Robbies Fortitude Training Log

[Robbie]

Fortitude Training Log

Decided to start at Tier 1 but the turbo version as I preferred the look of it, my training for the last 4/5months has been high in volume and frequency which was ok at first, but it now starting to take its toll on me (especially as I have been dieting for more than 6months now. Down from 97kg to 78kg today). Going from 6 to 4 weight days also means I have 2 days I can fit some cardio in to help get rid of the last of the chub.

As well as taking on the FT training protocols, I've also made a few dietary changes. Mostly a reduction in carbohydrates to 150g on weight days, all 4-8 hours around workout and 100g on cardio days. I also implemented my first "skipload" this Sunday just gone.


Monday

Turbo Tier 1

Barbell Squat - 120kg x 7
Leg Extension - 73kg x 12
Laying Hamstring Curl - 50kg x 12

Abductor - 52kg x 15
Adductor - 59kg x 14

Seated Calf Raise (with 2 second stretch at bottom) - 40kg x 12 x 2

Cable Crossover - 7.5kg x 25 superset with
Lat Pulldown - 30 x 25

Dumbbell Lateral Raise - 8kg x 25 superset with
Rope Crunch - 15kg x 25

Bicep Curl EZ bar - 22.5kg x 25 superset with
Skullcrusher - 22.5kg x 25


Mondays workout was done in about an hour which felt very very weird. My squat has been my most effected lift by my dieting which hasn't been helped by an ongoing glute "tweak". Moving forward I'm probably going to replace the barbell squat with something else, maybe hip belt squats or something. Tier 1 didn't feel like enough today, probably not helped that it's hard to push squats to failure.


Tuesday

40 mins cardio (bike) @ 140bpm



Wednesday

Turbo Tier 3

Rack Chins - 27.5kg x 10
Yates Row - 50kg x 11
Rack Chins - 27.5kg x 9
Yates Row - 50kg x 9

Flat Bench (smith) - 60kg x 9
Incline DB Flye - 14kg x 12
Flat Bench (smith) - 60kg x 7
Incline DB Flye - 14kg x 10

Behind The Neck Press (smith) - 30kg x 12
DB Side Raise - 18kg x 12
Behind The Neck Press (smith) - 30kg x 11
DB Side Raise - 18kg x 12

Leg Press - 120kg x 25 superset with
DB SLDL - 22kg x 25 superset with
Seated Calf Raise - 20kg x 25

Leg Press (wide low feet) - 120kg superset with
Fetal Curl - x25
Calf Raise (leg press) - 40kg x 25

Decided to push to Tier 3, if only to see what it was like. Much preferred it, felt like I'd had more of a workout. First time trying rack chins which I am definitely a fan of. Got a good pump out of the leg pump sets too. And all done in 90 minutes including warm ups and setup time.

Going to finish this week off at Tier 3, see how the last two workouts feel and then go from there. So far so good, enjoying doing something a bit different and being finished earlier.

The diet changes I've made have made me feel a lot less hungry in the day because of the increase in protein and fat. I'm .5kg down on my pre skipload weight so my 6 hour carb up will become 8 hours this weekend. My box of fast carbs are all bought and ready to go

My Yohimbine arrived yesterday as well, so tomorrows cardio will be the first with that. Hopefully it will help with some of that stubborn fat I have left!

 

[Robbie]

Current condition

 

[Robbie]

Meal 3 - half a tin of lentils, 100g chicken, passata, spinach, onion, mushrooms, cabbage and leeks.

 

[Robbie]

Meal 3 - half a tin of lentils, 100g chicken, passata, spinach, onion, mushrooms, cabbage and leeks.

 

[Robbie]

​Another cardio day today, 40mins @ 140bpm again on a bike. Even with access to the millions of videos on YouTube it's as boring as hell though. Probably not helped by fit everyone but no one seats on the bikes.

First time trying yohimbine, decided to go straight for a .2mg per kg dose with caffeine and L-Tyrosine. Made things a bit more uncomfortable, but not too bad. Still feel a little jittery now but that could be the supplement I got at the same time as the yohimbine, liked the look of it because it wasn't too caffeine heavy and seemed to be full of everything! (and it was cheap).

Down to 77kg this morning, looking flat and feeling skinny. Don't know why people in the gym feel the need to use words like small/skinny - not good for a dieting state of mind! I just need to trust the process.

Bringing my "skipload" forward to Friday because of other commitments so should feel a lot better and fuller after that

 

[Robbie]

EURGH, what a terrible nights sleep! I though Yohimbine was meant to be out of your system pretty quickly, but my inability to get more than about 2 hours sleep last night suggests otherwise...

Despite all that, has a great workout.

At the beginning of the week I couldn't understand the issue with doing the Turbo Tier 3 version of the program, but now I understand the load sets a bit better (actually taking them to failure on the last sets if you've hit 12 reps) and having experienced a Muscle Round day I get it. I'll finish the week off tomorrow at this level and then re-evaluate for next week.

Was feeling flat, small and pretty crappy yesterday. But got such a good pump this morning I looked and felt SO much better afterwards

(830pm update - just finished an 8 hour skipload which included 2, 3/4hour naps. Polished off about 1000g of carbs so hoping to look FULL tomorrow

**EDIT** - PLEASE DON'T LAY OUT THE SPECIFICS OF FORTITUDE TRAINING...LET PEOPLE BUY SCOTT'S BOOK!

Paused Leg Press - 160kg, 5x4 last set 8
Sissy Hack Squat (smith) - 20kg 5x4 last set bar only 6
Laying Hamstring Curl (single leg) - 27kg 6x4
Seated Calf Raise (shoes off) - 40kg 5x4 last set 6
Donkey Calf Raise (shoes off) - 90kg 5x4 last set 6
Pulldown (single arm) - 30kg 5x4 last set 6
Cable Crossover - 17.5kg 5x4 last set 8
Seated Overhead Press (smith, off pins) - 40kg 3x4, 30kg 2x4, 25kg 1x4
Dumbbell Bicep Curl - 16kg 6x4

 

[Robbie]

Another good workout yesterday, picked up an Ironmind hip belt from eBay so spent a bit of time playing about with that which meant the workout dragged out a bit. Did some squats with plates attached, but had to just attach to the front of the belt as otherwise the plates turned the wrong way. This put the weight all forwards which wasn't ideal but I know how to fix this for next time.

Seated Row (single arm) - 25kg 5x4, last set 6 reps
Yates Row - 50kg 6x4

Pull up (medium width) - 15kg 3x4, 10kg 2x4, last set 5 reps (no extra weight)
Straight arm Pull Down (rope attachment) - 24.7kg 5x4, last set 7 reps

Flye Machine - Selector 6, 6x4
Seated Incline Plate Loaded - 25kg 6x4

Laying Side Lateral Raise - 6kg 6x4
Cable Upright Row (single arm) - 12.5kg 6x4

Tricep Pushdown (rope) - 21kg 5x4, last set 5 reps

Cable Curl (single arm) - 7.5kg 5x4, last set 8 reps

Belt Squat - 40kg 5x4, last set 22 reps

Calf Raise (leg press, single leg in socks) - 40kg 6x4

Rope Cable Crunch - 17.5kg 5x4, last set 12 reps

 

[Robbie]

2nd attempt with the hip belt, much better with the weight between the front and rear, but the weight hung a little low which stopped me hitting a really deep squat. I have a plan to fix that next time though.

First time doing barbell hack squats, need to make sure I sit up more and get my arse/hamstrings out of the way next time.

Really enjoyed today, the leg parts of the workout were killer though!

Belt Squat - 80kg 12 reps
Barbell Hack Squat - 70kg 8 reps
Belt Squat - 80kg 12 reps
Stiff Legged Deadlift - 100kg 8 reps
Belt Squat - 80kg 15 reps

Adduct Machine - 52kg 18/7/10 reps
Abduct Machine - 52kg 15/8/8 reps

Pump Sets

Incline DB Press - 15.5kg superset with
Straight Arm Pushdown (rope) - 12.5kg

Incline DB Press (narrow, palms facing) - 10kg superset with
Pulldown (v-bar) - 30kg

Seated DB Press - 12kg superset with
Hanging Knee Raise

Behind The Neck Press - 10kg superset with
Cable Crunch - 12.5kg

DB Side Raise - 8kg superset with
Seated Crunch

DB Curl - 8kg superset with
DB Tricep Extension - 14kg

 

[Robbie]

Feeling a little fluffy today as I've been celebrating my 3 year anniversary with my fiancé which has involved a fair amount of eating out. Nothing too crazy though and definitely all worth it

Yesterday was a cardio day, reduced Yohimbine dose down to 2.5mg (from 15mg) felt zero effect from it (although my sleep was still disturbed). Split cardio into three, 20mins stepper, 15mins bike and 15mins incline treadmill to keep me a bit more interested, which sort of worked.

Back to work today and being strict with diet and have made a few tweaks to my daily food (upping protein, lowering fat and bringing some calories forward in the day). This with the other changes is keeping me feeling a lot fuller in the day.

Another good workout this morning, getting a really nice solid feeling pump despite doing way less sets than I'm used to.

Incline Press (smith) - 60kg x 7
Cable X-Over - 17.5kg x 18
Incline Press (smith) - 55kg x 7
Cable X-Over - 21 x 10

Pull-Up (medium grip) - 20kg x 8
Seated Row - 30kg x 12
Pull-Up (medium grip) - 20kg x 7
Seated Row - 35kg x 10

Seated OHP (smith) - 40kg x 7
Side Raise (machine) - 59kg x 20
Seated OHP (smith) - 40kg x 5
Side Raise (machine) - 68kg x 12

Leg Press (machine, plate moves) superset with
Leg Extensions
Laying Hamstring Curl
Calf Raise on Leg Press

Leg Press (machine, seat moves) superset with
Lunges
Hamstring Curl
Standing Calf Raise

 

[bill2]

good log bro! i will follow!
whats the difference beteween the basic and turbo version?

 

[Robbie]

good log bro! i will follow!

whats the difference beteween the basic and turbo version?

Basic day 3 is lower muscle rounds and day 4 is upper whereas the turbo you do both on both days

 

[Robbie]

Another cardio day this time split over incline treadmill, stepper, bike and rower to keep it a bit more interesting! Upped the yohimbine to 5mg and felt it a lot more, fingers crossed for some sleep today...

Got a package with some pancake mix and syrups ready for my skipload which is making me very hungry everytime I look at it...

 

[Robbie]

Yohimbine officially gives me the weirdest sleep! 5mg yesterday for cardio and I went to bed feeling tired but felt like I was awake lots in the night. HOWEVER, I woke up feeling pretty refreshed and I'm not flagging at 3pm despite no caffeine all day. Odd.

Had a great idea to do sumo deadlifts as muscle rounds this morning, my breakfast didn't agree it was such a good idea however :/. I probably went a bit heavier than I should have though, I think going beltless so I can get some air in between rounds and lighter but slower is the answer if I try it again.

Also had a go at cable belt squats, REALLY felt them in the quads despite not using a lot of weight. One to use for pump sets in future.

Tried doing V Bar rows on a smith machine which sort of worked, its a bit awkward getting the bar unclipped and range of motion is a bit short. But I did get a really nice contraction in my back so its worth having a play about with still.

Overall another good workout, I'm still sometimes forgetting to do the stretches after each muscle group despite it being written in big bold letters on my printed out plan. Hopefully soon it will just become habit.

Sumo Deadlift - 140kg 5x4, last set 3 reps
Cable Belt Squat - 35kg 5x4, last set 18 reps
Laying Hamstring Curl - 59kg 5x4, last set 5 reps
Seated Calf Raise - 40kg 6x4
Donkey Calf Raise - 90kg 5x4, last set 7 reps

V Bar Row (Smith) - 60kg 5x4, last set 6 reps

DB Bench - 30kg, 6x4

Upright Row (wide grip) - 42.5kg 5x4, last set 7 reps

DB Curl - 16kg 6x4

 

[Robbie]

Just before starting the FT plan I'd made a switch to using equipment like the smith machine a lot more. When I first said to friends about benching in the smith the first response was always about how much easier it is - but I've not found that at all!

What I have noticed is how much more I feel the muscle being worked with less weight, which probably comes from me being much more controlled with the negative part of the movement and a stronger squeeze at the end.

Finally, I'm learning that it's not always about the amount moved.

Decided after this workout that rack chins probably aren't well suited to muscle rounds (too much faffing and wobbling with an additional weight).


Rack Chins - 15kg, 5x4 1x3
Wide Grip Pulldown - 65kg, 5x4 1x6

Dumbbell Row - 36kg, 5x4 1x6
Seated Row - 75kg, 5x4 1x5

Cable X Over - 21kg, 6x4
Decline Press (smith) - 40kg, 5x4 1x5

BTN Press (smith) - 30kg, 3x4, 20kg 3x4
Shoulder Press (machine) - 23kg, 4x4 1x3, 21.3kg x2

Seated Dip - 45kg, 5x4, 50kg x5

Bicep Curl (ez bar) - 32.5kg, 6x4

Leg Extension - 45kg, 5x4 1x6

Calf Raise (leg press) - 90kg, 6x4

Crunch (lat pulldown) - 60kg 6x4


Had a clear up of our attic room later on in the day and found some really good lighting for progress pics...

And then to top off a good day, Tesco's arrived with some goodies for today's load...

 

[Robbie]

I've had pains in my patella tendons on and off for ages now, it's usually the left knee that hurts but after a good attempt at falling down the stairs on Saturday my right knee hurts now... Doh.

I watched a clip on Instagram last week with someone doing hack squats and lifting their heels up at the bottom to put more tension on their quads and off the knee. Tried this with the leg press this morning and it seemed to work.

Zercher squats were meant to be to failure but I have to admit to quitting early because of the elbow pressure. Bit of padding next time to save the tendons!


Leg Press - 280kg x 12
Zercher Squat - 80kg x 8
Leg Press - 280kg x 8
DB SLDL - 48kg x 12
Leg Press - 280kg x 12

Hip Adduction - 52kg x 15/7/6 (rest pause)
Hip Abduction - 52kg x 15/9/9 (rest pause)

Seated Calf Raise - 50kg x 12, 45kg x 12, 40kg x 12/10/9

Incline Chest Press (plate loaded) superset with
Wide Pulldown

DB Press (superset with) Straight Bar Pulldown

Side Raise (superset with) Hanging Leg Raise

Seated DB Overhead Press (superset with) Rope Crunch

Facepull (superset with) Bench Crunch

DB Curl (superset with) Tricep Rope Extension

**broken link removed**

 

[Robbie]

Had a bit of a blip last night. Got home from work and found an unopened pack of licorice allsorts. It started with just a couple and ended up being the whole bag. A good reminder to keep sweet treats locked away out of view.

What a pump this morning though!

Chin Up (palms facing, close grip) 20kg x 8
<rest 1:30>
DB Row (slow negative) 32kg x 12
<rest 1:30>
Chin Up (palms facing, close grip) 20kg x 8
<rest 1:30>
DB Row (slow negative) 32kg x 12

DB Bench Press 32.5kg x 10
<rest 1:30>
Hex Press (slow negative) 18kg x 12
<rest 1:30>
DB Bench Press 32.5kg x 9
<rest 1:30>
Hex Press (slow negative) 18kg x 12

DB Seated OHP 22kg x 8
<rest 1:30>
DB Side Lateral 14kg x 12
<rest 1:30>
DB Seated OHP 22kg x 9
<rest 1:30>
DB Side Lateral 14kg x 12

Heel Elevated Squat - Superset
Belt Cable Squat
Fetal Curl
Donkey Calf Raise
<rest 1:00>
Squat - Superset
Belt Cable Squat
Fetal Curl
Standing Calf Raise

 

[Robbie]

Still haven't quite got the hang of rigging up weights for belt squats so I'm not quite getting full depth at the moment, my balance seems to be a bit off too so that needs sorting. I feel SO much more taking them to failure over a squat though, just needs a bit more work to get the most out of them.

Did rope pullovers with 2 ropes connected, the contraction is so much stronger with the hands further past the body. Bit more awkward but worth doing.

The hardest thing I'm finding with these sets, is picking the right starting weight. A few more weeks of trialling different exercises will hopefully get that down though.

Tried something new with the calf work which I really liked (but not during, damn it hurt) by applying a tempo that gets slower during the sets, for example here there are sets of 4 it would be:

Rep 1, take 1 second into the stretch, hold the stretch for 1 second, 1 second to the top, hold the contraction for 1 second.

Rep 2, change 1 second for 2 seconds

Rep 3, change 2 seconds for 3 seconds

Rep 4, change 3 seconds for 4 seconds

It is pretty horrible on the last rep.



Belt Squat - 60kg 5x4, 1x5

Leg Press, Paused (high feet position) - 160kg 6x4

Leg Extension (slow negative) - 66kg 5x4 1x5

Rope Pullover (2 ropes) - 21kg 6x4

Incline Press (smith, 45deg) - 60kg 2x4, 55kg 2x4, 50kg 1x4, 45kg 1x4

BB OHP (seated on floor) - 40kg 2x4, 35kg 2x4, 30kg 1x4, 25kg 1x4

DB Concentration Curl - 14kg 6x4

Calf Raise (leg press, 1234 tempo) 80kg 6x4

Seated Calf Raise (1234 tempo) 40kg 2x4, 30kg 4x4

 

[Robbie]

Saturday 28th November

Felt so weak when I arrived at the gym, even warming up with little dumbbells felt hard! Looked flat and was not feeling very positive.

Somewhere between barbell and seated rows though I filled up nicely. What a headf**k!

Had a good workout in the end, especially now Im working out what weights to start with for these kinds of sets.


Wide Grip Pull Up - 20kg x12 15kg x12
Single Arm Pull Down - 30kg x25

Smith Barbell Row - 80kg x24
Single Arm Seated Row - 35kg x24

Smith Guillotine Press - 50kg x20 40kgx4
Standing Cable Flye - 12.5kg x25

Seated Side Laterals - 8kg x26
Machine OHP - 32kg x25

Assisted Dips - 27kg x28

DB Curl - 16kg x24

Horizontal Single Leg Press - 45kg x33

 

[Robbie]

Sunday 29th November

It feels like I spend at least half the week thinking, planning, dreaming and scheming about Sunday and all the carbohydrates I'm going to get to eat on my skipload.

I had planned to do 10 hours and got up at about my normal wake up time (no Sunday morning lay in) so I could start at 6 am and still fit it in around life.

Whilst you aren't MEANT to log how much you eat, I have been and about 1000g of carbs is where I feel full (although I am still hungry). I hit this at about 8 hours (even with a 1.5 hour carb coma nap in the morning) so stopped early.

I've been playing about a bit with what I've been eating, having a cereal with a bit of fat in it to begin with which seems to help with the blood sugar levels.

What I ended up eating on the day...

200g Choco Pillows (in almond milk)
2 Pop Tarts
4 Pretzels
2 Packs of Fizzy Cola Lances
2 Packs of Strawberry Laces
Pack of Strawberry Pencils
Pack of Liquorice Allsorts
Pack of Fizzy Strawberry Bits
Few scoops of Frozen Yoghurt
8 Cheese Snack-a-Jacks
100g of Pancake Mix
Hersheys Chocolate Sauce
Box of Jaffa Cakes

 

[Robbie]

Monday 30th November

I've now done a full 3 week cycle of main exercises so should have some weights/reps to beat but I've changed the first exercise for legs to be Box Squats as normal squats just don't agree with my left glute (still).

It has been a while, but I've also moved back to a lower bar position for squats. In the past I've had some bicep tendinitis issues with low bar squats, but I'm hoping to be over that...

As I seem to log everything else in my life I've downloaded a drink more water app so I can try to drink a consistent amount. I managed to drink 6 litres today without forcing it down and have started adding a little bit of glycerol and electrolytes in each litre.

Be interesting to see if I can keep that up on a Saturday though where I always seem to forget to drink during the day.

After watching a few episodes of Prep - The Series yesterday I picked up a tip about hitting a side pose with hamstrings. Tried it out this morning and it instantly added half an inch to the drop. Bingo!

Box Squat - 100kg x10
<2:00 rest>
DB Lunge - 20kg x13
<2:00 rest>
Box Squat - 100kg x8
<2:00 rest>
GHR - x11
<2:00 rest>
Box Squat - 100kg x9

Hip Adduction - 59kg x35
Hip Abduction - 59kg x32

Donkey Calf Raise - 130kg x12 x10 x10
Seated Calf Raise - 40kg x10 x10

Rope Pullover <superset> Machine Flye

Cable Low Row <superset> Machine Incline Press

DB Seated Press <superset> Rope Crunch

Machine Lateral Raise <superset> Hanging Leg Raise

Dip Machine <superset> Machine Preacher Curl

Skullcrusher <superset> EZ Bar Curl