I sit here typing this out right now, because all I can do is sit!
My legs have failed me ever since Friday nights training session. If you have been following this journey from the start, you may be aware that leg day was something I always…..ALWAYS skipped. I have no idea why it was always hard for me to do, but I ignored it, convincing myself I had big legs anyway, so it was not needed. Now in my seventh week, I ask myself, why does it never get easier? I’ll tell you why….Vinny F’N Taylor! The man is relentless, but in a good way. He wants to see you succeed and challenge yourself. Your mind gives up before your body does, he likes to tell me. If only he knew the names I was calling him in my mind while doing Fridays session.
Session One :
The tried and tested chest and back day. I did not get to start into my week until Wednesday, leaving three full days in between the last workout. I was kind of disheartened by that. The body image took a beating in my head. So by Wednesday I was raring to go. I went over a tad bit earlier to hop on the cross trainer for awhile before getting stuck in. It was my first session with Catherine and it was nice to meet another part of the team. Catherine reiterated a point Davy made to me when I started, and that was stay away from the scales. It can be scary seeing the weight go up, and with that comes the self hate. It is something I struggled with since my days as a chubby kid. I have been obese before maxing out at 20 stone, losing seven, putting back on five and losing four recently. So putting on even a pound, really tends to mess with my head, despite the instruction from Davy. That is on me. Still it was a motivating factor going into that days workout. It was a superset, but we mixed it up.
The good thing about training over here is the constant requirement to shock the muscles. What I mean by that is, if you do a flat bench, followed by inclined then decline, in that order everytime your muscles become accustomed to expecting that. However if you start with decline, fresh you can do more initially then by the time you gt to flat you try to maintain the weight you are used to despite experiencing muscle fatigue. This was experienced throughout the whole workout.
Session Two :
Yep, leg day. I felt tapped by the time I hit the gym. A new wake up time of 6am has seen me find it hard to stay awake come later in the evening, let alone hit the gym 11 hours later for a strenuous workout. Vinny had that wry smile on his face, as he clasped his hands together exclaiming with delight that it was indeed leg day, as if I did not know. Squats, lunges, hack squats, leg press and hamstring workouts sound easy, but it was anything but. The leg press in particular caused me to make sounds I have never heard myself make. Why? The drop set.
A drop set is a training technique in which you focus on completing a set until failure — or the inability to do another repetition.Then, you lighten the load by 10–30%, and repeat, with little to no rest in between sets. The goal is to maximize potential muscle gain. So the it was decided by Mr. Vinny Taylor that the leg press would be the exercise to do this on. The high reps ethos , that is a staple of the gym, was never more cursed then it was that day. However Vinny was on hand to make sure it could be done. My legs after were uncontrollably shaking, I actually lay in the fetal position for a minute, looking at the sweat pooling on the floor underneath my head. We were not done yet though, nope we went onto hamstrings, doing the opposite of a drop set, we kept adding weight with no rest. So it is safe to say those were done to complete failure. Humbling stuff. I had to go soccer then after, unable to move my legs, I decided to go in goal. Bad idea, I was just chasing balls that went behind the goal the whole night.
Session Three :
Shoulders and arms, the glamour muscles, with the glamorous bai himelf Vinny. I walked into the gym and attempted to walk up the stairs, legs very stiff, much to the amusement of my trainer for the day. I chuckled my way up those fable steps, knowing what lay ahead. We did explosive movements in regards to shoulders, much different from last weeks session. Utilising different equipment, some I have never used before, that are not readily available in leisure centre gyms. One shoulder press set involved a lot of various different movements, which was a challenge, particularly in regards to my breathing. Just remembering when to inhale and exhale kept the mind sharp. Sometimes I tend to switch off and go to a happy place to take my focus off the strain, but there was no chance of doing that this time.
Once that was done it was time for Bi’s and Tri’s. We measured my arms before and after the routine to see the difference in the size of my arms once the blood was flowing. Utilising a squeeze at the top of every curl to maximise results proved to be such a useful inclusion in the workout over the last few weeks. Despite the relatively light weight, the high reps with proper form makes up for it. We started some ab workout when all was said and done, with the view to including that as we approach the last three weeks.
If you want to make a change, you can contact Davy on 0892528904 or email [email protected].
