Push it to the limit

“Making all kinds a gainz, all kinds”. Life was moving pretty fast.  It was the summer of 2014, I had been in and out of the gym for roughly 10 months or so and a big day was approaching.  My wedding day, 6^th September 2014. I knew that most of the attention would be focused on my beautiful bride and this was totally ok for me, however, I also knew that I would be in  a lot of photos that day and would be meeting a lot of people for the first time along with friends and family whom I hadn’t seen in a long time. I wanted to look my best. I wanted to look healthy and fit. For the most part I wanted to get rid of that old skinny James which people knew. I wanted to replace him with a new  improved James Version 2. Upgraded and with the latest apps.

If you’re a regular reader you’ll remember from my earlier post, “ I am awake”, that I had moved to Total Fitness and had discovered new exercises and techniques along with a brand new workout routine.  I had been putting this new workout routine to the test for almost 2 months and had actually noticed some real muscle gain along with some fat loss around my belly. This new routine was an upper/lower body split which incorporated various compound movements along with supplementary isolation exercises.  See below my weekly routine at the time:

Upper Body A	Lower Body A
1. Bench Press	1. Romanian Deadlifts
3 sets of 6-8 reps.	3 sets of 6-8 reps.
2. Rows	2. Leg Press
3 sets of 6-8 reps.	3 sets of 10-12 reps.
3. Incline Dumbbell Press	3. Seated Leg Curls
3 sets of 8-10 reps.	3 sets of 8-10 reps.
4. Lat Pull-Downs	4. Standing Calf Raises
3 sets of 8-10 reps.	4 sets of 6-8 reps.
5. Lateral Raises	5. Abs
2 sets of 10-12 reps.	x sets of 8-15 reps.
6. Triceps Press-Downs
2 sets of 10-12 reps.
7. Dumbbell Curls
2 sets of 10-12 reps.
Upper Body B	Lower Body B
1. Pull-Ups	1. Squats
3 sets of 6-8 reps.	3 sets of 6-8 reps.
2. Barbell Shoulder Press	2. Split Squats
3 sets of 6-8 reps.	3 sets of 8-10 reps.
3. Seated Cable Row	3. Laying Leg Curls
3 sets of 8-10 reps.	3 sets of 10-12 reps.
4. Dumbbell Bench Press	4. Seated Calf Raises
3 sets of 8-10 reps.	4 sets of 10-12 reps.
5. Dumbbell Flies	5. Abs
2 sets of 10-12 reps.	x sets of 8-15 reps.
6. Barbell Curls
2 sets of 10-12 reps.
7. Skull Crushers
2 sets of 10-12 reps.

As you can see this routine contains quite a lot of different exercised per session. Each session is split between an upper body workout and a lower body workout which included abdominal exercise. I thought I had been making great progress using these workouts, I had added some more muscle to my newbie gains and was continuing to progress in terms of my form when performing each exercise. I was wrong. One of the main objectives in weight lifting and wanting to create a better looking physique is progressive overload. This means, if you do a certain exercise a certain amount of times one week, the next time you do this you should either add weight or at least perform more repetitions than you did previously. For example, in my Upper Body A workout the first exercise is the bench press, with 3 sets of 6-8 reps. So if you can bench 20kg 8 times for 3 sets, then the next time you perform the bench press you should increase the weigh by the smallest increment, which is usually a 1.25kg plate each side of the barbell. However, if you could only bench press 20kg in your first two sets 8 times, then in the third set you could only do 5 reps, you should use the same weight next time until you perform all necessary reps and sets. This is the best way for your muscles to adjust to extra weight and stress. More weight, more work for your muscles, which in turn means bigger, stronger muscles.

I wasn’t doing this. Each workout sessions I randomly selected a weight which felt heavy enough, and performed each set as best I could. Some days I picked heavier weight, some days I picked lighter weight. Hey, I was gaining muscle so this couldn’t be so bad. Turns out I was setting myself up for another dreaded plateau. Not only was I not using the progressive overload system, but every few workout sessions someone would come over to me and critique my form, mainly on the compound movements like the squat or deadlift. I thought I was progressing and at least performing these exercises correctly. Again, I was wrong. Almost every other workout ended up with my lower back in pain and/or sore wrists or shoulders. There was soon to be another problem I’d soon realise.

People. I’m not too keen on people. Especially when these people are overcrowding my gym, using all the equipment I want, or worse still, hanging around the equipment I want simply talking or trying to chat up the opposite sex. As high summer approached more and more people rushed to the gym. I wasn’t used to this, especially since I found out that I’d hit another plateau and was performing some exercises completely wrong. My shyness had come back. Now whenever I went to the gym instead of a bench press or even dumbbell press, I’d use a machine press which is in no way a replacement. Instead of deadlifts I just wouldn’t do them. What really infuriated me was groups of up to 7 young lads, all sporting the latest Nike gear, chests puffed out, orange tans, all texting on their phones, each one having a go on a bench or machine then talking again for several minutes right beside it. I soon began to see less and less of my beloved gym. Furthermore the big day was fast approaching. No more free time for the gym, and even when I did go it was for a super quick session of 15 minutes or so. What little gains I had were soon departing.

The big day finally came and it was so much more fun than I had envisioned. Friends and family celebrated with us to the early hours of the morning. Quite a few people commented on how great I looked which did wonders for my ego. My wife looks fairly decent too I should add. However I soon began to let go of the gym life and just continued to eat more food and complain at how I no longer went to the gym. I had pushed it to the limit.

Next post, “The Renaissance”