Post 20! Two races in three weeks.

Hi guys,

It's day 32 of my summer shred today and it's been an up and down experience so far. I have found low carbs extremely difficult at times but having motivation from  my mate Aaron, Girlfriend and my family has helped me through and it felt good to pass the 30 day mark. I've dropped from 68KG to 66KG and although that doesn't seem like much I feel the weight has been fat and not muscle and am feeling much leaner than I did 4/5 weeks ago.

I am still updating my summer shredding blogs and my youtube fitness channel has become something which I love doing and am going to carry on beyond the summer shredding series. If you like the content being produced make sure you like, comment and subscribe to the channel.

This Sunday coming I am competing in another Wolf Run. As you know I have done two before and I can't wait to get going again and try and beat my previous two times as I am feeling fitter and leaner after all my training.

Also my mate Aaron has two tickets to the JCB mud run after his parents have pulled out through injury. We are taking there place and the 8K course should be easy for us after doing the wolf run just 2 weekends before. I will keep you guys updated on all of our success and possible failures at these events and footage will be on my Fitness for a hobby youtube channel.

For now I will leave you with a link to the channel and our latest summer shredding video.

Thanks guys.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAhSx2vbgabFA4Eg99Ux6AA/videos

Blog 19! Summer Shredding 2015!

Hi guys,

It's that time of year when you start shredding your body fat for summer to get that lean body ready for the beach.

I have started a summer shredding series on my brand new youtube channel and you can follow my journey and what I get up to by watching the videos posted every 2-3 days.

If you're into fitness then it would be great for you to see how I am getting on along with my mate Aaron and get involved via comments and likes and subscribes.

Also if you are currently working towards any goals for summer then give me a shout either on twitter @alexblakemore1 or just comment on one of the videos.

The link to the channel is: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAhSx2vbgabFA4Eg99Ux6AA/videos

So give it a look and I hope you like what you see.

Below is one of our latest videos to give you a taste of the sort of stuff we are getting up to.

Loads more content coming keep your eyes peeled.

As ever thanks for the support.

Alex :)

Blog 18! Time for a new challenge!

Hi,

Since I finished my bulk I have been strength training and I have to admit it has been very successful. I can't believe in around 8 weeks I have improved my strength on my chest, arms, legs and back. Strangely I have found shoulders the most difficult to gain strength on, but I will let it go as I have been so progressive on everything else.

On Saturday (9th May 2015), I am starting my Cut for summer and I am really looking forward to it. After gaining size and strength over the last few months it will be great to get lean for summer.

So with my strength training this is my updated personal bests:

- Bicep curl: 20kg
- Hammer curl: 16kg
- Squat: 105kg
- Bench press dumbbell: 40kg
- Incline Bench press: 82.2kg
- Barbell bench press: 92.2kg
- Triceps rope pull down: 30kg

This is a new high for me being able to lift heavy, before I started the strength training I was benching around 70kg and bicep curling 14kg so it's a massive improvement.

Moving forward to my cut I am starting a youtube channel to give a idea of what I am doing during my cut and the type of stuff I am eating doing to get my weight down. It will follow my life as I cut down and the the sort of things that work for me. I am doing it with my mate as I think it will spur me on more to succeed.


For now I will leave you with some videos of my personal bests and I look forward to updating soon..

https://instagram.com/p/2Ojj2JxWvy/?taken-by=alexblakemore1 - Incline bench 92.2kg
https://instagram.com/p/1OlJZTxWut/?taken-by=alexblakemore1 - Squat 110kg
https://instagram.com/p/1nmfK1xWn6/?taken-by=alexblakemore1 - T bar row.


Cheers

Alex

Blog 17! On the search for pre-workout!

Hi guys,


A really quick one today, just been looking to change up my pre-workout as I have been on Musclepharm Assault for around 15 weeks now and although I love it and it's been great during my strength training, I feel like the affects are getting less and less as my body gets used to it.

During my search for something new I came across a new product from myprotein.com . It's called MyPre and its got some really good reviews.  Each serving provides a number of ingredients which give you the energy you need to push through a workout. Firstly it has 4g of Creatine which improves physical performance. It also has caffeine, Amino Acids, Vitamins and minerals, Beta Alanine, L-Citrulline Malate, L-Arginine, D Aspartic Acid and Betaine. If you don't understand any of this, basically it gives you a massive buzz to lift heavy and push yourself for longer.

If this wasn't enough to tempt me towards a purchase I came across this review.

Who doesn't want to feel like a pigeon on red bull?

Fair to say I would recommend giving this a try and I will be purchasing some myself when I decide to have a break from Musclepharm assault, which I also highly recommend.

Cheers guys,

Alex

Blog 16! Four week arm workout plan DONE! Results?

Hi guys,

My four week arm workout plan is complete, and I have to say it's not all positive. If you remember from my previous post I was embarking on a four week quest to add two inches to my arms, now this was 2 inches overall around my arm, so I was never expecting another two inches to the peak of my bicep. The plan worked on a 7-3-3-7 basis where you trained arms twice a week and did 7 sets of an exercise, then 3 sets of heavy, 3 sets of heavy and then 7 sets to finish. This is my result and review of the workout.

Firstly if you are going to commit to this workout you really need to commit, this doesn't just mean in the gym, i'm talking diet. Cut out all alcohol, chocolate, crisps.... basically say bye to everything that tastes amazing. My main diet consisted of carbs such as brown rice and lots of meat and eggs. For me this wasn't much of a change from my usual diet as I am strict with what I eat anyway. The hard work for me was in the gym.

Compared to my usual arm workouts the plan seemed short and at the start of the 4 weeks I did question whether there was enough in each workout to fully work your arms. The 7 set exercises hurt, and I mean they HURT. You just have to keep pushing yourself and drop the weight slightly to make sure you reach 10-12 reps for every set. The 30 second rest period between sets seems short but it was very effective, without a doubt I got a good pump after my workouts early on.

The hardest week out of the four was definitely the second week. My arms were still getting used to the new regime and I had a week off my pre-workout (bad move), but the further into the 4 weeks I got the easier I found the workouts and slowly the pump went away. By the end of the third week I was feeling extremely demotivated. My other workouts (e.g. chest, back legs) were all excelling, but my arms which I was concentrating most on didn't seem to be changing, albeit I felt significant stronger all round my body including my arms. I decided something needed to be done so I kept to the 7-3-3-7 regime but instead of just the 4 exercises in the workout I would do 7 sets at the start of my workout, then 3 sets of five or six different exercises and then do my 7 sets at the end of my workout. I found this much more effective and by the end of the workout I couldn't lift my arms.

I finished on Friday and I have to say I found the workout enjoyable and although the results may not have been as effective as I would have hoped, I think my new idea of the 7 sets at the start and end of an arm workout along with 3 sets of heavier weights for around 6/7 different exercises for each arm muscle makes for an extremely effective arm workout. I also found the Friday - 7 set high cable curls extremely effective so check those out on my previous blog!

Now i've finished my bulk I am going to move onto strength training as I want to hit 38/40 on dumbbell bench press and lift as heavy as I can for a while on all my body parts, before I tone or cut for summer. I plan on strength training for around 6-8 weeks whilst keeping a healthy diet.

I will update you on how that is going and maybe one of my workouts in a few weeks.

For now I will leave you with a before and after from my enjoyable and educating 4 weeks of arm muscle building.

Thanks guys

Alex :)

p.s. Check out a mate of mines personal training page, he is called Alex Gooch and he has just qualified  as a personal trainer. He is deffo worth a look! He will be uploading Youtube videos full of workouts and tips. Follow the link here: https://www.facebook.com/OfficialAGFitness?fref=ts and his youtube is here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCe3cGLaEXyvx_H_MjmVqbmQ

before 

After and high cable curls!

Blog 15! Add two inches to your arms!

Hi guys,

We are half way through January and through many hours of searching the web I have finally found my next routine in order to achieve a goal I have been looking to reach for a while now.

With January being a slow month for me progress wise I feel like my body has got used to the workouts I am doing and although I have been trying to mix them up a bit in order to get that killer pump, I have found I haven't really been pushing myself to the limit since the new year.

The other night I came across what I've been looking for during a spontaneous web search session during a break from revision. A workout plan which aims to add 2 inches to your arms within 4 weeks. Yes my first thought was 4 weeks seems awfully short to add a whole 2 inches to my arms. But after seeing the workout plan it does seem reasonable as long as I eat the right food, stock up on protein and work my arse off in the gym. I am more determined than ever to do this workout plan as gaining size on my arms has always been something I have struggled with since I started lifting 4 years ago. I am realistic though and on a student budget I am unlikely to give myself enough fuel to get this done in 4 weeks. So I have decided that if after 4 weeks I haven't reached the desired size then I will extend the workout to 6 weeks.

I have stocked up on protein and purchased some BCAA 3:1:2 which is produced by MusclePharm the same company who produce my pre-workout which has always been great for me. The aim of my BCAA's is to support my muscle grown and increase protein synthesis, along with reducing muscle breakdown on my cardio days. In terms of supplements, I will be taking two protein shakes a day and a serving (8 tablets) of BCAA after my workout. As a student that is all I can afford, but I am going to keep my eating clean and very protein orientated whilst incorporating clean carbs into my diet. Another massive thing for me to do during this workout is to drink plenty of water which has always been a difficult thing for me. I am buying a protein shaker for my room that I can just keep filling up with water in order to keep a constant intake throughout the day.

Enough about the nutrition now to the workout. The aim of the plan is to hit arms twice a week and kill them off both times. Each set is to failure but you wan't to choose a weight that is around 10-12 reps till failure. For me this is around 16 kg for bicep curls and 20kg for cable pull downs for triceps. The workout per week is as follows:

Monday - Biceps/Shoulders/Abs
Tuesday - Triceps/Back/Abs
Wednesday - Chest/Abs
Thursday - Legs/Abs
Friday - Biceps/Triceps/Abs
Saturday - Off (Cardio optional)
Sunday - Chest (Cardio)/Abs

The exercises per workout for each day are as follows:

As you can see it follows a 7-3-3-7 format in terms of sets and it's aim is to kill your arms off. The difficult days are likely to be Friday's when you both do triceps and biceps. Here is the link for the full workout if you want to give it a go yourself: http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/build-big-arms-with-hany-rambods-fst-7-workout.html

As for my other body parts I am going to try incorporate some new exercises into my routine but this plan mostly focuses on my arms, so my focus will be on that whilst using my other workouts to maintain and tone up.

I am starting on Monday and although it is a short time frame, I think it's going to be very tough and push me to my limits.

Cheers guys,

I will update you when I am two weeks in to let you know it goes.

Alex :)

Blog 14! New year, busy Gym!

Hi guys,

Hope you all had a great christmas and new year. Finally the time of year has passed when you feel guilty eating your christmas dinner and chocolates as you see all your hard work from the past few months slowly slip away.

I did fairly well myself, sticking to my diet and gym sessions for most of christmas with the exception of about two days. I did debate having a moan during the christmas period on this blog about how gym's are shut during the christmas period a fair bit getting in the way of routine, however, I soon realised that it was a bit sad that I actually debated going to the gym on Christmas day until I realised it was closed.

So to a new year and for many of us some new years resolutions. Of course the gym is heaving with people on a new year health kick which is causing my workouts to be longer as I wait for machines which is annoying for myself and regular gym goers alike. Word of advice: Stick with it because by Feb 90% of people who joined a gym in January will have left.

This new year I have decided to give a new years resolution a miss and keep going how I am at the gym and look for some new routines in order to push myself to the limit. I think the main thing is to keep focus during the difficult January period of busy gyms, grim weather and the urge for comfort food. Once January is over you can push on and reach new goals. I am looking forward to the build up to summer where I can cut and get ready to hit the beach.

I am interested to know what your new year goals are at the gym and what you make of the January exercise rush. Let me know at @alexblakemore1 on twitter and get involved.

For now keep pushing yourself and have fun.

Cheers Alex