at first i thought i wouldn't make it through the workout. but towards the end my muscles felt really different lol, as if i could go on for longer. maybe i'm just not pushing enough weights. i'll increase it next week based on my findings from today.

when i got home i took off my clothes to have a shower, and i looked into the mirror and was like, "holy shit, that guy there can NOT possibly be me!" cuz my chest was really pumped up post-workout. if only it could stay that way for longer. hahaha... now its shrunk back to its usual size, looks really pathetic now.

by the way, all the machines in myfitness didn't clearly state the measurement of their stacks. there's just numbers, i don't even know if its measured in pounds or kgs. come to think of it, maybe i didn't really pushed 26 or 33 kgs for the machine chest press. it could've been 26 or 33 pounds instead lol, what a bummer.

by the way, i'm expecting to enjoy doing HVT. it feels more fun and natural compared to what i was doing previously.

NEED OATS.

It's rather impossible for a big plate of a pull down machine to hold only 1kg/plate, it must be 10kg/plate. 210kg 

But I remember seeing darklight mentioned that the pulldown machine at his gym is 210lbs for the whole stack .. so you know, it might be lbs.

Ahhh okay darkie, sound and solid advice there, thank you! Now I have a reason to ditch the calculator 

i have difficulty walking now... i reckon my legs will be a complete sore by tomorrow morning. And if it doesn't recover in time for Sunday this week, I will drop swimming altogether and go for Option 3.

I don't usually do leg work actually, this is my first time in quite a while    So I am hoping my legs will grow at a faster rate, so I can hit BW Squats x 10 ASAP.

What made me gain weight was probably because I wasn't eating well enough last time, and also because I didn't exercise much, aside from the occassional futsal game. So the moment I picked up those dumbbells, my weight climbed rapidly.

Sadly the weight gain isn't showing enough in my physical appearance. Some of my friends have noted that I don't look as skinny as I did before, but personally, I think there's not much Wow! factor in my changes - I look practically the same, and still considerably skinny, or normal at best.

I saw your journal and your body looks much better shaped than mine, so I'm sure you'll end up somewhere satisfactory. Have fun bulking

Good video. Much better quality. Damn, that looks sooo heavy! Personally I wouldn't dare to try 1 rep deadlifts yet.

How much is a pair of wrist straps and where can I get them? Are they necessary for deadlifting heavier weights? I hope they're not too costly...

Btw, since my middle chest is so pathetic, I plan to add in an extra exercise for next week after cable crossovers. I don't know what it's called, but you do it lying flat on a bench, hold one dumbbell with both hands over the center of the chest, let the weight go over and behind your head and then pull it back to starting position.

Anyone knows what this exercise is called, and if its good for building the middle chest or not? Thank you!

Ego do sell them ... harbinger. Darklight's deadlift is legendary

hey man, i don't think that's underperforming at all. you've managed to up the weights a bit from your previous workout - thats great in itself. i think darklight has said that HVT is instinctive, going with the feel.

sometimes i too feel somewhat weak, tired etc on a particular day - no sweat, all of us have that one day off. just come back the following hitting hard and strong. also feel free to keep increasing the weights you do, even though if it means cutting down a two or three reps. you'll be able to build upon that the next time you do a chest workout.

what i normally do is alternate machine chest press with incline dumbell bench presses every other week as it helps to build the upper part of your chest as well as balance.

pushups are fine, in fact at the end of each chest workout i usually do one or two sets until failure to really exhaust the muscle. anyhow, keep us updated. 

I'm back from my vacation! Not a very eventful one, but a relaxing trip, that was. I swam on Sunday despite my leg still being sore from the workout. And it still is now T.T

Today is my chest day and frankly I am quite disappointed that there wasn't very much improvement from last week. In fact there is a decline in performance. This is especially obvious for the machine chest press - I couldn't seem to do what I could normally (easily) do, I wonder why? Volume for the incline and flat bench press has noticeably dropped as well but what the heck, I'm still glad that there is a chest day and I managed to kill my chest today.

When I was in Taiping btw, I had my weight measured on those 20 cent per go weight scale. The digital meter read 69.4kg. Fcuking 69.4kg, ONLY!! I would've expected to hit 71 kg or at the very least, 70 kg, but to still be stuck in the 69's was a huge letdown. Oh well, I'll measure it again at the end of this week. Probably the standard of the scales differ -- the scale from my gym might show a different result from which weight progress can be better judged.

For now, I'll be off to Mid Valley.
Tuesday - Chest Day (30 December 2008)

Smith Machine Flat Bench Press
Warm Up
20 lbs x 10
40 lbs x 10

Workout
90 lbs x 12
100 lbs x 11
100 lbs x 9
90 lbs x 8
100 lbs x 5
Smith Machine Incline Bench Press
60 lbs x 10
65 lbs x 10
65 lbs x 9
55 lbs x 9
Machine Chest Press
33 kg x 11
33 kg x 11
40 kg x 8
26 kg x 13
Cable Crossover (Weight stated = total weight)
10 kg x 16
10 kg x 16
10 kg x 16
10 kg x 16
Dumbbell Pullovers
10 kg x 25
10 kg x 20
Cable Crossover (Done as an extra)
10 kg x 15
-End of Workout-

Total Workout Time: 65 minutes
Average rest time in between sets: 90 secs
Diet

Preworkout: 4 eggs, 2 Bananas (22g protein, 40g carbs)
Postworkout: 2 scoops weight gainer + 350ml Dutch Lady milk (35g protein, 60g carbs)

Estimated meals for today:
Lunch: Anything edible in Mid Valley (20g protein)
Tea-time: Fruits (anything in the fridge will do)
Dinner: Rice + dishes (20g protein)
Supper: 300ml milk + Whey protein (35g protein)

Total estimated protein intake: 132g

If you're already hitting hard enough which it seems to me that you did and you didn't get good growth ... It's time to check your diet :S ...

Weight ... is nothing to worry about. Maybe you have a lower body fat now but since you started with 10% ... lol.

Preworkout: 2 hard boiled eggs, 1 sachet Oats
Postworkout: 250ml Milk + Whey
Postpostworkout: 2 mini bananas

LOL I do agree my preworkout is pathetic. But I already feel stuffed from just that lol... I can't eat much so soon after waking up from slumber. Sometimes I take 2 sachet of Oats instead of one so maybe I'll just take 2 sachets everytime from now on. I'm not sure if its any good, but 2 sachets would be better than 1 at least.

Btw how much is 6-8 tablespoons of oats? I buy mine in sachets of 30g...