FST-7: The Beginning

OK, I haven't been updating my blog for more than a week now. If you're wondering, yes, I didn't update my final session of DTP on chest & backs. And please don't ask me to do it because I forgot almost every single detail of the workout. What I can tell you is that I wasn't able to complete the whole routine. I cheated a couple of sets for my pecs and I did only the first couple of sets for my backs. I literally did not sleep the previous night but no excuses! SUPER DUPER FAIL!!! I did make it up the next day by doing some backs exercise though. My backs felt sore after that day so what the heck!

Another thing is that because I have to dedicated much more time on my studies for my exams, I may have to slow down on this bodybuilding blog thing and update after every 2~3 workouts. I'm not sure what I'll do though. Muahahaha!!!

I took a full week off after 3 weeks of grueling workouts with DTP. I was supposed to start off with legs on Sunday but after 3 nights of insufficient sleep, bringing my friends from York to run around Edinburgh, I was spent. I slept day and night for 2 freaking days and with my reports deadlines due on Monday AND Tuesday (with my kind of working habit, DUH! Of course), I wasn't able to find time to workout at all. So TODAY, I finally found the time and energy to tear the gym down. Though last minute, I decided to head on with the infamous FST-7 for arms.


I started off with tri's rather than bi's. Thought of switching things up a little.


I started with some messed up tri-set of v-bar pushdown then warmed up with triceps dips, 3 x 10, body-only. Just to get a decent pump in the beginning.

F-portion -- Close-grip bench press. It's because it's such a compound movement that hits all 3 heads of the tri's and promotes blood flow into the tri's.
12 x 40kg (88lbs)
10 x 45kg (99lbs)
11 x 40kg (88lbs)
10 x 40kg (88lbs)

S-portion -- Skull crushers. Since it's all about stretching the muscles, what better way to fully stretch the tri's than skull crushers?
12 x 20kg (44lbs)
12 x 20kg (44lbs)
11 x 25kg (55lbs)
10 x 25kg (55lbs)

T-portion -- Bench dips. Usually there isn't any T portion for arms but I decided to do a little more today since my body became pretty good at handling high stress now. But I figured a compound movement will be good.
12 x body only
12 x 10kg (22lbs)
10 x 20kg (44lbs)
10 x 20kg (44lbs)

7-portion -- Rope pushdown. Here comes the gruesome one. The weight isn't the point here, it's holding at full contraction while trying the best to forced the knuckles down and bring the hands as far apart as possible.
12 x 20.4kg (45lbs)
12 x 22.8kg (50lbs)
10 x 27.2kg (60lbs)
12 x 22.8kg (50lbs)
11 x 22.8kg (50lbs)
10 x 22.8kg (50lbs)
10 x 22.8kg (50lbs).


Now bi's. I didn't warm up and went straight into it.

F-portion -- Seated dumbbell curls. A compound movement like this is always good to be done first for bi's. I did simultaneous curls instead of alternating except for the last 3 reps of the last set. My bi's were really failing at that time.
12 x 8kg (18lbs)
12 x 10kg (22lbs)
10 x 12kg (26lbs)
10 x 12kg (26lbs)

S-portion -- Standing barbell curls. Yes, a little weird to choose this one for the S-portion but I did. My reason behind was that barbell curls allows me to go down to full extension because of the weight loaded on the bar, forcing my bi's to stretch in a way.
12 x 30kg (66lbs)
11 x 30kg (66lbs)
10 x 30kg (66lbs)
10 x 30kg (66lbs)

T-portion -- Dumbbell preacher curls. Instead of a compound movement like what I did for my tri's earlier on, I tried on something with a little more isolation. Just wanted to feel the difference at this stage. And since bi's is a much smaller muscle than tri's, I reckoned 3 sets was enough.
10 x 10kg (22lbs)
10 x 8kg (18lbs)
10 x 8kg (18lbs)

7-portion -- Dumbbell spider curls. I've always liked spider curls as an isolation exercise for my bi's. It never fails to give me the pump I love.I usually keep my hands supinated at all times, but because I was pounding so many sets with previous exercises bringing my bi's to near failure so many times, I had to pronate my hands a little on full extensions during the last 2 sets.
12 x 8kg (18lbs)
10 x 8kg (18lbs)
10 x 8kg (18lbs)
11 x 8kg (18lbs)
10 x 10kg (22lbs)
10 x 10kg (22lbs)
10 x 10kg (22lbs)

My most prized possession after 3 weeks of grueling & breathtaking (I know it's not used in these kinda situation) DTP sessions.

 


















 After FST-7 on my arms. I took pictures and posed a little. The CRAZIEST pumps since a very long time ago.

DTP Week 3 Day 3 -- Shoulders, calves & abs

Dumped in the API Rocked into my system before my workout again. Yes, the N.O. does kick in within 5~10 minutes which is pretty amazing BUT it wears off really quickly too. So if you're looking for a fast acting N.O. product with limited budget and you're not the kind that goes hardcore with every minute you have in the gym, then you can consider this SHIT! Yes, it's BULLSHIT!

OK, enough with all the shit. Back to my delts.

Feeling energized (I was fooled by API Rocked at that time), I went to do some machine side lateral raises with 3 x 15 on 18kg (40lbs). And then the most important warm up exercise before any delts workout, the rotator cuff movement exercise. I used 6kg (13lbs) dumbbell for 3 x 12, alternating between each hands, resting only when the other hand is moving. After that I did a quick tri-set on dumbbell side lateral raises, front raises and reverse flyes with the same weight for 20 reps each.

For my DTP on delts, I did the identical same stuffs as last week and the week before. The only difference was that I felt much stronger and I had significantly less rest-pauses and the best thing was that I had NO rest-pauses on my last set of 50!!! And for your information (for those who did not follow my blog or didn't read the last post on my delts workout for the past few weeks), I was doing dumbbell side lateral raises for my DTP this week, again:

1st set: 1st set: 50 x 5kg (11lbs)

2nd set: 40 x 6kg (13lbs)

3rd set: 30 x 8kg (18lbs)

4th set: 20 x 10kg (22lbs)

5th set: 10 x 12.5kg (28lbs)

6th set: 10 x 12.5kg (28lbs)

7th set: 20 x 10kg (22lbs)

8th set: 30 x 8kg (18lbs)

9th set: 40 x 6kg (13lbs)

10th set: 50 x 5kg (11lbs)

Like last week, I finished off my delts with barbell upright rows. Since I felt that the weights I used last week were a little light, hence I stuck with the same weight at 25kg (55lbs) for 3 x 10.

I took a 5 minutes break and continued with my calves. This time, rather than hammering a ton of weights, I focused more on holding on the peak contraction and concentrating more on the negatives with my seated calves raises:

1st set: 50 x 50kg (110lbs)

2nd set: 40 x 70kg (154lbs)

3rd set: 30 x 90kg (198lbs)

4th set: 20 x 110kg (243lbs)

5th set: 10 x 150kg (331lbs)

6th set: 10 x 150kg (331lbs)

7th set: 20 x 110kg (243lbs)

8th set: 30 x 90kg (198lbs)

9th set: 40 x 70kg (154lbs)

10th set: 50 x 50kg (110lbs)

And I swear to...Whatever higher being up there that my calves were about to cramp. Fortunately, they didn't. Thank goodness.

Last but not least, obviously, my abs and I did what I did last week as well but I really punished my abs with increased rep ranges. I supersetted crunches and raised-legged crunches for my abs, yes, again too:

1st set: 25 x body-only + 25 x body-only

2nd set: 20 x 5kg (11lbs) + 20 x 5kg (11lbs)

3rd set: 15 x 10kg (22lbs) + 15 x 10kg (22lbs)

4th set: 15 x 10kg (22lbs) + 15 x 10kg (22lbs)

5th set: 20 x 5kg (11lbs) + 20 x 5kg (11lbs)

6th set: 25 x body-only + 25 x body-only

Seriously, at the end of my abs workout, not only did my abs felt pumped and sore, my neck was pretty tight too...LOL!

DTP Week 3 Day 2 -- Arms

Few days ago, I received this sample N.O. product, API Rocked so I thought that since it's free, I should just try it. Tasted OK, not great and the effect was fairly good I would say. HOWEVER, it was not as good as naNo Vapor, not even close. But it did it's job so no complaints.

So with my pre-workout protein and N.O. kicked in, I warmed-up with machine preacher curls. I wanted to do a tri-set of 20 reps with 3 different variations of the grip. But when I was doing the 3rd part of the set, I stopped at 5 because my biceps were decently pumped and I figured that it was already 45 reps, no point going any further since I was gonna do DTP. For other routines, yes, I would've forced myself to finish it but hey...It's DTP after that, you can't blame me right?

And thank goodness that I reminded myself to go to the gym a little later today to avoid any classes in the circuit gym. With all the pre-fixed barbell there, free to use, I headed on with standing barbell curls,

I started with closed-grip to target my outter head of my bi's, since it has always been pretty weak:
1st set: 50 x 10kg (22lbs)
2nd set: 40 x 12.5kg (28lbs)
3rd set: 30 x 15kg (33lbs)
4th set: 20 x 17.5kg (39lbs)
5th set: 10 x 25kg (55lbs)

I felt strong and I wanted to do an extra 2 sets but the heaviest pre-fixed barbell we have was the 25kg (55lbs) barbell. Too bad...The only way to increase intensity in this case was to shorten the rest time and force myself to take shorter and significantly less rest-pauses in between reps.

After the first 5 sets, I changed my grip to shoulder-width apart:
6th set: 10 x 25kg (55lbs)
7th set: 20 x 17.5kg (39lbs)
8th set: 30 x 15kg (33lbs)
9th set: 40 x 12.5kg (28lbs)
10th set: 50 x 10kg (22lbs)

My forearm was seriously tight and I felt as if I flex for too long, my whole arm could've cramped. Hahaha!!!


5 minutes rest, sitting on the stepper on the pull-up/dips machine, I looked up to the TV and there it was...Rooney scored the first and only goal for Manchester United against Chelsea...LOL! The only 5 minutes on TV and I saw the moment of the goal. Hahaha!

OK, back to business, jokes aside. 3 x 12 dips, body-only to get my tri's going and all fired up. I thought of keeping the momentum going so I decided to do machine dips for my DTP:

1st set: 50 x 39kg (85lbs)
2nd set: 40 x 45kg (100lbs)
3rd set: 30 x 52kg (115lbs)
4th set: 20 x 59kg (130lbs)
5th set: 10 x 66kg (145lbs)

I had a hunch that it would be a bad idea to do machine dips and it really was. No doubt, my tri's were insanely pumped but I wasn't able to keep good form to do the reps unless I limit my ROM and that was not a good sign. Therefore I decided to change my exercise to straight bar cable pushdown to finish off the sets:

6th set: 10 x 50kg (110lbs)
7th set: 20 x 41kg (90lbs)
8th set: 30 x 32kg (70lbs)
9th set: 40 x 27kg (60lbs)
10th set: 50 x 25kg (55lbs)

So there you have it! The last arms workout for my DTP so far. IT IS the 3rd week now...



Oh yeah, I had a problem with food cravings recently, especially at night. But now, it's no longer a problem because I've got these!:

By the way, it's also my first time trying Cookies & Cream flavour for my Nitro-Tech. Pretty excited to taste it. Hope MuscleTech won't disappoint me. LOL!

DTP Week 3 Day 1 -- Legs

This has got to my best day in weeks! I was so pumped in the gym that nothing was stopping me from lifting heavy.

Warm up and pre-exhaustion exercise was as usual, supersetting leg extensions and seated hamstring curls.
1st set: 20 x 45kg (100lbs) + 20 x 45kg (100lbs)
2nd set: 20 x 45kg (100lbs) + 20 x 45kg (100lbs)
3rd set: 20 x 45kg (100lbs) + 20 x 45kg (100lbs)
4th set: 15 x 52kg (115lbs) + 15 x 52kg (115lbs)
5th set: 15 x 59kg (130lbs) + 15 x 59kg (130lbs)

I had a decent pump on my quads and hamstring then so I wasted no time and headed straight to the leg press machine,

I started off with narrow stance:
1st set: 50 x 50kg (110lbs)
2nd set: 40 x 90kg (198 lbs)
3rd set: 30 x 110kg (242lbs)
4th set:20 x 130kg (287lbs)
5th set: 10 x 190kg (418.9lbs)
6th set: 5 x 220kg (485lbs)

The reason I went for 12 sets was because I didn't any help at all to finish my 5th set and after I finished the set, I was still feeling fairly strong. So I thought of taking my legs to the next level and really punish my legs.

From here on, I switched my stance to the common wider stance:
7th set: 5 x 220kg (485lbs)
8th set: 10 x 190kg (418.9lbs)
9th set: 20 x 130kg (287lbs)
10th set: 30 x 110kg (242lbs)
11th set: 40 x 90kg (198 lbs)
12th set: 50 x 50kg (110lbs)

I felt extremely happy and excited after the workout, though I felt really sick after that. Nonetheless, it was really good and I could feel my legs being totally obliterated.

Oh yeah, I have this new babe reached my door step. Yeap! My new training "buddy"!

DTP Week 2 Day 4 -- Chest & Backs

Again, late post. It was Saturday's workout but who cares anyway?

Since my left wrist was feeling a little weird after the previous delts workout, I figured I should stick to machines for the day and especially after I failed to perform my exercises correctly last week, it would be easier for me to work towards the end with machine aid should I reach failure. So the followings are the 10 sets of machine bench press:

1st set: 50 x 25kg (55lbs)
2nd set: 40 x 32kg (70lbs)
3rd set: 30 x 39kg (85lbs)
4th set: 20 x 52kg (115lbs)
5th set: 10 x 66kg (145lbs)
6th set: 10 x 66kg (145lbs)
7th set: 20 x 52kg (115lbs)
8th set: 30 x 39kg (85lbs)
9th set: 40 x 32kg (70lbs)
10th set: 50 x 25kg (55lbs)

I was so glad that I decided to use the machine because I failed multiple times between set 4~7. Imagine if it was a barbell...PHEW~


After some 10 minutes rest or so, I hopped onto the cable rows machine and started off with my backs:

1st set: 50 x 23kg (50lbs)
2nd set: 40 x 27kg (60lbs)
3rd set: 30 x 32kg (70lbs)
4th set: 20 x 41kg (90lbs)
5th set: 10 x 54kg (120lbs)
6th set: 10 x 54kg (120lbs)
7th set: 20 x 41kg (90lbs)
8th set: 30 x 32kg (70lbs)
9th set: 40 x 27kg (60lbs)
10th set: 50 x 23kg (50lbs)

For the first few sets, it was bi's that were feeling tight. But after a while when I went into the heavier sets, all I could felt was my lats. BOOM!

So now this is a picture of me which I just took just now. It's just a small peek of my progress so far, a very small one.

DTP Week 2 Day 3 -- Shoulders, calves & abs

I've been a little too lazy to post anything on my blog few nights ago so for your information, this workout was on last Thursday.

As per usual, to prevent injuries, I went on to do some rotator cuff movements. Alternating hands for 3 x 10 with 6kg (13.2lbs), no rests in between. I also did a quick tri-set of side-lateral raises, front raises and standing reverse flye with the same weight.

So like last week, I proceeded with seated dumbbell side lateral raises:

1st set: 1st set: 50 x 5kg (11lbs)
2nd set: 40 x 6kg (13lbs)
3rd set: 30 x 8kg (18lbs)
4th set: 20 x 10kg (22lbs)
5th set: 10 x 12.5kg (28lbs)
6th set: 10 x 12.5kg (28lbs)
7th set: 20 x 10kg (22lbs)
8th set: 30 x 8kg (18lbs)
9th set: 40 x 6kg (13lbs)
10th set: 50 x 5kg (11lbs)

As I was doing my sets, I felt as if the weights seems a little lighter than last week. And so I blasted off the reps all in one go, forcing myself not to apply rest-pauses on my last set, and man...Right out the set, my delts burn like I was in hell. And the sore kept on for like more than a minute or so. IT WAS HELL!

I also realized that my traps' peaks need to be higher but my straps weren't with me so I went on to do 3 sets of upright rows. 12 [17.5kg (38.6lbs)], 10 [22.5kg (49.6lbs)] & 10 [25kg (55.1lbs)] reps each.

Now to calves. Yes, I know, DTP isn't designed for calves, but after trying it out with a mini version last week, my calves have great improvements and I thought, why not? So blast off with seated calves raises:

1st set: 50 x 50kg (110lbs)
2nd set: 40 x 70kg (154lbs)
3rd set: 30 x 90kg (198lbs)
4th set: 20 x 110kg (243lbs)
5th set: 10 x 150kg (331lbs)
6th set: 10 x 150kg (331lbs)
7th set: 20 x 110kg (243lbs)
8th set: 30 x 90kg (198lbs)
9th set: 40 x 70kg (154lbs)
10th set: 50 x 50kg (110lbs)

My calves were so swollen! Incredible feeling. If I hadn't sit down to rest, I swear that my calves would've cramped. They were so tight.

OK, last muscle group of the day, abs. I did it almost identical to last week with only an extra set in between:

6 x 15, supersets of crunches and raised-legged crunches, no rests in between. 1st & 6th set, body-only; 2nd & 5th set, 5kg (11lbs) dumbbell; 3rd & 4th set, 10kg (22lbs) dumbbell.

So that's it for the day.