Friday, May 30, 2008

Bodyfat Percentages + Pre Workout & Post Workout Nutrition...

I got an e-mail the other day from one of the readers and he asked:

"Do you keep track of your BF% or just go by the mirror? If you do take measurements, would you mind posting your % in the blog? Also, I didn't see any mention of pre, during or post workout nutrition. would you mind sharing in the blog what your pre-workout nutrition is?"

I do keep track of my bodyfat. I use the accu-measure skin fold calipers.




















However, I don’t take my bodyfat percentage per say. I keep track of my skin fold thickness during my contest prep. As long as the skin fold thickness is going down, then I know I’m getting leaner. The whole bodyfat percentage can be very misleading because different formulas and methods will give different results.

For example, electronic bodyfat testers almost always give a high reading and can vary depending on your level of hydration, etc.

Skin fold calipers are consistent in their readings, but the different formulas that are out there to calculate bodyfat percentages can vary greatly. If you are going to actually calculate out a bodyfat percentage I’d suggest that you just pick one formula and judge your progress based on that one formula alone.

Here are some of my records during my contest prep over the past couple months...

April 10th (8 weeks out)
My skin fold at the hip was 3 mm thick
My skin fold at the belly button was 6 mm thick
And my waist was 34 ½ inches

May 10th (4 weeks out)
My skin fold at the hip was 1 mm thick
My skin fold at the belly button was 3 mm thick
And my waist was 33 inches

Today May 30th (1 week out)
My skin fold at the hip is less then 1 mm thick (it is not thick enough to move the calliper)
My skin fold at the belly button is 1 mm thick
And my waist is 32 inches

As for my pre-workout / post workout nutrition, I really don’t do anything special while I’m on a low carb diet. I don’t have any simple carbs after my workouts or anything like that because my main concern at this stage is just burning as much bodyfat as possible.

I’ll eat a meal about 2 hours before my workouts (protein and green veggies).

Then about 30 minutes before my workouts I’ll take ephedrine and caffeine.

During my workouts I only drink water.

And then right after my workouts I’ll just have a protein drink mixed with water.

That's it during my pre-contest phase.

But during the off-season when I'm focusing on gaining size and strength my pre and post workout nutrition is a lot different.

I’ll eat a protein + carb meal about 90 minutes prior to my workouts. The actual foods will vary. But I’ll eat at least 50 grams of protein and at least 50 grams of carbs.

During my workouts I’ll drink Gatorade or a similar type of carb drink.

And after my workouts I’ll have a protein + carb drink, usually a couple scoops of whey protein, a couple scoops of Gatorade powder, mixed with water and I’ll often have a banana as well. So this works out to approx. 50 grams of protein and 100+ grams of simple carbs post workout.

I know... I’ve been a bit slack lately…

I know I’ve been a bit slack with updating my workouts here lately…

Part of the reason is that I’ve recently been working with several new people with customized training & nutrition programs and this has been taking up a lot of my time. But another reason is that my strength and energy levels are rock bottom at this stage. Just a little over a week out from my contest and the low carb dieting is really starting to take it’s toll… But the finish line is in sight. I’m basically just going through the motions with my workouts with light weights.

On Sunday May 25 I trained chest, shoulders, and triceps. I did several machine exercises such as: incline bench press machine, shoulder press machine, pec dec, upright cable rows, side lateral machine, tricep push downs, and finished off with bodyweight push ups.

Quite honestly, I’m not even keeping track of my weights at this stage because I’m not setting any personal records in the gym. I’m just going through the motions, getting a pump, and burning up calories. After the show when I’m eating more and well rested I’ll go back to keeping accurate records and striving to improve with each workout.

On Monday May 26 I trained legs and abs. I did a bunch of different leg machines like hack squats, leg extensions, leg curls, inner / outer thigh machine, and calf raises. Then I did some sit ups, leg raises, crunches, etc. for abs all done for high reps using just bodyweight.

I took Tuesday May 27 off from weight training but I did go for a 45 minute walk with my dog for some cardio.

On Wednesday May 28 I trained back and biceps. Doing some light deadlifts, pull downs, 1 arm rows, face pulls, then ez barbell curls and dumbbell hammer curls. I finished off with a half hour of cardio on the elliptical machine.

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Shoulder / Rotator Cuff Injury…

The craziest thing happened last week at the gym...

I was training a friend of mine and we were doing a chest,
shoulders, and triceps workout. Before each workout we
always warm up with some light cardio to get the blood
flowing and get the core body temperature up before
jumping into our weight training.

The first exercise that we were going to do was the
bench press, a staple of pretty much any chest workout.
So we warmed up with the empty bar, then 95 lbs.
and then 135 lbs. and just 3 reps in the set with
just 135 my friend's shoulder popped!!!

We racked the weight and sure enough, he strained his
rotator cuff. The crazy thing was that we weren't using
much weight at all, but he still got a shoulder injury.

Anyway we pretty much had to scrap the workout after
that because there's no sense in doing anything more
and potentially making the problem worse. So he just
went home, iced his shoulder, and just took several
days off from training all together.

But the whole thing got me thinking about a
shoulder / rotator cuff workout article that
I wrote a few years ago...

After all, shoulder injuries are among the most
common injuries that people get in the gym.

When I got home from the gym I read over the rotator cuff
article. And while I think it is ok as it was, I decided
to add a short video clip demonstrating the exercises
that I talk about in the article because it is hard to
show proper exercise form through pictures alone, you
really need to see the exercises being done.

So that's what I did and I just finished uploading the
video to youtube not too long ago.

You can check out the shoulder rotator cuff
article and see the youtube video clip at:

http://www.leehayward.com/rotator_cuff.htm

And even if you don't have any shoulder problems now,
it would still be a good idea to check out this routine
and do it prior to your workouts to help keep your
shoulders healthy and prevent any future injuries
down the road.

Again, the link to the article and video is at:

http://www.leehayward.com/rotator_cuff.htm

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Workout for Saturday May 24… Legs and Abdominals

A couple weeks ago I pulled my left quad. But thankfully it is all healed up now. I can train my legs, flex them, etc. with no pain or discomfort what so ever which is really good. I was a bit worried about it because my leg was affecting my posing. It would have looked bad on stage if I could only flex one leg, especially during the front poses.

On Saturday I did a high volume isolation machine leg workout… this pumped and burned my quads like crazy! I like to include these kinds of workouts during the last several weeks leading up to a contest as I feel they help bring in my separation in my quads.

Leg Extensions:
50 lbs. x 50 reps
70 lbs. x 25 reps
90 lbs. x 15 reps
110 lbs. x 10 reps
130 lbs. x 10 reps
110 lbs. x 10 reps
*90 lbs. x 15 reps
*70 lbs. x 25 reps
*50 lbs. x 50 reps
*on these last few sets I had to use rest pauses in order to get all the reps.

Leg Curls:
70 lbs. x 10 reps
90 lbs. x 10 reps
110 lbs. x 10 reps
130 lbs. x 10 reps
110 lbs. x 10 reps
90 lbs. x 10 reps
70 lbs. x 10 reps

Seated Calf Raises:
120 lbs. x 15 reps
120 lbs. x 15 reps

Inner Thigh Machine:
150 lbs. x 25 reps
150 lbs. x 25 reps

Outer Thigh Machine:
200 lbs. x 25 reps
200 lbs. x 25 reps

Abdominal Twist Machine:
60 lbs. x 10 reps
60 lbs. x 10 reps
60 lbs. x 10 reps
60 lbs. x 10 reps
*works out to 2 sets for each side

Seated Ab Crunch Machine:
100 x 15 reps
100 x 15 reps

Held The Abdominal Plank – held for 2 minutes.

Lying Leg Raise Static Hold - held legs 6 inches off the ground for 2 minutes.

Finished off with 100 crunches.

Saturday, May 24, 2008

Workouts For Friday May 23…

I had a good carb load over yesterday and today… I didn’t go crazy by eating junk, but I did eat a lot of oatmeal, rice, rice cakes, etc. to help fill out. I’m noticeably fuller and more vascular which is good. My bodyweight is also up a bit, I’m 206 lbs. today after my workout at the gym.

I trained at another gym today for variety. I didn’t bother keeping tabs on the exact exercises, weights, sets, and reps because the machines and equipment are a lot different then what I’m used to. So basically I just did a general upper body workout doing a few sets of each machine. I got an awesome pump doing this because I’m all “carbed up”.

This particular gym has been around for a while and some of the equipment they have in there is ancient… some of the machines must be at least 30 years old… I’m talking about the old chrome weight stack machines like you see in “Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Encyclopedia Of Bodybuilding” or in the old Weider workout books… I could almost pretend that I was back in the “Pumping Iron” days LOL

I practiced my posing in the locker room after my workout. And I filmed it using my digital camera on movie mode, granted the video quality is not great, but I can still see some improvements over last week.

I’ve posted the video clip here…





I’m really looking forward to the show now… just 2 weeks out and counting… even though I’ll be around the same bodyweight as I was for my last competition, I think my conditioning will be a bit harder. Mostly because I started my diet already lean, I never “bulked up” and got fat this time around, so my skin should be tighter.


Workouts For Thursday May 22…

I took today off from weight training, I was just feeling burnt out. But I did do an hour of cardio in the morning divided up between my elliptical and stepper that I have at home.

I also decided to do a trail “carb up” like I would do before the show. Even though I had originally planned to tough it out and stick with low carbs right through I found that my bodyweight was at a plateau for the last week or so of around 205 lbs.

So the carbing up would serve a few purposes…

First…
it would give my metabolism a good swift kick in the arse. I always find that once I go back to my normal dieting after a couple high calorie days, I’ll hit a new all time low in bodyweight and actually look tighter then I was before the high calorie days.

Second…
it will allow me to see how my body reacts to the carb load after being so carb depleted. Basically, if I look better, tighter, and fuller then I’ll do a similar approach before the show. But if I get bloated, then I’ll be more conservative with the carb loading before the show.

And Third…
It is a dam nice break from eating nothing but protein, veggies, and fat for the past several weeks.

Friday, May 23, 2008

Workouts for May 21… Back and Biceps

I was planning on going for a bike ride this morning for my cardio workout. But while I was drinking my morning coffee and getting ready to go riding, I got a call about some stuff with one of my rental properties that needed my attention right away so I had to cancel the bike ride... I was a bit p!ssed off, but sometimes life gets in the way and that's all you can do...

I went to the gym a bit earlier then normal that evening and did an half hour of cardio before my weight training workout. Normally, I don’t like to combine cardio and weights into the same workout. But I’ll make exceptions like this from time to time. Better to do it later, then not do it at all.

Afterwards I trained back and biceps.

Hammer Strength Chest Supported Rows:
worked up to 2 sets of 6 reps with 335 lbs.

Hammer Strength Pull Downs:
worked up to 2 sets of 6 reps with 240 lbs.

V-Bar Lat Pull Downs:
worked up to 1 sets of 10 with 170 lbs.
then dropped back to 150 lbs. for a 2 more sets of 10 reps.

Note:
I had been adding at least 5 lbs. to most of my exercises each workout for the past several weeks in a row, but today during the lat pull downs I started to feel my the lat / tricep tie in area under my arm where I tore it earlier this year.

I didn’t tear it again or anything like that, but it was enough to make me smarten up and realize that this close to a show (i.e. 2 ½ weeks out) I shouldn’t be adding any more weight to my exercises. I’m not going to build any new muscle on a restricted diet and the risk of injury is high right now because I’m so lean and depleted. From now until after the show I’m just going to go through the motions with higher reps and go for the “pump” rather then trying to lift more weight with each workout.


1 Arm Rear Delt Cable Flyes:
worked up to 3 sets of 10 reps with 30 lbs.

Then I moved on to training biceps and did:

ez bar cable curls:
I did sets of 10 reps with:
80 lbs., 110 lbs., 120 lbs., and 130 lbs.

Life Fitness Seated Curl Machine:
worked up to 4 sets of 10 reps with 100 lbs.

Finished off my workout with 100 total reps of hyper extensions (4 sets of 25 reps).
I like to do these at the very end of my workout because I find if I do them earlier my lower back gets so pumped up that it affects my form on my other exercises.

Thursday, May 22, 2008

Workout For Tuesday May 20…

I did my first let workout in over a couple weeks. My pulled quad muscle is healing up slowly, but there is noticeable improvements every couple days. It only hurts now when I flex hard.

For my workout I started with 10 minutes on the rowing machine as a warm up and then did a light active recovery leg workout, basically just going through the motions and working the muscles.

Each exercises started with a couple light progressively heavier warm up sets.

Weight Stack Leg Press Machine:
Note, this isn’t the “real” 45 degree angle plated loaded leg press, but it is good enough for active recovery type of workouts.
2 sets of 10 reps with 150 lbs.

Leg Extensions:
2 sets of 90 lbs. x 10 reps

Seated Leg Curls:
2 sets of 110 lbs. x 10 reps

Inner Thigh Machine:
2 sets of 210 lbs. x 10 reps

Outer Thigh Machine:
2 sets of 250 lbs. x 10 reps

Single Leg Kick Back Machine:
2 sets of 110 lbs. x 10 reps

Standing Calf Raises:
2 sets of 210 lbs. x 10 reps
(I really focus on going slow and getting a good stretch with all calf work. I find that works better for building the calfs then bouncing up and down with a ton of weight like most folks do.)

Abs:
Hold the abdominal plank for 3 x 1 minute sets.

Finished off with 100 crunches on the stability ball.

Pic of the abdominal plank...

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Monday May 19… an outdoor adventure day :-)

Monday was the Victoria Day holiday. And even though the gym was open I decided to pass on the gym and just have a fun day instead…

I didn’t even turn on the computer today so I had a total day off from working LOL

In the morning my girlfriend Patricia and I went for a bike ride through some of the trails close by my place. We took our dog Sasha with us as well. She loves to get out in the woods and she had her first swim in the river this year.

Later in the afternoon we went for an ATV ride along the pole line. It was a great bit of fun except I got a flat tire, a shard of metal stuck in one of the back tires, but luckily I had some sticky plugs with me and I took the pump as well so it wasn’t a big deal.














Workout For Sunday May 18…

We had some good weather this weekend mostly sunny and about 15 degrees celsius (that’s approx. 55-60 degrees fahrenheit) that’s really good for Newfoundland this time of year so I took advantage of it and got out and did some bike riding as my cardio.

Later in the day I trained chest, shoulders, and triceps.

I still want to give my pulled quad some more recovery time before attempting any leg workouts with it. The bike riding wasn’t too bad as I didn’t really ride that hard anyway, but could feel it pain a little bit when I climbed hills.

All that really matters is that it gets fully healed up before the contest so I can keep it tight when doing my front poses. For the abs and thigh pose I use my other leg, so I shouldn’t have any problem with that.

For my weight training workout I did:

(Note: each exercise is proceeded by as many warm up sets as needed)

Hammer Strength Incline Bench Press:
2 sets of 315 lbs. x 6 reps

Pec Dec Flyes:
2 sets of 180 lbs. x 6 reps

Hammer Strength Plate Loaded Shoulder Press:
(this was a different variation then the one I used in my last workout)
2 sets of 275 lbs. x 6 reps

Life Fitness Side Lat Machine:
1 set of 130 lbs. x 6 reps
1 drop set 130 x 6, 100 x 6, and 70 x 6

Dips:
2 sets of 25 reps
(had to rest pause the second set to get all 25 reps)

Hammer Strength Tricep Extensions:
2 sets of 120 lbs. x 6 reps

Afterwards I did some stretching, some ab work, had a 20 minute tan and headed home for another delicious meal of meat and veggies…

I have to say, the low carb diet is not as bad as most people think. I think it does a better job of controlling the appetite then a “moderate carb” diet does. But there is not a whole lot of eating satisfaction. I’m really looking forward to just stuffing my face until I’m ready to pop after the show LOL

Sunday, May 18, 2008

Training for Saturday May 17…

My current training split is divided up like this:

Workout 1:
chest, shoulders, and triceps

Workout 2:
back and biceps

Workout 3:
legs and abs

But a little over a week ago I pulled the muscle in my left quad during a leg workout and I’ve been taking it easy by not doing any hard direct leg training (other then cardio).

It is improving, but it is still not 100% so I’m just going to let it rest up before attempting a leg workout. As long as I can still do cardio it’s no big deal this close to the show, as leg size is not a major problem for me.

So for today’s workout I was scheduled to train legs, but I trained back and biceps instead to let my quad heal up.

I warmed up with 10 minutes on the rowing machine.



This is my favourite warm up exercise because it moves all the major muscle groups and gets the blood flowing. I start most of my weight training workouts with at least 5-10 minutes on the rower.

Then I moved on to my back workout…

Hammer Strength Chest Supported Rows:
Worked up to 2 sets of 6 reps with 325 lbs.

Hammer Strength Pull Downs:
worked up to 2 sets of 6 reps with 235 lbs.

V-Bar Lat Pull Downs:
worked up to 2 sets of 10 with 170 lbs.

1 Arm Rear Delt Cable Flyes:
worked up to 2 sets of 6 reps with 45 lbs.

Then I moved on to training biceps and did:

ez barbell curls:
worked up to 2 sets of 6 reps with 110 lbs.

Hammer Strength Seated Curl Machine:
worked up to 2 sets of 6 reps with 130 lbs.

Finished off with a relaxing 20 minutes in the tanning bed and headed home.

Here is a quick video clip practicing my posing after a workout…
I know having the toilets in the back ground is not very appealing LOL
but that’s where the mirror is in the locker room so there’s not much I can do about it…


Saturday, May 17, 2008

Workout journal for Friday May 16…

Just 3 weeks out from the show…

Today was another eventful day. Like I mentioned in my last post I have several rental properties that I own and manage. And 2 of my apartments are currently getting some minor renovations as the previous tenants moved out last month and I’m doing the typical fix ups like patching up any nicks in the wall from moving furniture, painting, steam cleaning the carpets, etc. and getting them ready to rent out again. So that’s what I was doing earlier in the day.

Then I had a personal training client mid-day. Afterwards I did an hour of cardio, which I divided up between the spinning bike, recumbent bike, and the elliptical machine.

After that I handled my online business, answering e-mail, packing and shipping orders, etc.

Took a 30 minute “power nap” and then got ready to head to the gym for my workout…

I trained chest, shoulders, and triceps. I took my digital camera with me to the gym and set it on movie mode and shot the heavy sets of each exercise I did. Then afterwards pieced them together into a couple youtube videos which I've posted here...

Note:
only the top heavy sets are listed, but I’ll do a couple warm ups for each exercise…

Hammer Strength Incline Bench Press:
2 sets of 315 lbs. x 6 reps

Pec Dec Flyes:
2 sets of 165 lbs. x 6 reps (+ partial reps at the end)

Hammer Strength Shoulder Press:
2 sets of 310 lbs. x 6 reps

Life Fitness Side Lat Machine:
2 sets of 130 lbs. x 6 reps

Dips:
2 sets of 25 reps

Tricep Push Downs:
2 sets of 100 lbs. x 6 reps

100 Total Push Ups:
Set 1 - 50 reps
Set 2 - 30 reps
Set 3 - 20 reps

I’m doing mostly machine exercises in my workouts at this stage as I’m only a few weeks out from the contest and I don’t want to risk injury by performing heavy free weight exercises. And besides I’m not going to be building any new size on a calorie and carb restricted diet.

Chest, Shoulders, and Triceps Workout Video Part 1:



Chest, Shoulders, and Triceps Workout Video Part 2:

Workout journal for Thursday May 15…

I took today off from weight training. When I’m training for a contest I don’t normally plan my training days in advance, I just listen to my body and if I feel like I need a day off, then I take a day off.

I still did 45 minutes of cardio in the morning. I ended up doing the entire 45 minutes of the elliptical machine because I was reading some bodybuilding related articles while I was doing my cardio and lost track of the time, which is a good thing because it makes the workout go faster.

When I do my cardio I usually go at a moderate pace getting my heart rate up around 115 – 125 beats per minute. I know the whole high intensity interval cardio workouts are becoming more popular, and yes they do work well. But when you’re dieting on virtually zero carbs, plus doing weight training workouts as well, the whole idea of doing a ball busting cardio workout just isn’t that appealing. At this stage I’ll gladly go for 45 minutes of moderate cardio over 20-25 minutes of running sprints or some other high intensity cardio.

Later in the evening I practiced my posing and started piecing together my routine. I usually like to have this done at least 6 weeks out, but I’ll be honest I’ve been a bit slack with my posing practice for this show because I’ve just been extremely busy these days.

In addition to running my online business I own and manage several rental properties, I’m also doing an online Internet marketing course which is 3-4 classes per week, and doing all that combined with dieting, training, and cardio for contest prep doesn’t leave a whole lot of free time.

Thursday, May 15, 2008

Workout journal for Wednesday May 14…

Well, I’m just 23 days out from my next competition and I’m track. According to my records I’m a little bit leaner this far out then I was for my last show back in November 2007.

I did a personal training session earlier in the day and then afterwards I did 45 minutes of cardio which I split up by doing 15 minutes on the rower, 15 minutes on the bike, and 15 minutes on the elliptical.

Whenever I do my cardio in the gym I always like to split it up over different machines to make it more enjoyable and more comfortable as well. For example, after 15 minutes on the rower my lower back starts to feel tight and tired, if I’m on the bike too long my ass starts to go numb, and after a while on the elliptical I get that “pins and needles” feeling in my feet. So breaking it up over different machines is a lot more manageable.

After that I came home, ate and handled my online work, filling orders, answering e-mail, and all my usual stuff.

Later in the evening I did my weight training workout… Back and Biceps.

I’m not going to write out all the warm up sets, but just to let you know, I’ll do as many warm ups as I feel I need before moving to my top weights.

I started with Hammer Strength Pull Downs and worked up to 2 sets of 6 reps with 230 lbs.

Next was Hammer Strength Chest Supported Rows for 2 sets of 6 reps with 320 lbs.

V-Bar Lat Pull Downs 2 sets of 10 with 165 lbs.
(I have to be careful with this one as it pulls on my lat / tricep area that I tore earlier this year.)

1 Arm Rear Delt Flyes…
For this one I set the pulleys of the cable cross over machine at shoulder height. Grab the cable with one hand, while using my free hand to hold the machine and stabilize myself. Then I’ll extend my arm across my body in a reverse fly arc motion to work the rear delts and upper back.
I worked up to 2 sets of 6 reps with 40 lbs.

Then I moved on to Biceps and did:

Low Pulley Cable Curls for 2 sets of 6 reps with 150 lbs.

Life Fitness Seated Curl Machine for 2 sets of 6 reps with 130 lbs.

And finished off with Dumbbell Hammer Curls for 2 sets of 6 reps with 65 lb. dumbbells.

Afterwards, I took my 20 minute nap in the tanning bed and headed home.

I practiced my mandatory poses for while, then ate and got ready for bed.

My diet these days is pretty strict… I’m eating zero starchy carbs and getting my calories from protein and fat with trace amounts of carbs from green veggies, protein powder, flax seeds, almonds, etc. I've been eating this way for the past couple weeks and it seems to be working quite well.

This is a sample eating plan that I'm following...

Meal 1
8 egg whites and 5 whole eggs with a handful of spinach.
(make a spinach omelet)

Meal 2
Whey protein drink with a table spoonful of ground flaxseeds, spoonful of sugar free metamucil fiber, and a tablespoonful of peanut butter.

Meal 3
8 oz chicken 1/2 cup raw almonds

Meal 4
Whey protein drink with a table spoonful of ground flaxseeds, spoonful of sugar free metamucil fiber, and a tablespoonful of peanut butter.

Meal 5
8oz salmon or red meat and green salad with olive oil.

Meal 6
8 egg whites and 5 whole eggs with a handful of spinach.

It is not that bad actually. The low carbs keeps your blood sugar stable and the high fat content keeps you from feeling hungry. So it's not really difficult to follow. I don’t feel hungry on this diet. Even though I would like to eat more just for the fun of eating LOL

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

My first blog post...

This is my first post in my blog… Basically I’m going to use this as a workout and nutrition journal and to help monitor my training progress.

I get a lot of e-mail from visitors to my website http://www.leehayward.com/ asking me what do my workouts consist of, what is my diet like, what supplements do I take, etc. But there is no set answer to those things because my training and nutrition will vary depending on where I’m at in my bodybuilding cycle. So through my blog you’ll be able to follow along with my workouts, nutrition, etc. and hopefully pick up some tips and techniques along the way that you can use to help you with your own workouts.

Right now I’m 3 ½ weeks out from the Newfoundland Provincial Bodybuilding Championships (the show is on June 7). My bodyweight is approx. 205 lbs. and I’m planning on competing at the top of the light-heavyweights, somewhere between 195-198 lbs.

Here are some progress pics a few days ago…















I’m pretty pleased with my training progress, especially considering that I’ve had a training set back earlier this year that I had to work around...

Back in January I tore my teres major muscle and down through the tricep tie in area. The crazy thing was that I tore the muscles by doing squats of all things. About half way up my right arm just let go and the muscles tore.



It is still not 100% I can’t perform any heavy back training like deadlifts, chin ups / pull ups, etc. But it is a lot better then it was a few months ago.

Unfortunately, I’m left with a small gap under my right arm pit where the muscle tore, if you look closely at the double bicep pose above you can see the difference between the left and right sides.

Anyway, that’s just a brief intro to my blog and where I’m at right now in my training…

I’m off to the gym now to workout and I'll be posting my training logs here each day, so you’ll be able to follow along and see exactly what I’m doing in the gym, etc.

all the best,

Lee Hayward