate half before I took the picture here!

I met Steve at Gold's at 6:00 am and we discussed when we would meet for some posing lessons. Steve is a bodybuilder and I think he should be able to help me learn the mandatory poses. We went upstairs to look at the board, to find a time when the big room with mirrors is open, we picked 2:00pm on Friday afternoon. 

I went down to one of the cages, all of them were open and I would start my GVT. I had forgotten my binder and stopwatch. Dammit! Of all the days, I need my stopwatch! Then I remembered my gymboss, and went upstairs to my locker and got it. It wasn't as convenient but worked just fine.

110 pounds. Roy said I need to do the same weight twice and we move up next week. I put my plates on the ground to elevate my heels, I would need to squat all the way down and need this to make sure I do.


10 sets of 10 squats, 90 seconds rest. I was sweating, my feet were not even moving and sweat was trickling down my back and my face.

I sit in between sets, 90 seconds rest is not long and I need to savor every second I can.

I had to get a piece of paper and pen from the front desk to keep track of sets, I made a hash mark for each one, then stumbled back and sat the rest of my 90 seconds. I tried to concentrate and make sure I lowered very slowly, and didn't drop at the end, I want as much tension for as long as possible on my quads.

 I finished! I felt exhilarated! On my own, no one pushing me, I was pushing myself. I then needed to finish up and decided to try this contraption, it's like a sissy squat sort of. I lock my feet in and face the ladder, then lower all the way down, using only body weight, and then back up. 

Front view, I never used the ladder. I am not sure if this is effective, but I really didn't need much after the GVT anyway. Four sets of 10, I moved on to the leg extension and did five sets of 10 with 90 pounds. 

I was pretty surprised that I finished, I mean if you have ever done GVT, even with a trainer pushing you it's hard to finish, and I had no one, no one but some militant crazed woman, by the name of Kristy pushing me harder than anyone ever has before. 

German Volume Training (Hams)

Are there things in life that you have a "love hate" relationship with? One of mine is German Volume Training. The technical term would be "butt loads of reps" I think.

You cannot train like this all the time, you can for a few weeks then you need to lay off and come back to it again, it's way too much volume to do on a regular basis, and it's one of those things that makes you consider carrying your own puke bucket at times.

Monday we started, and since Mondays are hamstrings that's all we did. An hour of hamstrings. First we did a little mobility test for an Active Release Technique appointment I had the following day, I will write about it later.

Then we did laying hamstring curls. For about 40 minutes I think. That's it, nothing else. To get the proper weight Roy had me do 10 reps so he could determine the correct weight for 6 reps. I don't recall how much, it wasn't much but I would be doing them over and over and over, and it was unilateral so that means only one leg is working at a time.

6 reps on the left, 6 reps on the right. Rest 90 seconds. But Roy is really strict about them, keep the hips glued to the bench, don't use the calves at all, it needs to be an isolated contraction of the hamstring only. It's hard.

Again

Again

Again

Again

Again

Again

Again

Again

Again

My hamstrings were hard and pumped. I stumbled when I got off the bench, Roy chuckled a little. I had to get my legs working again.  A long rest then over to the Glute Ham Raise.

I could not do much after that, so we did three sets of 10 but first he wrapped a heavy band over my shoulders so that when I reached the top contraction it was a lot tougher.

I was glad to be finished with that!

Home to a big plate of food. 5 ounce Vittellone patty, 3 ounces sweet potato and about 10 asparagus spears. Water, water, water.

Two days later we would be doing something similar with quads. I suspect it is squats.

Read more about German Volume Training to better understand the protocol.

German Volume Training Week 2 on my own

Don't be alarmed, I am not "own my own" like no trainer, it's my day to hit the legs and glutes without Roy. 


Have you ever heard the saying " Ethics are like tea, you don't know how strong they until you get them into hot water"??


In other words, what do you do when no one is watching?


I sing, I dance, I pose, I have fun! Yup, I look at myself in the big mirrors!


No surprise, I mean any woman who has been taking pictures of herself for 10 years must have either a hell of a lot of confidence or is just a plain whack job!


These pictures were taken on Tuesday morning, immediately following my GVT, front squats and hamstring curls, without Roy to push me.


Check out the glutes in the picture above, looking firm, round and a nice hamstring/glute tie in, they flow together nicely don't they?

Here you can see the outer sweep of the quad (the vastus lateralis) is more developed than ever before, see it protruding out?

I attempted to get a picture of the vastus medialis (the part right above the inner thigh above the knee) but it's just me and my silly little tripod in the kitchen, I didn't do a very good job. And yes I know that army green doesn't really match gray and purple but I don't care. I love this bra top and have it in all the colors I can find...this is an odd one for sure.

"Kristy's Kage" all set up! I have the 105 pounds on the bar, set to do 10 sets of 10 front squats, trying to hit a time under tension of 50 seconds but I cut it short, I think I was closer to 40. I was super setting with 10 sets of 6 hamstring curls hanging from the slings, with the med ball gripped between my feet. I really don't have time to calculate it all out right now. I am guessing my workout should have lasted 4 to 5 minutes longer than it did - I went 65 minutes. 

I have a 12 pound med ball on the foot stool for the hamstring curls. I tried to use the hard one, the kind you use for upper body movements and I kept dropping it. Roy has a much smaller, heavier one that is squishy. Courtside does not so I used this big one that is great for slamming against walls and floors. I could grip it with my feet better.

My training log. I have to write up a new program this week, incorporating my twice a week training for back and other adjustments I have made for the upcoming show. Right now it's all just scratched out and penciled in. That's fine though, at least I have a plan!

The count of sets! It was 65 minutes of hard work, resting was timed at 90 seconds after each set, I never really caught my breath though. 

There were a few times I thought I could stop, who would know? I WOULD KNOW! It's like cheating on your diet- we all know you did cause you look like you did....

I got that "second wind" as Roy alluded to, right about set #7. I started to feel high, and excited, I could feel the endorphins rushing through.

When I finished I was curled up on my hands and knees, head between my knees on the dirty floor. Exhilarated that I had finished, thrilled that I did it alone, proud that I had pushed myself and shaking with anticipation at the next move up.

Slugged down some fluids and then off to hit the rowing machine for 10 minutes. That's all I could physically do.

German Volume Training Day 2

I did it! Tuesday was to be German Volume Training- Front Squats on my own. 




I recently talked about my session on Friday with Roy at BodyComp Personal Training Gym, Tuesday I was supposed to repeat the session, with increased weight, on my own.

In the picture above I have just finished, I look pretty slammed, the veins are popping out of my arms!

Above is my favorite rack or "cage" - call it what you will, it is the one I like, old, rickety, but has good safety bars and I like the way I fit in it.

I warmed up, leg stretching, my hams and quads are very, very tight. Then took a look at the clock, if I time this right, it will take about 50 minutes. That means I will not perform the exercises too quickly, as most weight trainers do, and I won't rest too long.

My training log and stopwatch. You can see the hash marks for the sets, I would lose count if I tried to keep it in my head, my body will be exhausted before I reach the goal.

I was to do 10 sets of 10 reps, at a tempo of 4-1 which means lower (eccentric) at the count of 4, and then raise (concentric) up as fast as possible (count of 1), no rest in between reps. I will rest 90 seconds in between sets.


Roy alluded to the fact that Friday we will be cutting the rest down, to 60 seconds I think, and increasing weight a little more. Bring it on I say.

As low as I can go (yes, that means ass to ground) and knees out forward, I tend to forget that part, Roy keep reminding me.

I was dripping in sweat, talking to myself, grunting, shaking my head. As I would reach the bottom I would think about my glutes and quads and chant over and over 'power, power, power, power" till I shot back up.

You do know that is 100 FRONT squats right?

I then did 4 sets of 10 Good Mornings at 85 pounds. Sat on my little stool, looked up at the clock and it had been:

50 minutes.

I am pretty pleased with myself, I just killed that one!