A sandbag is darned easy to make. Just google up "diy sandbag"
A sledgehammer @ 8LBS costs only RM28 (Wooden/bamboo handle) and a tire costs.....RM0
Just depends how much you want to put other's advice into your training or how much you'd rather stay in the comfort zone.

Actually, the least of your concern should be overtraining. Your routine's too light to inflict overtraining. In fact, your entire workout isn't really a workout. It's closer to a warmup before a competition.

You can't exert the most muscle recruitment with dumbbells. Barbells are better at this because you're able to use more weights. With dumbbells, your muscles are working harder at stabilizing the weights. Sounds like a good thing but it's not really if you're aiming to gain mass. It's great for strength though.

I'd rather change your workout this way. In a bodybuilder POV;


This.....would require you to worry about overtraining. Your most important exercise, is always your first exercise. Make sure to increase the weight of each set (even 2LBS is an increase) and you must use your 6 rep max to finish your last set of five reps. Next week, increase that last set of 5 reps weight by 5LBS. If no 5LBS, 2.5LBS also can.

For example, your squat 6RM is 100KG. You take that 100KG for the last set of your 5x5 exercise. The last set must be the heaviest. Kinda like;

1st set:80KGx5
2nd set:85KG x 5
3rd set: 90KG x 5
4th set: 95KG x 5
5th set: 100KG x 5

Try this for six-eight weeks......this might cause overtraining, but don't worry about it. It's the most overrated bullcrap ever...half you guys will never overtrain. Oh and yeah, eat a lot please. You're welcome to add an extra exercise or two anytime you feel stronger....or if you're feeling weak, drop a set or two. Nothing in this routine's set in stone....so you can change here and there.

Look at my chest. Or the lack of it
Just so you know, I don't train the bench, with an aim to beef up my chest. When I do bench press, I do it in the close grip bench or clean grip (to strengthen my triceps lockout). My only purpose of doing the push-up is to produce more explosive strength and for an occasional show-off factor of being the only clown that can do 100 push-ups.

Hmm......weighing in at 79.5KG and 78.0KG after training. (Pics were before training). I can understand why my coach says I need to move to 85KG's or 94KG. Way too skinny. Need some more mass to fill up my long ass limbs and torso. Time to get some bodybuilder's food in!! I hope I'll hit the 200KG back squat when I move to 85KG's. Grrr.


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the moment i saw "shanecross" ......i pretty much knew this nonsense d

I'm taking this at face value. You'd better. U better be coming this week....BMW or not!

You try, and then you tell me. I'll say, fcuk it. Just drink the milk.

OF course it's a good routine.

I basically threw in the concepts of Joe Defranco and some good old bodybuilding knowledge and stuff my coach taught me, and called this routine my own. I take no credit for discovering any of these stuff...I just put it in a simple form.

Anyway, that aside....If you don't have a barbell, DO NOT BUY ONE. Let me help you with this, because fitness isn't about a barbell and a dumbbell alone. There are other ways.

Ever since training with a DIY medicine ball (To increase explosive hip power), sledgehammer and tire (Increase grip and rotational core power), pushing my car (for quad strength), flipping rocks and stones (For grip, back, leg strength) and all that peculiar ways of exercise, I find my neuromuscular recruitment for almost all activities increasing. I'm sharper and much more alive (provided I've enough food and rest)

I strongly recommend;

http://rosstraining.com/blog/2008/10/27/mo...ipment-updates/

http://www.rosstraining.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=157

DIY these stuff. They're amazing! And they make phenomenal results. And if you're wondering "Can I gain weight with these crap?"

Of course you can. Eat more, and you'll see those numbers going up. I'm now advocating ONLY ghetto training for those that train at home. Trust my words on this, just trust my words.......these will help you in more ways than a dumbbell and barbell alone.

I've ever persuaded a guy that does 200KG deadlifts and another that deadlifts 170KG's to try such training methods. They're, usually left gassed out. One of them even texted me "Dude, my quads are fried and it's just the first set.....should I go on?"



I'll even help you out with how to train these stuf.

Hardware stores. Lorry tire shops. Open your eyes when you drive around, you'll be surprised to see so many places where you can find loads of stuff where you can DIY. It all depends on your creativity.

But if you're a total left brainer, then forget it.

You're boring. Blek!



This post has been edited by pizzaboy: Nov 19 2008, 12:49 PM

Reduce sodium intake.
Eat more fruits and take more green tea.
Reduce your carb intake

I don't really bother about this, as I don't have to reduce my weight for anything, except for competitions. But I've got luck on my side with my metabolism....so cutting weight is never an issue. Making weight is.

Today I read an article.
It scares me.

It's believed that with talent, a weightlifter can be at an international level within .....7 years.
Just a mere 2 years for the technique, and another 5 years to develop the strength and speed.
Based on mere theory, a non-gifted lifter, would take about 10 years. 5 years just to develop proper technique and ingrain it, and still another 5 years to be able to develop the strength to stand up with a 210KG with a 94KG bodyweight.

That's too long. I need to be in at least one major game before I turn 30 or I'll probably never make it into the international scene. I'm aiming for at least the Commonwealth games one day.

I'll need to gain between 96KG's -100KG's and maintain around that number and drop when competitions hover. I need to get much stronger and hit a 200KG front squat in two years. From 140KG-200KG is going to be a huge jump, but in two years I hope I can manage it. On my calculations, if I maintain 2.5KG gains per month, I can get there. By then I hope to have developed a 230KG back squat as well. I'm not bothered about deadlifts but if I can clean pull about 250KG. It'll be around 550LBS.

Hopefully my cleans move up to the 180KG region. I'm easily cleaning 120KG now, but I know in this sport, those gains end at 140KG. The next 40KG's can take years to accomplish but I'm determined to get it no matter what. Be it vitamins, more supplements, tonnes of food or even steroids, I must try to reach a 180KG clean in 2 years and hopefully a 140KG snatch.

I know I sound like a retarded little newbie in weightlifting aiming for so much in so little time, but I'll do that with an increase in bodyweight. A 180KG clean in 94KG's isn't even close to good. It's average as hell.

How am I going to do that will be via higher repetition work. I'll squat thrice or maybe even 4 times a week.
My 5 sessions of Olympic weightlifting will need to be increased to 5 heavy sessions (evening) , and 2 light ones (morning). Conditioning needs to take a back seat with 1 conditioning session a week. The only reason conditioning is still in there is because I don't want to die of a cardiac arrest after gaining 19KG's in two years (Not that much, but I don't know what I'll be like at 96KG's). Okay fine, it's because I still want to look relatively lean.

Parties have to stop. Liquor has to stop. Well that's no issue, I only drink wine and beer anyway. I'll have to sleep by 12AM. Oh god.....what a life. Dedication to the sport I must have...here we go!

I know.

This is usually caused by tight hamstrings, glutes and lower back. Adductors, are also surprisingly very much involved in the causing of the butt wink. I never knew that until I noticed that most people that just begin working out, will have very painful adductors, which I began stretching my brother's one and noticed that it worked.

Easiest, stretch your hamstrings and glutes after your workout. Then your adductors and hips (via the butterfly stretch) Also search the "Goblet Squat' and squat Rx videos on youtube. That'll give you further guidance.

I really won't want to be called "Datuk"
If I get grandchildren, I'll tell them if they ever dare to call me datuk, they'll get no angpau

It is of course possible. Personally, this is what I tried and almost fixed my butt wink immediately.

Chest high up
Arms close to shoulders when gripping
Super arch my back
Imagine your knees going DOWN.

And a lot of front squats
Front squats somehow or rather teach your body the groove to sit down without the butt wink.

And stretching will help a lot
Personally, I believe a lot in active stretching and have the weights press you down to the right position while you comfortably sit.
Keep asking, until you get this right. Keep me updated please.

Just imagine your knees, breaking through your shins. Okay that sounds gory, but basically like that. Just imagine your knees, going right through your shins, while your chest is up and your back is arched.

Cold stretching actually means you can't get the full ROM and if you try too hard to stretch past it, you may actually tear. So usually, I prefer to do it when I'm slightly warmer, so yeah a jog would usually do well.

And don't do ballistic stretch where you keep bouncing bouncing like that. It makes no purpose as your muscles are supposed to be held in a certain stretch for at least 5 seconds before your body tells itself to relax (remember, body is a self defence mechanism) and that it's not a threat.

So hold a stretch for at least 5 seconds and increase the stretching time as you get more flexible.

http://www.fortified-iron.com/forum/index....235041077&st=25

You must always relax your muscles for it to stretch.
Google up terms that you don't understand. You'll learn more, much more than when I spoon feed you.

Yeah, but he didn't update me on anything about how he feels, if he's learned anything, anything that he needs cleared and explained.
He didn't really ask much, not even about nutrition. Weird

I didn't teach him the row because it always takes forever to teach. I just taught him the chest supported dumbbell rows...imperfect in comparison, but much easier to teach. As long as he learns to activate his back and not his arms, it's alright I believe.



And then when he figures out how to do it right, he'll be able to use a barbell. But in commercial gyms, it's a lil complicated to do this.

I recommended him to do the front squats, so the moment he does a back squat, his body'll automatically know what to do. I don't have his contacts apart from his phone number, but ask him to PM me his email and MSN.

Wassap ken Limfornication!

My waistline's around 30" to 31" most of the time. If I drop to 75KG, it'll usually be about 30"

Weight gainers makes you pay for protein and loads of sugar and carbo and a lil fat content here and there for the added calorie count. Also their serving size is 2 scoops. That's why you see it has about 40gms of protein per serving.

Protein makes you pay for protein. Just pure simple protein, with a bit of BCAA and leucine and a bunch of other vitamins. And usually per serving, you'll get bout 24 grams/scoop.

It won't take 200KG. I squatted with 160KG with a standard barbell once, it bent right in the middle. Then I ran out of the gym.

Google, "DIY DUmbbell
http://www.rosstraining.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=157

Rosstraining's down at the moment. Wait till it goes up again.

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Added on January 5, 2009, 12:33 pm

http://patrickhdonnelly.blogspot.com/2008/...-dumbbells.html

This post has been edited by pizzaboy: Jan 5 2009, 12:33 PM

Nope.

I don't need protein as my recovery time is quite fast. Finish training, down some glucose and straight have dinner. Wake up next day, I'm all good to go.

I have some leftover protein shakes at home which I drink when I've nothing to eat and I'm lazy to go out. That's the only purpose of protein shakes in my opinion. After all, I'm maintaining at this bodyweight till Sukma 2010 so I've no issues with my weight at the moment.

Protract your scapulae. Lift with straps.
Drop the weights, and find the feel of your lats. When you find it, you can slowly increase the weights

If you're just for looks, do more cable work. Pull behind the neck if your shoulder is flexible.

IF... your lower back has "no feel" to it.
IT's like...how should I say, your lower back has lost a feel to it, like you can't contract it when you want to, it's fatigue. When this comes, take a break.

Another method I like to use to squat is;

1. Lower myself and totally squeeze the crap of my legs while I'm moving downwards.
2. Imagine myself pulling the barbell downwards instead of letting gravity push me downwards. I must control the bar.
3. At the lowest point, use all that tension and "jump" upwards. Just powerfully explode upwards

The sticking point is where your body is working against the most uncomfortable positions against gravity. Thus a powerful explosive movement is required to break against this "point". Some people call it cheating, I call it, cleverly manipulating disadvantageous positions for your own good. Weightlifters use this method very often, and my coach does a 265KG back squat at 69KG bodyweight. Pyros Dimas does a 330KG back squat at 85KG with that method.

If anybody calls that cheating, tell that to my coach.

Or another method you can do is after your training, add single limb leg work. Pistols, lunges, bulgarian squats......these work well. About 4-5 sets of 10-15 reps should be good.