14 weeks of GVT to bring me to LV

Mr. Manager

Starting this to keep me focused, on track and just in case anyone is arsed reading it

In 15 weeks I go on holidays to Las Vegas so I wanted a program that would run right the way up to keep my mind off it (already stupidly excited about going back)

The split I'm doing is 2 on, 1 off, 1 on, 1 off, 2 on - so 5/7. Chest/Back, Legs/Abs and Arms/Shoulders.

Reading up on it people were saying to start really light as you'll underestimate how tough 10x10 is. With that, here is today's workout:

Warm up & stretches (don't know the names of these so won't bother for now)

Flat DB bench press (semi-supinated grip) 10kgx2 - 10x10
Chin ups - 10x2. This is something I've struggled with always so replaced these with front facing palm grip lat pull downs. Open to suggestions to change this but my gym doesn't have a chin up support machine.

Incline DB chest flyes 10kgx2 - 10x3
DB Row 17.5kgx2 - 10x3

btkm8unsl0w5r4

GVT is very tough, I did 6 weeks a few months ago and found it very draining. I did make some decent progress in muscular endurance. 14 weeks is a long cycle. You only get the benefit once in on the weight range where the last 2-3 set are really hard and your struggeling/failing to get you reps.

Best of luck with it, it will be a real achievement to complete this.

Mr. Manager

Alexa Narrow Banister wrote: »

GVT is very tough, I did 6 weeks a few months ago and found it very draining. I did make some decent progress in muscular endurance. 14 weeks is a long cycle. You only get the benefit once in on the weight range where the last 2-3 set are really hard and your struggeling/failing to get you reps.

Best of luck with it, it will be a real achievement to complete this.

Thanks for this. I've picked 14 weeks solely for the purpose to bring me into holiday mode. It'll leave me just over a week before my hols and that will be my down week were I do nothing.

It also (almost) works out perfectly for doing 2 cycles of phase 1. 6 weeks of phase 1, 3 weeks or phase 2 and then another 5 weeks of phase 1.

If it's too over bearing after the first cycle of 9 weeks I'll look to change it up. Going to take pictures every week too.

Tomorrow is probably where I'll struggle the most. 10x10 50kg AST squats

BRING ON THE DOMS!!!

btkm8unsl0w5r4

Ummm yes, leg day is a killer. DOMS will be debilitating if your rest and nutrition are not good. When I mean good I really mean surplus. You need to be eating loads and getting good sleep. GVT on a deficit must be terrible.

Mr. Manager

As expected today was horrid.

Starting off with squats was cruel. Wanted to be finished and go home after the 6th or 7th set. Nevertheless - *it's all done

Squats: 50kg 10x10
Lying Leg Curls: 15kg 10x10 (need to move up to 20kg)

*Decline weighted crunches: 6kg DB 10x10 (didn't have something for my feet for the cable pull ins. Will sort this for next week)
Standing Calf Raise: 80kg 10x10

There's no seated calf machine so just swapped it for standing. Not sure if I should have done calf raises on the leg press or not though...

Mr. Manager

Phase 1 Day 3

Today was a lot tougher than I thought. Genuinely felt like this would have been the easier of the 3 days. DOMS from squats weren't as bad as anticipated but they were tired all day yesterday.

Dips: 5x10 (couldn't manage anymore so moved to tricep pulldowns)
Tricep pulldown: 5x10
Incline Hammer Curls: 10x10 @20kg - this is what killed me the most. Really wanted to quit after this

Bent-Over Dumbbell Lateral Raises: 3x10 @10kg
Seated Dumbbell Lateral Raises: 3x10 @10kg (This will go up for next week)


Enjoying it so far but find myself needing to eat a hell of a lot more!

Mr. Manager

Yesterday was supposed to be Chest/Back. I wanted to go to the gym later in the evening when it would be quieter except I left it too late (the gym also changed their times) - it was closed.

So today was

Flat semi-supinated bench press :10x10 @25kg
Chin ups: Could only manager one set here and then moved to lat pulldowns
Lat Pulldowns: 9x10 @49kg

Incline Chest flies: 10, 8, 8 @20kg
Dumbbell Rows 3x10 @40kg

Upped the weights on the BP from earlier in the week and I think this is what halted my flies towards the end...

Mr. Manager

This is going horrible at the minute. Since late Friday I was coming down with something. Went to the gym on Sunday feeling fairly under the weather, didn't give it my all.

Monday was meant to be legs/abs but took the day off work in the hopes I'd recover quickly to get back to the gym on Tuesday (today). Woke up this morning feeling just as bad as yesterday.

Lost my voice, coughing up a lung every couple of minutes and generally just feeling totally run into the ground. No energy for anything. No appetite either. Have eaten one meal since Sunday.

Hope to get back to the gym by the weekend but anything before that will be a miracle.

Mr. Manager

Finally I get to post here again

Had a fairly miserable week. Half of which was off from work at home either on the couch or in bed. Still slightly under the weather but well enough to tackle the gym.

Picked up where I left off, leg day.

Back squats: 10x10 @50kg
Lying leg curls: 10x10 @20kg

Lying cable pull-ins: 3x10 @3rd pin down (unknown weight)
Standing Calf Raise: 3x10 @80kg

Didn't really struggle with anything today but worked really hard on hitting low squats. Everything after the first set was as low as I could go. Ass was practically hitting my heels.

Pretty sure I'll be feeling this one tomorrow

Mr. Manager

Yesterday was a rest day and it was well and truly needed. Legs are still a bit sore today. Glad it was arms and shoulders today.

Onwards and upwards

Tricep pushdowns: 10x10 (unsure on weight but it was the second last pin on the first level)
Incline hammer curls: 10x10 @20kg

Bent over lat raises: 10x3 15kg (Thought I was OK to move up - I'm not. Back down for next session)
Seated lat raises: 10x3 @10kg. This can probably be bumped to 15kg. Will give it a go.
OHP: 10x3 @20kg

The week off last week has really taken me down a bit. I'm more motivated than before being sick but still feeling slightly weak/tired and not 100%. Rest day tomorrow and hopefully will be fighting fit on Friday.

Mr. Manager

Today sucked. Really bad. My arms were still a little shot yesterday and I had 2 hours of bowling last night so this only made my right arm even more tired and thus, today was rubbish. Failed on a few things.

Flat semi-supinated BP: 5x10 @25kg, 1x9 @25kg, 1x8 @25kg, 1x7 @25kg - dropped to 20kg and finished it out. 2x10 @20kg
Lat pulldowns: 10x10 @42kg

Low cable flyes: 3x10 (3rd weight down)
Incline flyes: 3x10 @20kg
Dumbbell rows: 3x10 @35kg - can comfortably move this back up to 40kg.

Mr. Manager

Meant to be in the gym yesterday but had a house party on Friday and never made it into the gym on time on Saturday. Had bowling practice this morning for 2 hours so didn't go as heavy on my legs as before. Still managed the following:

Back squats: 10x10 ATG @40kg
Lying leg curls: 10x10 @20kg

Lying leg pull ins: 3x10 (third tier down)
Standing calf raise: 3x10 @70kg
Seated calf raise: 3x10 @106kg

Pretty sure walking will not be an option tomorrow.

Mr. Manager

Success! Stretched a lot yesterday and am feeling grand today. They're tired but there's little to no stiffness. Not sure who it was that posted the link but I've been using this - http://www.bodytrainer.tv/en/strength/stretching/index.html

Mr. Manager

Got to the gym a littler later than normal, about 7:30 and the place was dead. 3 people in total - me included.

Good session today. Felt good. Little groggy going in but got that out of the way quick enough.

Tricep rope pulldown: 10x10 (unsure on weight but same pin as before)
Incline hammer curls 9x10 @20kg - failed the last set on the last rep, so annoying but it just wasn't budging. 1x9 @20kg to finish

Bent over lat raise: 3x10 @10kg
Seated lat raise: 3x10 @10kg (tried to be ambitious here and move up but struggled and only got out 7 reps)

Had a little bit of gas left in the tank so went out with

Lying cable pull ins: 3x10 @3rd pin down. 3x10 @4th pin down.
OHP: 3x10 empty bar (20kg) - Just to be honest with myself here, the last maybe 4 reps on this turned into a push press

Mr. Manager

Not much of note today. Had an OK session. Not great but not bad.

Flat semi-supinated BP: 5x10 @25kg, 1x7 @25kg, 1x7 @25kg, 1x7 @25kg (failed 3 in a row so dropped weight). 2x10 @20kg. Will probably make the next workout all at 20kg till I'm confident I can do 10x10 @25.
Chin-Ups: 2x10 @BW. I've always sucked at these and that was all I could manage
Lat pulldown: 8x10 @42kg

For my secondary piece I've upped the reps to between 15-20 instead of just doing 10.

Incline flyes: 1x20 @15kg, 1x20 @15kg, 1x16 @15kg
Dumbbell rows: 3x18 @35kg

And again had a little left, not much but something, in the tank and finished with

Pec flyes:: 3x20 @21kg
*Lying cable pull ins: 3x15 @3rd weight down.

*I'm going to try and incorporate this into the end of each workout.

Mr. Manager

Me and the missus are looking at getting into some exercise thing together so last night we dropped by one of the extremely few crossfit places on the island to check it out (only 2 to my knowledge).

Tomorrow is supposed to be leg day but I'm going to skip the morning gym and head to crossfit after work and check it out.

Will post results/thoughts afterwards.

Mr. Manager

The missus wasn't feeling great last night so wanted to give Crossfit a miss which means it was leg day at the gym. Started off with some stretching and empty bar movement.

High back squats: 10x10 @50kg. I focused really hard on making sure each on was deep but trying not to hit it too low so that I would pop out of it.
Lying leg curls: 5x10 @20kg. Failed the 6th set for some reason. Not sure what happened but it just wasn't going. 1x7 @20kg. Took my 90 seconds rest and finished out the rest 4x10 @20kg

Lying low cable pull ins: 3x20 @third pin down. Enjoying the higher reps in this. Certainly feeling it a lot more.
Calf raises: 3x15 @106kg

Can't wait for my day off tomorrow. My rest days seem to be so short and the next workout is always there.

Someone forewarned me about how this might take it's toll on me. Oh how I should have listened :pac:

Alf Veedersane

I Love PPPP Longtime wrote: »

Someone forewarned me about how this might take it's toll on me. Oh how I should have listened :pac:

Don't worry...you've only 10 weeks left.:D

Mr. Manager

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

Don't worry...you've only 10 weeks left.:D

Mr. Manager

Bit of a mish/mash session. Went to the gym late hoping to have the place to myself but it was jammers. They also kicked us out early. Only got about a 3rd of my workout done there.

Tricep pulldowns: 10x10
Incline hammer curls: 5x10 @20kg - this is when I got kicked out.

Went home and did the following

EZ bar arm curls: 6x10 @21kg
OHP: 3x10 @26kg
Lat raises: 3x20 @empty bar

Mr. Manager

Update pic





Not sure there's a huge difference but I certainly feel better. 10 weeks to go

Mr. Manager

So so session this morning. Nothing really of note.

Decline semi-supinated BP: 2x10 @25kg - dropped weight here as they became available but in hindsight I probably should have stayed with what I had. Finished out 8x10 @20kg
Chin Ups: 1x10
Lat Pulldown: 1x10 @49kg, had poor form on this so dropped and finished 8x10 @42kg

Incline chest flyes: 1x15 @20kg, 1x11 @20kg, 1x8 @20kg
Dumbbell Row: 3x15 @35kg
Pec flyes: 3x20 @21kg
Lying cable pull ins: 3x15 @3rd pin down

Mr. Manager

No workout this morning as I'm finally going to try out the Crossfit here. Looking forward to it

Mr. Manager

Crossfit last night went OK. The place is very small and there was a lot of new people there so the class was broken into 2 teams.

The place is in the middle of getting new equipment put in so there wasn't a whole lot to do on the night. Rings, pull up bars, squat racks and ropes are due in over the next few days so will definitely be back to tackle more.

It's run by a Norwegian girl and owned by a Norwegian guy Andreas Hurtig who moved back to Norway but will be here for a week on Sunday to do guest coaching so I'll get down to have a session with him.

As for the night.. it was torture. I'm terribly unfit. Never do any cardio at all, just move weights

Warm up with an 800m run.
Whilst group 1 was doing floor work group 2 was outside running this gruelling hill. I was in group 1 and managed to get out the following in the time it took group 2 to come back from their run. It was ~4 minutes

5 Burpees
10 push-ups
15 sit-ups
5 burpees
10 push-ups
15 sit ups
5 burpees
10 push ups
11 sit ups

Group 2 came back so we switched with no break. Out, down the hill and back up. First one was OK. Then back in the room for the same punishment

5 burpees
10 push ups
15 sit ups
5 burpees
10 push ups
8 sit ups

Switch again for another run of the hill and then back in for the last round of floor work.

5 burpees
10 push ups
15 sit ups
4 burpees

I was as good as done by the time this finished but still had to do one last run of the hill.

It was good overall. Certainly liked the team aspect of it and working out in a small group. Everyone was motivating each other, it was nice. I've been going to the gym since about April now and it's always been on my own so this is a nice change. Definitely looking forward to getting in there on Saturday when hopefully all the equipment is installed and we can do some weights too.

Mr. Manager

Felt really solid going into the gym this morning. Bit groggy getting up in the morning but got my stuff together and had a protein shake - sorted the issue.

Have been avoiding dips as I've a shoulder injury from years ago skateboarding and it hurts when I put too much pressure on it. Thought I'd go back and try them again but my shoulder says no unfortunately.

Dips: BW 1x10
Tricep pushdowns: 9x10
Incline hammer curls: 10x10 @20kg. Every time with these I start off great thinking I'll bump it up but then finish pretty slow. Will stick with 20kg for now.

Bent over lat raises: 3x12 @10kg
Upright seated lat raises: 3x12 @10kg - can probably bump this up.
OHP: 5x10 @20kg (empty bar)
Push press: 2x10 @25kg

My shoulders were absolutely knackered by the end of this. Haven't been this satisfied with my workouts in a long time.

btkm8unsl0w5r4

20kg each hand on the hammer curls is quite massive compared to your other numbers. Hows your form on these?

Mr. Manager

Alexa Narrow Banister wrote: »

20kg each hand on the hammer curls is quite massive compared to your other numbers. Hows your form on these?

Have you not seen the photo of me?? I'm only little... 10kg in each hand

btkm8unsl0w5r4

I Love PPPP Longtime wrote: »

Have you not seen the photo of me?? I'm only little... 10kg in each hand

You only count the one dumbbell not the sum of them, but the weight is irrelevant except on the achievement thread, its the contraction that matters. Amazed your keeping up this program. I am only 2 weeks back into GVT and already I am tired. GVT = monster gains all the same.

Mr. Manager

Here's all the weights I'm doing

Semi supinated grip decline BP: 12.5kg per hand
Incline flyes: 10kg per hand
DB rows: 17.5kg per hand
Squats: 50kg
Lying leg curls: 20kg
Calf raises: Either 106kg or 115kg
Hammer curls: 10kg per hand
Bent over lat raises: 5kg per hand
Seated lat raises: Either 7.5kg or 5kg per hand.
OHP: Either 20kg or 25kg

Mr. Manager

Alexa Narrow Banister wrote: »

You only count the one dumbbell not the sum of them, but the weight is irrelevant except on the achievement thread, its the contraction that matters. Amazed your keeping up this program. I am only 2 weeks back into GVT and already I am tired. GVT = monster gains all the same.

Thanks for this! I wasn't aware. I'll start to log them as weight per DB from now on. Appreciate it. I'm looking forward to the second cycle. Not getting bored of this one just yet but do want something a little different.

Come back to me in another few weeks. January 30th seems ages away.

btkm8unsl0w5r4

Looking at your photos you defo have more chest, more obliques and more ab definition.

Mr. Manager

Thanks!! I'll do another set of photos after phase 1 and again after phase 2. Wish I could just fast forward time to see the end results though

Mr. Manager

Best workout today for a long time. Not sure what it was but I was much better today than any other. First time I've had a proper meal before going into the gym, maybe that was it.. who knows.

As fitzgeme pointed out I should only log the individual DB weights so here it is

Decline semi-supinated BP: 10x10 @12.5kg (almost lost this on the very last rep, the 100th, was never letting that fail though)
Chin ups: 1x10
Lat pulldown: 10x10 @42kg

All available weights that I could use for chest flyes were in use so off to the pec fly machine I went

Pec flyes: 3x12 @28kg
Dumbbell rows: 3x12 @20kg

Weights freed up a bit so tried for

Incline chest flyes: 1x10 @12.5kg, 1x6 @12.5kg and finished with 1x5 @12.5kg

Just before leaving I did

Low lying cable pull ins: 3x10

Mr. Manager

Took today off training as I've a really important league bowling match tonight (3 games left and we're in 2nd place gunning for 1st) and don't want to have tired/sore legs going into it.

Will slot it in tomorrow instead.

Mr. Manager

Starting off today sucked. Haven't a clue what happened but man did I suck this morning. Straight away in the first set I knew I wasn't feeling it. Couldn't figure if it was form, lack of energy or what but anyways here's todays workout.

Squats: 6x10 @50kg - last set was so rubbish. form was failing here and I don't know why. Dropped to 40kg and finished out 4x10.
Lying leg curls: 10x10 @20kg

Low cable pull ins: 3x15
Seated calf raises: 3x15 @106kg
Leg press: 3x10 @50kg

Frosty McSnowballs

Good work ILPPPL

Beast!

Mr. Manager

Thanks dude last week of phase 1 now!


Also, MY FRICKING LEGS!!!

Mr. Manager

Crossfit tonight replaces a day of rest. There's an assistant coach over from Norway that's supposed to be putting on some good sessions and giving pointers etc so will have to check it out before he leaves. Will post up the workout later as it's not till 7pm.

Mr. Manager

Well Crossfit was great but awful at the same time. The DOMS today got worse and worse as the day went on. Walked to Crossfit after work to loosen them up a bit. Got there about 30 minutes early - chatted away for a bit then did some stretching to ease the pain.

Met the owner of the 3 gyms tonight Andreas



He ran us through the class.

Started off with some warmup med ball cleans to get things going. Then after a few minutes at that it was into the workout

400m sprint downhill
50 BW squats at the bottom
400m back up the hill
10 burpees
30 med ball cleans

400m sprint downhill
50 BW squats at the bottom
400m back up the hill
10 burpees
30 med ball cleans

This was me done. Managed that in 20 minutes. Some lad who was a crossfit competitor from Germany managed 3 full laps of it all and was on his way out for number 4.

My legs were utterly fudged. Came home and rollered the shit out of them with a rolling pin. Thanks for the tip whoever posted that!

Before leaving I chatted with Andreas for a bit getting some tips on my squats (front and back). I have terrible mobility on the front so he ran me through some stuff that I can try at home. Got me to show him my high squat starting position, then opened up my lats a bit, tried again and it was a HUGE difference. Will definitely keep this in mind when I'm finished this.

Delighted I got down to meet him before he left.

Mr. Manager

Nothing of note today really... upped the weights on 2 things and felt alright about it. Getting excited to finish phase 1 on Wednesday and mix things up a bit with phase 2.

Tricep pushdowns 10x10 @unknown weight but a new improved weight
Incline hammer curls: 10x10 @10kg

Bent over lat raises: 3x10 @7.5kg
Seated lat raises: 1x7 @7.5kg 2x10 @5kg - Not sure what happened here

Took a 3 minute rest and finished out with

OHP: 10x10 @empty bar - I won't lie, the last maybe 4 to 6 reps were more like a push press. I was fucked.

Mr. Manager

Crossfit today to cure the hangover.

Stretching for about 5-10 mins then a warm up run up and down the hill. 800m total.

Worked on OHP, pushpress and jerk press. Then it was onto the actual workout.

400m downhill
400m uphill backwards
20 pushpress
20 burpees
20 pushpress
20 squats
20 pushpress
20 situps
20 pushpress
400m downhill
400m uphill backwards

Absolutely knackered after it but hangover is no more result.

Alf Veedersane

Masochistic! I love it!

Mr. Manager

Went to a mates gym today so the weights are ever so slightly different.

Decline semi supinated BP: 10x10 @12kg
Lat pull downs: 10x10 @41kg

Incline bench flyes 2x15 @10kg, 1x11 @10kg
DB rows: 3x12 @18kg

Lying cable pull ins: 3x15 @10kg

Mr. Manager

Unscheduled rest day today. 2 games left in the bowling league and this is potentially our most important one so, again, I didn't want to work legs today and be off form later.

Can't wait to get this last leg session from phase 1 out of the way and not squat for like 6 weeks.

On the plus side, I've got quite nice DOMS from chest/back yesterday - it's been a while since I've felt like this.

Mr. Manager

I'm done with squats! Hallelujah!!! Christ, I was so glad to finish that session. I never want to squat again... for the next 3-4 weeks.

Wasn't feeling to sprightly this morning - legs were still tired from previous workouts over the weekend. Anyways

High back squats: 7x10 @50kg - ran out of juice towards the end and had to reduce to 3x10 @40kg
Lying leg curls: 10x10 @20kg

Low cable pull ins: 3x15
Seated calf raise: 3x15 @115kg
Leg press: 3x10 @50kg - This punishment for sucking at squats in the beginning.

~720 squats in the past 6 weeks.

Mr. Manager

Ugh, this log made it to page 2 My own fault for not going yesterday. I've no excuse other than I couldn't get out of bed in the morning. When I finally did I felt incredibly guilty. So to finish up phase 1 today there was punishment involved at the end for yesterdays antics.

Tricep pushdowns: 10x10 @a higher weight, one pin down
Incline hammer curls: 10x10 @10kg

Bent over lat raises: 3x12 @5kg
Upright lat raises: 3x12 @5kg

Was pretty fúcked here for some reason. The curls seemed to really take it out of my arms - nevertheless - punishment was a punishment and here it was. Note there was no break in between this.

10 OHP empty bar
10 sit ups
10 OHP empty bar
10 sit ups
10 OHP empty bar
10 sit ups
10 OHP empty bar
10 sit ups
10 OHP empty bar
10 sit ups
10 OHP empty bar
10 sit ups

And that's a wrap for phase 1. 4 days over schedule which I don't think is the worst over a 6 week period. Some of the workouts that got pushed got replaced with Crossfit so it wasn't too bad.

I'll try get some pics up over the weekend of the progress made. My legs are definitely bigger - probably saw the most improvement along with my shoulders but I never took pics of my legs

Going to do a de-load week, maybe 2, before starting phase 2. I've asked here and scouted the internet and there's nothing really informative about it except that it's 3 weeks and the set/reps drop - unsure on weight so will reduce to 50%.

If anyone thinks this is too low feel free to chime in.

Mr. Manager

Deload day 1 of 5

Decline semip supinated BP: 6x8 @10kg
Lat pull down: 6x8 @42kg

Incline chest fly: 6x8 @7.5kg
DB Rows: 6x8 @17.5kg

Tricep pulldowns: 6x8

Progress photos will have to be later during the week. The photos are on another laptop.

Mr. Manager

Deload day 2 of 5

High back squats: 6x8 @40kg
Lying leg curls: 6x8 @20kg

Standing calf raises: 6x8 @60kg
Decline sit-ups: 6x8 (There was no space to do low lying cable pull-ins, gym was fairly hectic this morning).

The workouts are nice and quick but at the same time I don't feel like I'm doing much..

Mr. Manager

Deload day 3 of 5

Real struggle to get out of bed this morning. Couldn't get to the gym so had to settle for a make shift workout in the garage. The exercises I did hit the same muscle groups as is outlined in the GVT program but they were all different.

Started off with a light bench warm-up after some stretching then moved onto the rest of it.

Bench press: 5x10 @30kg
Skull crushers: 5x10 @16kg
EZ bar curls: 7x10 @16kg
OHP: 7x10 @21kg

Managed to get some photos but haven't got around to putting them on the laptop. Will try and do a comparison photo tonight.

There better be some fúckin change

Mr. Manager

I've looked at these so much that I can't even tell if there's much difference anymore. Seeing myself in the mirror though looks different to me. Started this weighing 68.1kg and finished the first 6 weeks weighing 71.5kg

Here's the 6 week progress photo



And here's one from when I realised I was a bit chubby (skinny fat) and said I'd change

Mr. Manager

Today was meant to be a deload day but 2 guys were doing dropsets for ages and hogging all the weights so had to improvise. Hammered my triceps anyways

Semi supinated BP: 6x8 @12.5kg
Lat pulldown: 6x8 @49kg

Flat chest flyes: 4x6 @15kg
DB Row: 6x8 @22.5kg

DB skullcrusher: 3x8 @15kg (2 handed)
DB skullcrusher: 3x8 @7.5kg (15kg total - 1 per hand)

Then loads of tricep pulldowns, pushdowns, extensions, overhead extensions

Just lots of tricep work!