Gladiator Girl's Training Blog

• Smashing records on chest day!
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  The A team was on top form on chest day, maybe due to my dad Bill McCReady being there with his trusty lense! Great shots dad even better faces we pulled!! Spartan used the heaviest Dumbells in the gym 70kg for an impressive strict set of Incline DB press. I got up to 42.5kg my PB yet. Bodster was smashing some heavy ass weight around, this guy is one hell of a training partner & an extreme tough mentality. Not even 2 years ago did he tear his left bicep off which required surgery. These 2 comrades make up part of my team that will see me through my tough 20 weeks of dieting which began on Monday. 20 weeks to Toronto!! COME OOONNNN!!!
  
• 2012 starts with calves & hamstrings
  
  
  
  The New Year got off to a great start with an intense calf & Hamstring session. Although training alone since Spartan has torn his hamstring & Bodster restarts tomorrow i started the year as i mean to go on - full blown! With having 2 days off from training i was ready to blast my hammies & calves & that i did.
  Seated calf raises supersetted with donkeys with 15stone of spartan sat on my back was enough to make my calves feel like toast! These were done for 3 sets with reps ranging from 15 - 30 & the weight increasing each set. Next up standing calf raises which i like to do on the hack squat machine because i find the angle targets my calves instead of my toes.
  Then it was time to blast hammies;- stiff legged deads really concentrating on form & engaging my hams on the beginning of each rep. These are done a bit like a cross between Romanian deads & stiff legged deads. I then moved on to hip extensions on the cable crossover machine. I prefer this to using the standing leg curl as the way that particular machine is  built it just doesn't feel right, very awkward & not mechanically right for me. So the cables it was, sometimes i knee flexions sometimes like today it was hip extensions, powering up then really slowing the negative part of the rep down as the hamstrings respond better to heavy eccentric work. This being said my next movement was the lying leg curl where i used both legs for the contraction part & used only 1 leg for the negative. Again explosive on the way up & slow on the way down. Believe me these really get you on the negatives! My final movement was suicides. Named because it looks like you're going to topple off the edge. Very difficult to describe but done on the seated calf machine & a great way to purely isolate those hammies. By the end of these i was done!!
  
• SHOULDERS & BICEPS AT EVOLUTION GYM TRAINED BY Ms JONES
  Tues 27th Dec 2011
  
  What better way to finish the year off than a shoulder & bicep session at John Hodgsons EVOLUTION GYM, Rochdale, put through my paces by the legendary Kimberley Anne Jones. Was a total change for me used to dishing out the orders to Bodster & Spartan but today i was on the receiving end. One to One ass kicking under the extremely watchful eye of Ms Jones. The kit & equipment is second to none at EVOLUTION GYM & always made to feel welcome by John & Paul. Usually its John thats unleashing hell on me but he was having a week off & since Kim was up in the area i was the lucky one. Kim truly is the A-Z of bodybuilding exercises & her eye for detail is absolutely amazing. The things she picks up on, sees is truly awesome you can almost hear her brain ticking away as i was doing the exercises. Anyway by the end of doing delts using 5 specialised movements to hit the targeted areas my shoulders were toast!
  After shoulders i was taken through 4 different movement for biceps all of which hit the muscle like a bunsen burner! By the end of the session i was sure id grown by 10ft in width!
  After having my recovery drink, showered & changed we met up with John & Mikey Smith, a top 3 British finalist, & hit Frankie & Bennys for food. mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.
  A great meal with some of my best friends & mentors. An absoultely fab day in all apart from the drive home my arms felt like lead :)
  
• WELCOME TO THE GUN SHOW!
  Great arm session with the boys tonight. Triceps first, starting with rope pushdowns, a couple of warm up sets ending with an all out set with a couple of forced reps & a triple drop. Then it was on to single cable reverse extensions 1 warm up set then 1 all out set with a couple of forced, all done with good strict form. Now they were pre exhausted onto close-grip press on the Smith machine. Always feel these better after pre exhausting so my chest doesn't take over. Ended these with a couple of negatives, a great training partner is essential & im lucky enough to have 2 of the best. Wayne is crazy strong on triceps, well hes crazy strong full stop but even he was feeling it by now. We finished tri's off with 2 sets of bench dips. Haven't done these in a while & we forgot how good they were!
  Biceps began with ez curls 2 warm up sets then an all out set with forced & a drop set. These are done very strict & instead of leaning back when tired we lean in to make it extra hard & again essential to have a good training partner who knows when to step in. Next up was 2arm incline curls, these are harsh & Wayne hates them. Infact so does Bodster. Hard to imagine its just a little over a year since Bodster tore his bicep off. The guy is a true warrior & hes getting his weights up now to decent poundages while his fishing wire in his arm holds it in place! 2 sets of db hammer curls  & 1 drop set of cable curls was enough to toast our arms. Job done roll on quads tomorrow!
  
• Training alone on chest day
  I knew in advance i was training chest alone today, not a bodypart i like training alone, infact training without Bodster & Spartan sucks but I love training so much i still really enjoy it & always push to the max with a little help from Craig the manager always willing to lend a hand.
  Still maintaining my strength which is good, maxed out on the 1st exercise, Incline db press with 40kg for 6 reps & 1 forced. Ive always loved this exercise & i have always felt it in the right place.  I see SO many people using poor form on chest exercises, using their front delts, hunching their shoulders forward, locking elbows out. All in a quest to get the weight from A to B! Need better chest development? Retract them shoulder blades lift your ribcage right up & DON'T lock elbows out.
  Anyway following the presses i used one of the Hammer Strength machines for2 sets, the last set bring a drop set. Then flat DB flyes & finally 2 sets of pek flyes with a triple drop. My chest always gets pumped after the 1st warm up set so i always end up with a crazy burn.
  Recovery drink straight in then roll on back day tomorrow!
  
• Leeds & legs
  Sunday was a great day at the UKFBB Leeds qualifier where there was a112 competitors! Wow! The place was buzzing & it was a great atmosphere. Kay & I spent most of our time helping my good friend Karen Mariller (Showtan) backstage glazing the competitors after she'd tanned them. It was great to catch up with a few people & there were some great physiques onstage battling it out for a place at the British finals in 2 weeks.
  We got home late & my usual Sunday night cheat meal was a XL Burger King bacon & cheeseburger whopper..oh & half of Kays which she couldn't eat :)yum.
  
  Today was back to the drawing board hitting calves & quads with Bodster. As tired as we both were we were both really strong tonight. Using Musclefury's NITRIC THUNDER is a huge advantage especially on leg day. We hit seated calf raise, toe press & standing calf raise on the hack machine. We like doing them on here we just feel it on the calves more. Then on to squats where we both hit personal bests. For me doing squats has always been really dodgy due to my back problems & so ive mostly always done front squats. But since working with my biomechanics coach ive been able to do them pain free for the 1st time in years! We then did leg press, 2 sets, hacks ass in the bucket for 2 sets & finished off with a crazy burn on leg extensions. Bodster & I were on the Hizoos!! Killing it my buddy awesome sesh!
  
• Where were we last Friday?
  Last Friday we were lost in the intensity & atmosphere in Grants Gym Darlington, all 3 of us in our Leg Day bubble where everyone else in the gym (& it was busy) just seemed to be invisible & the noise was just our 3 voices & breathing! We were all up for it, beginning with calves; seated calf raise then toe press on the leg press machine. They were on fire!! We then moved on to hammies with BB stiff legged deadlifts, lying leg curls where the boys can use the stack for reps on this machine so i had to come up with a way they were hurting too! It helped we did stiff leggs 1st. Then we moved on to extensions, toes on the negative part, going slow to feel the inner tear drop & oh we felt it ok!! Frog hack squats were next followed by 1 legged squats where our 1 foot was raised on a bench behind so its kind of like a lunge, gripping weight too. Spartan the freak he is thought he'd hold 40kg on his last set to failure, impressive to watch. Bodsters will to never give up was awesome too & by the end of sissy squats we were shot down!! Now next leg sesh is the last 1 all 3 of us will be together for a while as Spartans leave is up so i will conjure up something gruesome for the battlefield. Theses training sessions are fantastic & I love the way we push eachother to places where many wouldn't go. But we have to do things others don't to achieve things others won't.
  
• THE A TEAM ARE IN BUSINESS!
  Training right now is awesome! Bodster & Spartan make up the crazy team in the Gym. Spartan is on leave for 3 weeks (hes a Para) so the 3 of us bounce off eachother & motivation is through the roof. These guys are the best training partners ever & are priceless in my progress. Monday we switched to delts & tri's Tuesday back & calves. Records were broken & effort was maxed out in Grants Gym Darlington. Atmosphere is always brilliant & just what you need for a hardcore workout. Single hammer rows with 100kg a side; boom!! We finish with deadlifts rather than start with them. Hyperextensions 1st then 2 sets of heavy deadlifts to finish our backs with. We don't do the usual powerlifting style we keep constant tension on the target area, the lower back, so lower to mid-shin level & rather then hyperextending at the top we come straight back down with no rest, causing an extreme pump in the lower back. Roll on leg day on Thursday!
  
• Bio-mechanics assessment at EVOLUTION GYM
  Monday 1st August another trip to John Hodgsons EVOLUTION GYM in Rochdale. Had a great back & calf workout, high rep day & a great pump. Afterwards my 2nd appointment with Rachel France, a UK Bio-mechanics coach whom i first met at the British Grand Prix. Rachel assessed me back in June & not surprisingly the movement in my pelvis, lower back & shoulders was pretty rubbish. Without my pelvis functioning properly im not getting the maximum use from my body which affects training & development. A lot of my back pain has been a result of my dysfunctional pelvis & so i had been carrying out the recommended exercises on a 4x daily basis since my 1st assessment to improve this. I can categorically say that (touch wood) since ive been doing these exercises & freeing up the sciatic nerves in my back ive had no lower back pain since! Ive been able to deadlift & squat again.
  So my 2nd assessment showed quite a bit of improvement but still more work needs to be done before i move onto the next stage. I strongly recommend a visit to their website at least, ive got a link on my site, go visit it & see what they do. Together with my deep tissue massage i swear by them, the results are fantastic & ive noticed a difference in 2 short months, imagine what a year could do! Thanks Rachel!!
  
• Chest & bi's with the Mighty Spartan
  Friday last session of the week with my bro Wayne the Mighty Spartan. As always we had a great battle; pity Bodster couldn't join us but wow what a sesh. Spartan is a para & is going to compete next year when he comes out the army after 14 years serving his country. Watch this space cos hes 1 strong warrior! I was hitting personal bests on a few things that day & despite my bad arm managed to incline db curl 17.5's in strict form yee ha! Not really about the weight for me im not a powerlifter but always nice to see them weights increase without sacrificing form. Chest growing nicely. Boom! The mighty spartan I salute you :)