James Llewellin 'Off Season Mass and Strength' thread

[Mesomorph]

Hi guys.

Its been a while since I updated you on what has been going on since the show. Well, I have been keeping my head down and training hard and intensely with my training partner, Matt. The off season phase is a prelude to my dieting phase which will start in late July for the British and my aim is to win my class and the overall!!! (well that's the dream)

What I have been doing is documenting it on another board but I would also like to share it with you here and will be pleased to answer any questions you have.

We are following a HIT regime and training using a split which hits each body part every 9 days.

The sessions are brief and intense and the weights are heavy but with strict form. We will be using the deadlift, front squat, bench press and shoulder press as our compound movements and each workout is based around these movements.

Remember too that I am not a powerlifter or strength athlete, I am a BBer who is using this approach to pack on some more tissue so the workouts may differ for those of you who were training just for strength.

Each workout will be documented so you can see the exercises and the poundages we are using on a weekly basis.

My diet is fairly fluid in that I am going by feel and being very instinctive. Obviously I am using MP supplements exclusively within my diet protocol and I am happy to say I am at my heaviest and leanest I have ever been!!!

I am shooting for 7 meals a day with the macros being around 50/50/15 for each meal except my first meal and my PWO shake which are void of fats.

The k/cals work out at around 3700 a day but if I am hungry I will eat more carbs and if not I will eat fewer carbs. Protein and fats stay fairly constant.

I have 1-2 cheats a week(altho last week saw 5 consecutive days out for meals, naughty naughty!!)

Below is my workout from today.

Just so you know I hadn't deadlifted for about 3 years up until 2 weeks ago. Last week I pulled 250kgs off the floor with no belt or lifting straps (so completely raw)

This week I lightened the weight but did more reps. A single 1RM will be performed once every 4 weeks or so for most of the basic compound lifts.

I wont outline my workout in this log as I will post the actual workout we do each time we train. The days are mon, weds and fri and train the body over 4 workouts (so one would carry over into the next week)

Just for the record I am no longer training arms but I am now training abs for the first time in nearly 5 years (and yes they are sore!!)

Hope you get something out of this thread.



Today is friday 4th April 2008

Weight still creeping up but still got a few veins in my stomach so not all bad news!

Today was back or was that 'Back Inhialation!!!!'

It was kind of weird deadlifting today. The bar felt different and the weight felt ****ing heavy!

Anyway the workout was as follows and as it happens it was the best back workout for weight, strength and intensity I have had thus far.

Deadlifts

1x6 120kgs
1x3 170kgs
1x5 220kgs
1x3 230kgs
1x6 210kgs

Although I thought it felt heavy as the sets went on I felt better and better and smashed through the total weight lifted from the previous week, so I was very pleased.

Helped in part by the smelling salts Matt has. These are seriously strong. Not only do they burn the skin in your nose but they melt your brain and make your eyes water so much that you cant see for the entire set....In short they work a treat! All I can hear is Matt laughing.....

Reverse pulldowns

1x6 90kgs
1x6 110kgs
1x6 110kgs FAILURE dropped to 1x8 70kgs FAILURE

This felt good today and the pump was intense

Olympic barbell bent over rows

1x15 100kgs
1x8 150kgs FAILURE dropped to 1x15 100kgs UTTER FAILURE OF ALL LIMBS!!!

Again another PB on this one. Felt like a machine (albeit a ****ed one!) and had Matt shouting at me so I had to do it really.

Overall a great session. My chest is still sore from wdenesday and also we both commented that out legs were still a little sore from legs on monday (hams and adductors) so we are considering doing a split over 2 weeks instead of every 9 days for full recovery here. Nothing set in stone but it was mentioned as the weights start going up as well as the intensity.

I took some photos this morning at a bodyweight of 205lbs and they are below. They were taken after cardio and before breakie.

Happy lifting

J

[cheef]

wow nice deads il be keeping an eye on this thread keep it up

[simon m]

Great stuff James.

You should train with Alex T for a real test!

[GALTONATOR]

Looking massive James good stuff

[HandyX]

Hello James, thanks for sharing that with us, it's a really interesting read.

I wish you luck in your training and preparation for the Brits'. When are they? Am I understanding correctly, you train a body part once every 9 days? Is that due to the type of training you are doing? I mean, do you train a body part this infrequently all year round?

Cheats! lol! Its a 'human thing' and I'm glas to hear it! I'm encouraged to go for a pizza now and not feel guilty!

I look forward to watching your progress. Good luck.

Shane

[Donnyhatter]

Very interesting read. You say you are currently on approx 3700 calories, I wonder how much of an excess that is? and how much weight you will expect to put on?

[radicalry00]

I'm very pleased you've decided to make a journal and keep us up to date with your training/diet James. Very interesting that you've decided to adopt a HIT style of routine. I'll be watching this thread with great interest as I'm starting a bulk in 3 weeks or so.

[hailtotheking]

Bent over rows with 150KG. Mental.

[Mesomorph]

Quote

Hello James, thanks for sharing that with us, it's a really interesting read.

I wish you luck in your training and preparation for the Brits'. When are they? Am I understanding correctly, you train a body part once every 9 days? Is that due to the type of training you are doing? I mean, do you train a body part this infrequently all year round?

Cheats! lol! Its a 'human thing' and I'm glas to hear it! I'm encouraged to go for a pizza now and not feel guilty!

I look forward to watching your progress. Good luck.

Shane

Hi Shane,

The Brits are on the 19th Oct so around 26 weeks time.

We train each bodypart every 9 days and yes its due to the type of training and the recovery we think is needed between sessions. At the moment there is 5 days between training legs and back and we both think that this is not enough. We may well adopt a split over 14 days instead.

We train this infrequently in this phase. once I start dieting I will increase reps and lower weight and train every 7 days to burn more calories.

Cheats are actually a very important part of any strict regime. Without them at some point, something will give.

J

[Mesomorph]

Quote

Very interesting read. You say you are currently on approx 3700 calories, I wonder how much of an excess that is? and how much weight you will expect to put on?

The excess is approximately 3-400 cals above my maintainance intake which is around 3300-3400 cals daily. Contrary to popular belief you only need a very small increase to tip the balance and start gaining. Increase too much and 75% or more will be fat and the body becomes less efficient and sluggish, hence I believe cardio is essential in a gaining phase.

I have only ever reached 14st 6lbs before but was a lot fatter than now. i hope to reach 15 st in around 8-10 weeks time before slowly cutting back.

J