James Llewellin's 'Arnold Classic' preparation thread

[supercell]

Today is Friday 14th December 2007

My weight this morning was 14st6lbs (92kgs)

My weight is still rising and the muscle fullness I am now experiencing is fantastic. Feel like I do about 1 week after a show when whatever you do you get an amazing pump. Even better still is that I haven't got the bloat you normally get with 1 week after the show.
I trained yesterday with Wade and Phil over in Windsor at 'The Gallery' health club and yet again had a very warm welcome and a very productive workout. Another thing that struck me is how damn clean the place is and I mean spotless!!
Today my back is tight but not really sore as it has been in previous sessions, probably due to the fact that we did more rowing and reverse grip work rather than heavy pulldowns.
We also had the customary Nandos afterwards, which is always nice and something I never get bored of.

Today has been a day off the weights. I did 45 mins of cardio at work this morning and then most of the day has been made up with xmas shopping and I have now officially bought all of Nic's presents. I have realised its SO much easier bringing the lady with you and getting her to choose what she wants. There'll be none of that suprised startled look when she opens her presents this year.

Last year she had 'what the fcuk am I going to do with that?' look. This year I cannot fail.

Tonight I am going to chill and then tomorrow I am back in the gym for clients early (after my cardio) and then its a quads, hams and calves marathon to take me up to lunch by which time I'll be sitting down and relaxing until the party tomorrow night.

I now have a new training partner. Nytol (our friendly knowledgeable moderator) will be training with me during my prep to kick my **** (and me his) as we both suffer/have suffered, from motivation problems at times. We start on monday so if i am still alive in the afternoon I will post to let you know how it went. I know he benches 4.5 plates a side for reps so he's no pushover and certainly just what I need to take my training to a different level and to make the continuous improvements I need to in order to take the British next year in October.

Hope everyone has a great weekend.

J

[jjb1]

4.5 plates a side! and i read he shoulder presses 140k for reps

the guy must be a monster

you better get ready to adjust seat hight imbetween sets ;-)

[Nytol]

Originally Posted by jjb1

4.5 plates a side! and i read he shoulder presses 140k for reps

the guy must be a monster

you better get ready to adjust seat hight imbetween sets ;-)

That was many years ago when I was about 210lbs, I've not done the movement for about 6-7 years due to training alone, but I'd be much stronger on it now.

[supercell]

Originally Posted by Nytol

That was many years ago when I was about 210lbs, I've not done the movement for about 6-7 years due to training alone, but I'd be much stronger on it now.

Bring it on!!!:lift:

J

[Nine Pack]

Nytol, glad to hear you'll be pushing him. Give him hell, but remember, you break him, you bought him!

[Garbs]

A somewhat trivial question, but regarding your diet on page 5, are the 'whole' foods weights cooked or un-cooked weights?
Just trying to gauge how much a bloke your size eats.
Cheers!
Oh, and all this best with the comp...got to say, truly amazing physique.

[supercell]

Originally Posted by Garbs

A somewhat trivial question, but regarding your diet on page 5, are the 'whole' foods weights cooked or un-cooked weights?
Just trying to gauge how much a bloke your size eats.
Cheers!
Oh, and all this best with the comp...got to say, truly amazing physique.

Hi Garbs,

All food weights are uncooked mate.

Thanks for the well wishes.

J

[supercell]

Today is sunday 16th December 2007.

Weight this morning was 14st 7lbs (92.5kgs)

Yesterday I trained legs. I trained alone. After 5 mins on the bike I started with 3 sets of very light deep squats (60kgs) for 20 reps to get my legs warm.
I then moved to the leg press where i did a variation of the one legged leg press. I did 5 sets of this and went up to around 180-200kgs.

I then hit lunges but did walking lunges in the carpark instead of static dbell lunges. Today I can really feel my glutes from these and the quad pump was insane.
Lastly I hit leg ext with a farly light weight but without holding onto the handles and really going for the squeeze. Much the same as the leg press, when you dont hold on, it recruits many more fibres which I feel benefits the quads far more than going stupid heavy. It also protects the patella tendons which can get a little sore with heavy leg ext.

I always finish with these. Many start their workout with leg ext but IMO this is not the best way to do it. If you want to pre exhaust then do it with another exercise that doesn't put so much pressure on the knee joint when still cold.

I then moved onto seated leg curls for 3 sets, then standing leg culs for 2 sets and finished with lying leg curls and some straight legged deads to stretch the muscles out.

All in all it was a good session and by the end my legs were exhausted.

The rest of the day was spent relaxing and eating until the evening when i went to a 50th Bday party which I returned from at about 1am this morning. The buffet at the party had beef and turkey with new pots and some salad so it was a normal meal for me altho I was tempted by the puddings on offer but refrained as normal; I just went back for more meat!!

Today is a rest day (except cardio this morning on my xtrainer) so will be spent around the house and we will also put the xmas tree up and decorate to get things a bit more festive. Tonight we are going out for a meal with some friends; dont know where yet but it will be fairly healthy.

Next week is another busy week and sees my first week training with a partner so i will expect some super intense workouts leading into a slightly more relaxed xmas week until the 27th when it really does start to get serious!!


J

[supercell]

Today is Monday 17th December 2007

Weight today unchanged (Thank God - only got to lose it again!!) 14st 7lbs

Last night saw a last minute decision. I had arranged for some friends to come over for a meal and then thought, lets go out to eat, I'll be eating in for the next 8 weeks anyway!!
So we headed off to a classy Indian restaurant called the Raj Rani in a town close by. I had heard many stories of great food from this place but all from my friends who had got wasted in the pub across the road first, so was a little scepticle.
When we got there we realised a large portion of the high street had a power cut and this place was the only eating house in pretty much the whole town, as a result it was rammed!!
But Indian folk being Indian folk didn't want to turn us away and with a big smile they mustered up a table from somewhere.
The guy we went out with is known as 'big Paul' to anyone that knows him, I even put big paul on his xmas card. He is a big man and I mean big. Around 21st and as wide as 2 of me. This caused a few problems with the seating arrangements, so Nic sat next to him (being slight) and Paul's GF sat next to me. It was elbows in for most of the meal, much to the ammusement of the Indian waiters and kitchen staff who all came out to see us.
The meal was fantastic and very good value and the staff were just great. After the meal the owner came up and asked about training and stuff and asked us how to put on a bit of size; the answer was right there in front of him....More curry!! He smiled and then gave us all a round of complimentary drinks, so I ended up with 2 brandy's which kind of put an end to my 'dry' period of about 10 months!!

After around an hour of chatting we left, shook their hands and said we will be back....And I will be.

After getting home and after eating my last meal (yes I was hungry again) it was off to bed.
I had a fairly uncomfortable night as I felt like my body was in melt down. Anyway after a restless night it was up for cardio this morning (extra effort too!!)

Today I trained chest and biceps with none other than Nytol (ukmuscle moderator)
It was the first time I had met him and after a shake of the hand it was off to train. The session was a bit of a major departure for me and a bit of a wake up call too. I realised that I really have just been going through the motions for months now and really wondered how I have improved at all.
My weights jumped up considerably today and it made a really nice change to do something far removed from normal.
Training was strict yet heavy with sets ranging from 12 reps right down to 5-6 for the heaviest. After spending months curling 15kgs thinking i was weak, I lept up to 28kgs for standing curls today. After normally inclining with 90kgs on the bar I went up to 120kgs and normally flying with 20kgs i went up to around 28kgs. So all in all a huge increase and I will await the pain tomorrow and also assess how quickly I recover.
Nytol is a very knowledgeable man and a large imposing man too. He is muscular yet lean and strong as an Ox. He has trained as a strongman and a powerlifter and now as a BBer so he knows what works and what doesn't. He too was fairly suprised at the gay weights I had used previously and also was fairly shocked at how I managed to gain whilst lifting the same weights each week.
We both feel this approach will really benefit me and although things wont be 'all out' in my dieting phase I still think improvements can be made, esp so after the show when my real off season will start. Nytol will train with me 3-4 times a week now and I am really buzzed at the thought of doing something different and also the fact there is someone there pushing me but at the same time watching my form doesn't faulter.

So big thanks to him for a good session and a good natter after (and during which I dont normally do and wont do from now on). I see it as an Arnold and Franco type arrangement (similar body types but without the fame and fortune) so results should be great.

It just goes to show how hard I trained as I got back, had some food then went to bed for 2.5 hours...I was absolutely fcuked!!!
So tonight sees a couple of clients from 8 till 10 then back to eat and off to bed for another early start tomorrow.

All in all its been a great couple of days and hopefully a new friend and training partner has been found in Nytol and this I see as the turning point in my prep for the British next year, anything else but a win has been put out of my mind!!!

J

[Nine Pack]

Is this Paul that we met in Nottingham? If so, he's an absolute monster! Such a nice guy too & his missus was really nice too. I felt like a stick insect sat next to him in Nandos!

Glad Nytol is giving you the push you need to improve your physique. If we come down to your house soon, we must train together & see who snaps something first! I'm sure Nytol would be able to out-gun me in the gym, but I'm sure I caould live with it.

[Nytol]

Cheers James, it was a pleasure to meet and speak to you.

TBH I was a little embarrassed about my weights today, I know I said I lack muscle endurance, but today was ridiculous,

I had trained biceps last Friday, (which I thought was a bad idea at the time ), and they were no where near recovered.

After seeing what you are capable of today, I think the next ten weeks will do great things for your physique, which considering how good it is already, is a scary thought

[Deca Devil]

Sounds like you will both get something out of the weeks ahead

Nytol, any chance you could start a thread detailing your training over the next few years. Think it would be good to see how two people (Arnold & Franco:hail progress while both having different goals. James entering pre contest mode and you more off season.

Just a thought!

[jjb1]

yea big weight increases there supercell will you be holding back slightly incase of injury this close to the arnold or will you go heavy as ya can even dieting?

[Nytol]

Originally Posted by jjb1

yea big weight increases there supercell will you be holding back slightly incase of injury this close to the arnold or will you go heavy as ya can even dieting?

He will go heavy

His form is impeccable so there is no chance of injury.

[supercell]

Originally Posted by Deca Devil

Sounds like you will both get something out of the weeks ahead

Nytol, any chance you could start a thread detailing your training over the next few years. Think it would be good to see how