Author Archives: VictoryPT

About VictoryPT

I have recently gained my personal training qualification and looking to start my own PT business. I thought I would start this blog to just write different exercise plans, routines, ideas and general tips for people to use. I will also blog my own personal transformations and general thoughts!

H.I.I.T Workout – “I went to the gym and did…”

Do you ever remember playing a memory game where there are a group of you and the first person would say “I went to the shop and bought…..a bucket”. The next person would then have to say “I went to the shop and bought a bucket…..and a bag of peas”. It would then keep going round the group adding things until someone forgot what was on the list.

Well this session I created is similar to that kind of thing. Each round gets longer and longer with new exercises added each time. Let me explain it further.

Each exercise is to be done for 30 seconds, just try to get as many reps as possible.

There is 30 seconds rest at the end of each round – this doesn’t change!

10 rounds in total.

I wrote down the exercises to be performed and numbered them:

  1. Step Ups
  2. Kettlebell Swings
  3. Squats
  4. Jumping Jacks
  5. Sit Ups
  6. Clean and Press
  7. Lunges
  8. Leg Raises
  9. Tricep Dips
  10. Burpees

Each round then looked like this:

Round 1: 1

Round 2: 1, 2

Round 3: 1, 2, 3

Round 4: 1, 2, 3, 4

Round 5: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Round 6: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

Round 7: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

Round 8: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

Round 9: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9

Round 10: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

The first couple of rounds are not to bad as there is only one or two exercises to do and you get a good 30 seconds rest. From rounds 3/4 onwards it starts to get a bit challenging. You can obviously change the exercises you do, however, I would say keep the first few exercises relatively easy as you will be doing quite a few sets of them. This is why I put burpees at the end! Add weights and kettlebells in as desired to make it even more challenging.

Give it a go and let me know how you get on!

Have FUN!

Rob

Shortcut To Strength – Day 17 – Arms

 


Day 17 of the #shortcuttostrength trainer and today was supposed to be a rest day but I trained arms instead as I missed them yesterday. I started with some heavy bicep cable curls going for 5 sets of 5. I then moved on to these 👆🏻close grip bench presses. I managed to work up to 70kg for 5 reps which felt pretty good. Things then got a bit weird as my mate said he was training biceps as well so we started messing about and trying different bigs such as weighted pull ups, strict barbell curls, incline dumbell curls and barbell drags. By the end both our arms and forearms were shot! It was good fun though and it’s good to try new things every so often even if they don’t quite work.

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Shortcut To Strength – Day 16 – Chest

 


Day 16 of the #shortcuttostrength and today was chest day. I had a really good workout and was really happy with the weights and technique I was pushing. I had to do my 5 sets of 5 at 85% which worked out to be 90kg. The last set was tough but I just about got the last rep in. I’m not sure if it’s a result of the training or the technique tweaks I have been making or both but the weights felt good and went up relatively easy compared to other weeks. I only trained chest today as didn’t have time to fit arms and shoulders in but that’s OK I can make that up another day in the week. My appetite seems to have gone up a bit recently which is a good sign! My legs are pretty sore today mainly my quads but they aren’t quite as bad as I thought they would be, although it’s usually two days after that it really kicks in!!

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Shortcut To Strength – Day 15 – Legs

Day 15 of the #shortcuttostrength trainer and it was legs today. The training changes slightly this week in regards to the reps and weight. It is based on 5 sets of 5 reps at 85% of my 1 rep max. I trained at my works gym today as I had work in the afternoon. What I didn’t do was pre book the squat rack (we only have one!) so when I got to the gym there was no free slots. Luckily my mate was about to start his leg session just as I got there so I jumped in there with him. 85% of my 1 rep max is 102kg so I put 102.5kg on as that’s as close as I could get it. Because we didn’t have much time on the squat rack we had to rush our warm up and somehow try to get 5 sets each in within our 20 minute slot. My warm up sets felt terrible and my right quad felt really tight for some reason. I tried rolling and massaging it in between sets which helped a little. The more sets I did though the better it felt. I got the 5 sets done just in time and they felt pretty good considering I was only really having 1-2 minutes rest between each set. I did kick myself a bit after as I think I should have tried it with 105kg. My form felt ok but I was leaning forward quite a bit which wasn’t great, I still got the weight up and my knees felt fine but I think I could have sat upright a little more. The rest of the session we just kind of made up as we went along and so did some kettlebell front squat, leg extensions, leg press, hamstring curls and lunges. It was a tough session but felt good. Its always good to have a training partner at times as it can get competitive and push you that little bit harder. Quads are getting sore already though so the next few days will be fun! 

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Shortcut To Strength – Day 14 – Power Focus


Day 14 of the #shortcuttostrength trainer and today was all about developing power and speed. I had been at work all day and I really didn’t fancy training today but then at the same time I didn’t want to miss this session. As soon as I got home I got changed and went into my garage and got straight to it. My girlfriend was cooking dinner so I only had 20-25 mins to get it done. I made the routine into a bit of a circuit in order to get through it quicker. The weights weren’t heavy today but the movements were explosive to help generate power. I was doing 5-10 reps on each exercise which when added all together was a tough little circuit.

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Shortcut To Strength – Day 12 – Shoulders & Biceps


Day 12 of the #shortcuttostrength and I did shoulders and biceps today. After my physio session yesterday my upper traps were feeling a bit sore but I still wanted to train shoulders and see if they felt any better. After a good warm up I went straight into barbell shoulder press. I built up to four sets of 8 with 60kg and my shoulder felt good. I was focussing on holding my rear delts back and down which I think helped with the lifts. I was happy with my lifts tho. I then did some single arm Dumbell press, side raises and front raises. I then did some bicep work with cable curls superset with Dumbell hammer curls. My shoulder felt better but it still has a lot of release work to do but I should be able to sort that out soon.

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Shortcut To Strength – Day 13 – Rest Day


Day 13 of the #shortcuttostrength trainer and it was a rest day today as I was at work all day. I don’t really have much to talk about today which is why I’m just posting a quote. I chose it because it just reminds me to keep with the plan and taking each day as it comes. I have to continuously push myself with every single session, set and rep in order to succeed and hit my goals.

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Welcome to D.T.P!!

My story of how I was introduced to Dramatic Training Principle or D.T.P…

It was about 4 years ago and I had never heard of Kris Gethin or his training plans before. I was just a casual gym goer doing the odd set here and there to get by. I wouldn’t say I ever really challenged myself in the gym before in regards of seeing what my body could really do and how to overcome pain and negative thoughts in my head telling me to stop….until this one particular day…

I walked into the gym and it was pretty quiet as it was during the early afternoon. My mate (Rob) who was the owner of the gym started chatting to me and as he normally did he asked me what I was going to train that day. I said I wasn’t really sure – again this was when I never really had a plan to follow I just made it up as I went along. Rob said that he had read and tried a new training method called D.T.P. and if I was up for it he would put me through it. “Ok, Why not” I said, not having a clue what was about happen!

“We are going to do biceps and triceps” he said as he picked up an empty EZ-Curl bar. He set it on the floor in front of me and loaded it with a 1.25kg plate on each side. “Are you taking the piss or something?” I said as I looked at him pretty confused. Whilst I am by no means strong I can certainly lift an EZ-Bar (about 5kg in weight) with a couple extra kilos on. “Just trust me”, he said with a rather odd smirk across his face. I picked the bar up and set myself ready to curl this bar he had set up for me and looked at him for instruction……”First set, 50 reps!….Go”. I laughed at him “Yeah Ok” I said in a sarcastic manner. He laughed as well then pulled a serious face and said “50 reps….lets go!” I then realised he was being serious so my laughing soon stopped. I was a typical 3 sets of 10 -12 reps kind of gym goer so anything over this seemed ludicrous!

Anyway I looked at the light bar in my hands and thought it should be quite easy…….I was wrong. As I worked my way through the reps he would correct my form telling to stand up straight, keep my elbows in, try not to swing the weight up etc meaning the exercise was getting harder and harder. By the time I hit 30 reps my biceps were on fire. By 40 I could barley lift the bar anymore. Rob continuously shouted in my ear to keep going and get the reps done. I finally hit 50 reps and near enough dropped the bar to the floor as my arms just stopped working…..”Follow me” he said as he walked across the gym to the cable machine. He clipped on a straight bar and said “tricep pushdowns….50 reps lets go”. I think I swore at him but he didn’t care and told me to start. I gripped the bar and started doing the reps, all the time my biceps feeling more pumped and worked than ever before. The tricep extensions felt a little easier but still by the time I hit 50 reps they were pretty shot.

I dropped the bar and shook my arms out trying to revive them and get some kind of feeling back. Rob wandered across the gym again back to the EZ-curl bar and added another couple of 1.25kg plates to each end. I had already worked my arms way beyond what I had ever done before that so I was dreading what he was about to make me do next. “next set 40 reps…lets go” he said grinning from ear to ear. I just looked at him blankly and asked if he was being serious….of course he was!

This brutality went on for the next 20 mins or so of him shouting at me to get the reps done before he would add more weight to the bar and the cable stack and tell me the reps to do. Sets of 30, 20 and 10 all followed and how I managed to get through them is beyond me….I think its almost a blur. I hit the last couple reps of tricep extensions and dropped the weight and dropped to my knees rubbing my arms trying to find a position to hold them in so they didn’t hurt as much.

“How was that?” Rob asked giggling to himself knowing full well how I felt. Then he hit me with the bombshell….”We aren’t finished yet….that’s only halfway!”. I think I swore at him again! “Are you joking?” I asked still trying to revive my arms. “Very serious” he said, “we go back up in reps now!” I think I nearly cried when I heard that! Rob always was a good motivator though so I soon got back up to my feet and started the torturous reps back up the pyramid. The heavier sets were not as bad as the higher rep lighter sets. The higher reps just felt like someone was holding a blowtorch against my arm and I could barley lift my water bottle up to my face to take a drink.

“47……..48……..49……..50!” that was the first time I have ever willed myself to count that high! Those last few reps on the final sets of 50 were absolute agony and I think I was down to just the weight of the EZ bar by then as well. I didn’t care what weight I was “trying” to lift I just wanted to get the reps done. As I finished I just sunk to the floor and sat there for a while as Rob was just happily laughing and singing to himself about the pain I was in. Whilst I was sat on the floor I asked him about what we had just done and he explained it was by a guy called Kris Gethin and it was called D.T.P training…..I knew I wasn’t about to forget that name for a while!

The next day I went to the gym with my arms in bits but deep down I felt really good about what I had achieved. I had learnt to push my body beyond what it was capable of and whilst it may hurt and feel like torture at the time the feeling of accomplishment after was even better and made it all worth it! I spent the next few days on the internet researching and reading about Kris and D.T.P. I then fell upon Bodybuilding.com and his 12 week hardcore trainer. From this point onwards my view on the gym and how to train was completely different. I undertook the 12 week hardcore trainer and got into the best shape of my life.

I cannot thank Kris enough for the knowledge and motivation he has given me through his programmes and writing. I have in the years since followed his hardcore trainer twice, his muscle building trainer twice, his 4 weeks to shred twice and of course his D.T.P trainer several times. D.T.P and its various forms play a vital part in my training and always will as it is such a versatile and good way of training especially in times when you don’t have very long to train.

I would urge anyone to give D.T.P a go and see how it can benefit them. I have added a picture of my various transformations I have gone through following Kris’ programmes.

transformations

Shortcut To Strength – Day 11 – Back

Day 11 of the #shortcuttostrength and it was back day today. I went to see a physio this morning with the hope of sorting my left shoulder issue. After a bit of poking around he found that my lower traps and lats are not firing properly and so my upper traps and rear delt are taking a lot of the load. He did some release work on my upper traps and lats and we worked through some row movements in order to learn how to fire my lats properly. I have quite a bit of rehab work to do but hopefully this will be sorted. I had deadlifts to start today but I really could not get into them for some reason. I was supposed to have 130kg on the bar but I worked up to 110kg and was struggling with that weight. I decided just to stay at that weight and get my sets in which I did. I then did a few sets of rows and pull downs trying to activate my lats much better than I normally do and I think I managed it. My deadlifts were disappointing but I was happy with the rest of the work. Day 10 of the #shortcuttostrength trainer and it was a rest day today as I had my usual classes to take. For my body conditioning class I did three different workouts. The first was based around core exercises. Pretty simple it was 30 secs per exercise with 10 secs rest between each for a good 5 minute core blast. The second workout was a 10 min as many rounds as possible workout. They had to do 5 squats, 5 press ups and 5 sit ups and then on the turn of every minute they had to stop what they were doing and do 5 burpees before carrying on. The final workout was something I came up with last night. I wrote ten exercises on the board and numbered them. I then downloaded a spinner app on my phone that had ten segments. I would then spin the wheel and whatever number it landed on the class would have to do ten reps of that exercise. If the same number came twice in a row then the reps are halved. This was done for about 15 mins in total. For my spin class I based it on supersets so two exercises back to back. Each segment was for 1 min each and by the time we got to the end sets it was pretty tough!

 

 

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Shortcut To Strength – Day 10 – Rest Day


Day 10 of the #shortcuttostrength trainer and it was a rest day today as I had my usual classes to take. For my body conditioning class I did three different workouts. The first was based around core exercises. Pretty simple it was 30 secs per exercise with 10 secs rest between each for a good 5 minute core blast. The second workout was a 10 min as many rounds as possible workout. They had to do 5 squats, 5 press ups and 5 sit ups and then on the turn of every minute they had to stop what they were doing and do 5 burpees before carrying on. The final workout was something I came up with last night. I wrote ten exercises on the board and numbered them. I then downloaded a spinner app on my phone that had ten segments. I would then spin the wheel and whatever number it landed on the class would have to do ten reps of that exercise. If the same number came twice in a row then the reps are halved. This was done for about 15 mins in total. For my spin class I based it on supersets so two exercises back to back. Each segment was for 1 min each and by the time we got to the end sets it was pretty tough!

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