Eccentric leg training

Following up from the popular articles and video on French Contrast Method for leg power I got together with Will Wayland to show you how you can further enhance that training with the use of Eccentrics and Isometric training.

This video is an introduction to eccentric leg training, we'll follow it up with some new ways to use eccentric training and also how, when and why to use isometric training.

What happened next?

I was thoroughly impressed with the results of the Six Day Shred, the next question was 'how long does it last'?

Well the simple answer is that within 24 hours I looked the same as I did on day 3. That is slightly leaner that the start, but nowhere near as defined as I was at the peak.
The 'pump' had gone from my muscles by the morning of day 7.

Say goodbye to your gains

So I went through 6 days testing my willpower and almost killing myself with water for less than 24 hours of improved physique.

Was it worth it: totally!

Would I do it again: no way!

As an experiment I've learned a lot and have kept some aspects of the diet in my regular life (reduced sugar intake, staying appropriately hydrated and cutting carbs slightly).

From a vanity point of view it's not worth putting yourself through all that for a day at the beach and pretty pointless for a holiday as it only lasts a day.

However, if you're a competitive bodybuilder, this method may be the difference between first place and tenth place. Alternatively if you're a fitness model, this method could land you that Calvin Klein underwear job. 

It really depends on how important 24 hours of improved physique is to you.

The dangers and difficulty of this method put me off trying it again unless I had a very good reason to.

6 Day Shred: Results

I've come to the end of my Six Day Shred.
So, did it work?

Here's the answer:

Images all taken on my phone to avoid question of editing or falsifying results - images unedited

What's changed? (not my trousers, that's for sure!)

- Lost a noticeable amount of body fat / retained water. You can really see the improved definition.
- Muscles appear more 'pumped'
- I've lost 8lbs of bodyweight, now weigh in at 12st (from 80kg down to 76kg)
- I don't feel low on energy or 'dehydrated'
- I cut my hair and shaved...


What did I learn?
- Don't drink 15 litres of water per day without additional salts & electrolytes
- I had a serious sugar addiction
- I can lose weight and look bigger
- Low carb food can be tasty
- Thinking in advance and planning meals = better nutrition!
- Don't grab snacks or bread just because it's easy


What have I taken from the whole experience?
- Firstly, I don't ever intend to be as hooked on sugar as I was, I certainly won't be snacking on biscuits and chocolate in the evening. I know that "just a little bit of chocolate" every night is habit and compulsion rather than just wanting the taste.
- I'm now much more aware of the effect fluids and hydration levels can have on my body and how I feel.
- It's fortunate that I had the knowledge to fix myself on day 3, I would not recommend just anyone tries this method without support and guidance from a fitness / nutrition professional. Unless I had a client who was a fitness model I wouldn't use this particular method on a client.
- I found myself reading the nutrition labels on EVERYTHING and making informed decisions on what I would and wouldn't put into my body (amazed how much crap goes into pre-cooked chicken breast!)
- Overall I'm really happy with the result. Other than almost dying on day 3, it's been a pleasant experience, plus I'm going on holiday lean and clean!


It hasn't been easy but I've enjoyed the challenge. Aside from the chocolate cravings, the hardest part was fitting the amount of water and correct nutrition around my normal life and work.
I now know that even in a busy week I can prepare and eat good food.

In future I'll be thinking and planning what goes into my body every day instead of eating whatever is closest or easiest.
I'll be drinking plenty of water (not 15 litres per day) and I'll be cutting down on my intake of simple carbs and refined sugars.

Now to see how long this definition lasts on a 7 night all inclusive holiday with 5 course dinner every night!

Carbs, glorious carbs!

Day 5 of the 6 Day Cutting Plan and today is the day I'm finally allowed some carbs! 5-6 meals, each containing 50-75g of carbs - YUMMY!

Here's the plan for today:
"In the first one or two meals, have fruits as your main carbohydrate source. Starting the carb-up with fruit replenishes liver glycogen very fast. We believe that the faster liver glycogen is filled, the more effective the rest of the carb-up will be. 

Continue drinking up to 10 litres of water today, don't gradually stop water intake. When you cut water intake later on, it should be a shock to the system.

For meals three and four, move to starchier, faster-absorbing carbs (potatoes, pasta or rice if it's tolerated well). Meal number 4 should be at around 4:00pm.

Now the "fun" begins. Water intake should be cut completely at 4:00 or 5:00pm. One or two more meals should be consumed after you cut water. Have only one if you're already looking "full." Have two if not. These meals should contains carbs derived from simple sugars: pancakes and syrup, pie filling, waffles, chocolate, etc. (see, it's not all bad!)

Also on Friday, take a herbal diuretic or black coffee (if it's not going to stop you sleeping)"

So, that's the plan. Here's how my day actually went:

We have a big corporate performance tomorrow, it was confirmed yesterday, so I now need to source Victorian costumes for the guys, sort out our driver and make sure everyone knows where to be and when.

I also need to get my new CRB check done to start working in more schools around the area, apparently this NEEDS to be done this morning.

So I had breakfast at 8:30am.

Breakfast was 1 banana, 1 apple and a Super Protein Shake.

I then went to the City Council offices to sort out my police check. At 10:00am I was out of there and ready for meal number 2.

Meal 2 was 2 apples and 250g of chicken breast.

While in the City centre I picked up some essentials and sourced the remaining costumes.

It was now 11:00am and I was due to teach at 1:15pm.

Unfortunately I'd felt like I may have looked silly carrying a gallon of water into the Council offices, so I'd gone 2 hours without any water.

Back on it at 1:00, made up for lost time: glug glug glug....

Home by 11:30 and time to cook lunch.

Lunch was 175g sliced, grilled white potato with garlic and sea salt, 2 sausages and a little gem lettuce.

Water consumption continues.

From 1:15 - 3:30 I was teaching in a primary school, limited water consumption as my gallon bottle prompted so many questions from the 10yr olds.

3:30 I head to the shops on my way home to pick up pancakes and syrup for my first sweet treat! Simple carbs, how I've missed you!

Interesting that I'm now over my sugar cravings and although I was 'allowed' simple carbs, I had no desire to pick up a chocolate bar at the checkout...

At 4:15pm I was eating my 4th meal.

Meal 4 was 100g golden syrup pancakes with butter and maple syrup - yummy!

I can't even tell you what it tasted like as it was devoured in seconds.

As of 4:30pm my I've cut water consumption completely - only 8 litres consumed today, let's hope it was enough!

Carb, glorious carbs!

Now I'm rushing because I'm meeting Becki's parents at a restaurant at 5:30pm and have tickets to the theatre for 7:30pm tonight.

Meal number 5 at 6:00pm. We went for an Italian meal before the theatre.

Meal 5 was a thin base pizza with roughly 100g chicken breast, half a red onion, 75g of bacon and 2 spring onions on top of the pizza sauce and cheese (estimates). Followed by a sticky toffee pudding and ice cream (gotta get those simple carbs!)

I accompanied dinner with 1 small glass of full sugar Coke.

I wasn't sure what to do about fluid consumption this evening. I know my aim is to 'dry' out by body, I had no access to diuretics or vegetable glycerine, so I opted for a filter coffee followed by a 330ml bottle of beer. Hopefully that should be enough to continue flushing my system - I needed to pee twice at the theatre, so all seems good.

By 11:00pm I was gasping for a drink and needed to pee. I certainly feel 'dry'.

By midnight my pee had some colour to it and smelled like urine - it's been clear and odourless for a few days now.
Let's see what happens overnight. This is where the magic should happen!

Back on track

Day 4 of the 6 Day Cutting Plan has been a good one. I've regulated my electrolytes by taking a sachet of Dioralyte for every 5 litres of water consumed.

I'm also trying not to drink more than 1 litre per hour as that's about the limit that my kidneys can process.

After yesterday I'm being as sensible as possible while sticking to the plan.

Breakfast at 8:30am was a banana and a Super Protein Shake.

Then I headed to mi-gym to meet Sam and train at 9:00am. Today was a tough one for the upper body:

- 3 sets of 5 bench press @ 70kg
- 3 sets of 5 Kettlebell flyes @ 16kg per arm
- 3 sets of 5 reverse flyes @ 8kg per arm
- Superset 3 sets of 5 pull up & ring dips
- 3 sets of 8 ring push ups
- 3 sets of 10 IYT with 2.5kg per hand
- 3 sets of 10 fat grip barbell curls @ 20kg - with 10 second isometric hold on the last rep

Straight after training I had another Super Protein Shake.

As I only teach in the evening on Thursdays, today was a mainly admin day at home, so should be fairly easy to regulate food and water.

Mid-morning snack at 11:00 was 4 pork sausages, a little gem lettuce and 2 boiled beetroot (15g carbs total, not crap sausages)

Lunch at 14:30 was 2 scrambled egg and another 2 sausages.

More water consumption in the afternoon before going out at 4:30pm to teach our weekly Parkour & Free Running class.
Home at 7:30pm and chilled while drinking more water.

15 Litres finished by 9:00pm - BOOM!

(thanks to Joe for sending this picture over)

Feeling good, not craving chocolate and looking forward to eating properly tomorrow (drinking 10 litres before 4:00pm will be tough, but I get pancakes!)

BRING IT ON!

Small victories

What a roller coaster today has been!

Day 3 of the 6 day cutting plan was off to an ok start.
I had to get up to pee twice in the night and once again at 7:00am. But I had steak for breakfast, so it's not all bad.

The most positive thing I've felt today is that the sugar / chocolate cravings are subsiding. Cravings haven't gone yet, but it's much more bearable.

Breakfast at 9:00am was 150g steak, 2 mushrooms and a Super Protein Shake.
Water consumption started just before 9:00am - I want to get the full amount in me without filling my bladder at 11:00pm again.

I'm teaching today so before going out I'll do a workout at home:
- 3 sets of 10 pull ups
- 3 sets of 10 push ups
- 3 sets of 6, bicep curl @ 17kg per arm
- 3 sets of 10 bent over row @ 17kg per arm

Lunch was 3 egg omelette with 75g ham and 5 lettuce leaves.

At 1:30 I went out to teach, around this time I started to develop a pounding headache (which made teaching 14yr olds a lot of fun!). At 3:30pm I headed home from teaching, the headache was still there and I had now developed mild heartburn.
I felt pretty rough at this point so decided to take some additional salts on board (I must be fairly diluted at this point).
At 4:00pm I took 5g of sodium hydrogen carbonate (Andrews salts) and 5g of Magnesium Hydroxide (Milk of Magnesia).

Mid-Afternoon snack at 4:30 Super Protein Shake & an avocado.
I'm still not quite up to 10litres at this point. Need to drink more quickly!

I went on to feel incredibly tired and the headache remained. Worried at this point about potential damage I could be doing to myself.

Dinner at 5:30pm was 2 haddock fillets, 75g boiled beetroot & 4 lettuce leaves.

After dinner I took another 5g of sodium hydrogen carbonate and ground some sea salt into the water bottle I was drinking from.

At 7:00pm I had a PT client at mi-gym but fortunately was starting to feel better.
At the gym I bought a bottle of Vita-Coco and drank it straight away (more potassium).

By the start of my 8:30pm class I didn't just feel back to normal I felt full of energy.
Clearly I'd diluted myself to the point where my body was in dire need of salts and electrolytes - lesson learned!

Salts and electrolytes are a MUST!

I've stocked up on Andrews and Dioralyte (rehydration sachets) to get through tomorrow.

Finally, here's the progress so far.
It seems as though cutting the carbs and water loading has had an effect on retained water, let's see what happens after 'drying out'

Slight increase in definition in just 3 days!

Once Thursday is out of the way I can start eating carbs again. BRING IT ON!

Sugar Addiction

Day 1 of my SHREDDED FOR HOLIDAY programme. It's been an odd day and now I want chocolate.

Trying to get through 15 litres of water around normal life is tough enough, but eating less than 50grams of carbohydrate per day is a massive challenge.
I've also discovered that I'm seriously addicted to sugar, right now I'm pretty much going cold turkey.

Sugar Addiction Cycle

Monday was the first day on this. At first it was quite a novelty carrying big bottles of water around and going shopping for my meals. I bought a selection of meats, salad items and herbs & spices to make the high protein meals less dull. I also made sure I had enough Super Protein to last me the week. With very little added to it, Super Protein is a good source of protein for this experiment (it also uses Stevia as a sweetener).
Monday was a busy day for work. Between clients, teaching in schools and evening classes I didn't train.

- Breakfast was a Super Protein shake and a banana (half my carbohydrate for the day)
- Mid morning I had a chicken breast and 100g of sliced beef.
- Lunch was pork chops with red chilli, lettuce and an avocado (the other half of my carbs for the day)
- Mid afternoon I had another Super Protein shake.
- Evening meal was a small portion of homemade Bolognese meat sauce (carrots, tomatoes and mushrooms almost certainly put me over my carb allowance for the day)

What concerned me most was that for the whole afternoon and evening I was literally craving chocolate. I've never known anything like it; I didn't just fancy a chocolate bar, I NEEDED one.
It's a very uncomfortable feeling and took a lot of willpower not to give in.

Everywhere you go there's sugar and high carbohydrate foods, waiting to pay for my shopping there was chocolate and sweets everywhere. I stopped for petrol and there's sugary snacks, crisps, pastries and biscuits staring me in the face. No wonder so many people fail at diets, you can't go anywhere without being stared down by a Curly Wurly!

Chocolate cravings aside, I was pleasantly surprised at how satisfied my appetite was by such high protein / low carb meals. Drinking 3 gallons of water was a bit of a grind though. Just had to keep drinking and keep peeing.

15 litres of water is a LOT of water (2 litre bottle on left for reference)

I am now looking forward to loading up on carbs at the end of the week. This sugar craving is driving me mad!

Getting shredded in 6 days

Everyone wants to be shredded sometimes!

At the beginning of October I'll be going on a (long overdue) week long holiday, we're going on a cruise around the Eastern Mediterranean.
It's pretty hot over there, even at this time of year, so I may end up taking my shirt off or spending some time sunbathing by the on board pool.

With this in mind, I decided to try out a cutting technique known as 'drying out'. This is pretty common practice for competing sports models and physique competitors.
I'm looking at a 6 day process of loading myself with water while taking on a high protein low carbohydrate diet to make my body 'flush', then tactically carbing up at the end of the week as I completely drop my fluid intake. I'll also be training pretty hard in an attempt to become glycogen depleted.

I'm fully aware that the definition produced by this process will last 2 days at most, but it's a good excuse to experiment on myself.

Just for the record: These techniques will not make you look "ripped" if you are in fat! While most people can drop a significant amount of fat along with the water in these six days, this is not primarily a "diet." It's designed to help already lean people get super lean. It's also worth mentioning that this technique IS NOT a sustainable weight management program, it's purely a short sharp fix for an athlete / model to get in shape for a competition / photoshoot.

It's also worth mentioning that energy levels will be down by the end of this process and that a 'dry' or dehydrated body will not be performing at maximum efficiency.

Ryan Reynolds looking 'ripped'

These techniques are often used by actors to quickly get into shape for a topless scene. It's entirely possible that Ryan Reynolds used this type of fluid manipulation to increase his definition for this infamous scene in Blade: Trinity

(not necessary for this article, I just quite like Ryan Reynolds)

<EDIT> - If you intend to try this yourself, please be aware of the dangers of too much water. Please read about the effects I experienced and how I rectified them before even considering something like this - Day 3 pitfalls of too much water

Here's the programme I'll be sticking to this week:

(This schedule assumes a Saturday bodybuilding competition, photo shoot, or day at the beach)

Monday: 10 to 15 Litres of water, 50g or less total carbs

Tip: Buy three 5 litre bottles of water with a handle. This will let you see exactly how much water you have left to go. And the handle makes it easy to carry around with you everywhere — which you'll pretty much have to do to get in three gallons! 

Pro Tip: Don't ever be too far from a toilet / ditch / bush.

Tuesday: Same as above

Wednesday: Same as above

Thursday: Same as above

Friday: Begin a gradual carb-up. Today eat five or six meals, each containing 50-75g of carbs.

In the first one or two meals, have fruits as your main carbohydrate source. Starting the carb-up with fruit replenishes liver glycogen very fast. We believe that the faster liver glycogen is filled, the more effective the rest of the carb-up will be.

For meals three and four, move to starchier, faster-absorbing carbs (potatoes, pasta or rice if it's tolerated well). Meal number 4 should be at around 4:00pm.

Now the "fun" begins. Water intake should be cut completely at 4:00 or 5:00pm. One or two more meals should be consumed after you cut water. Have only one if you're already looking "full." Have two if not. These meals should contains carbs derived from simple sugars: pancakes and syrup, pie filling, waffles, chocolate, etc. (see, it's not all bad!)

Along with this simple sugar meal, have two tablespoons of vegetable glycerine (found in most health food stores). Also on Friday, take a herbal diuretic or black coffee (if it's not going to stop you sleeping). Although the proper thing to do is go by the label directions with these type of products, best results are usually achieved by taking three servings on Friday: one about an hour or two before you cut water intake, one when you cut intake, and one before bed.

Another trick is to take an Epsom salt bath (400g of Epsom salt in very hot water) for 20-30 minutes before bed. This is what bodybuilders did to help shed water before diuretics became popular. (The salt and mega hot bath drastically increase perspiration.)

Saturday (photo or beach day): Breakfast depends on how you look.

• Looking flat? Have another simple sugar meal.

• Looking good? Small portion of fruit and protein.

• Holding water? Protein only (shake with very little water).

Forty-five minutes before pumping up for your shoot, take in two tablespoons of glycerol in one can of full-sugar soda. 

Voila; hardly any subcutaneous water and muscles full of water.

I'll keep you posted on my progress, may also put up some before and after images.

Full article on this method from T-Nation can be found here: http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/sports_body_training_performance_diet_mass/shredded_in_6_days

Don't kip during pull ups. Just don't!

I wrote something on a whiteboard for the Crossfit group at mi-gym. It was supposed to be a light hearted joke for them but the image has been shared quite a lot and it got me thinking on why I wrote it in the first place...

Fishy opinion on kipping pull ups

The message reads:

"If you 'kip' then you are a 'kipper'

A kipper is a fish!

DON'T BE A FISH!!

Pull up properly"

For the uninitiated, many Crossfitters swing into their pull ups and muscle ups to add momentum, effectively reducing the work their muscles are doing (making the exercise less effective??)

It's a nice word for bad form.

Now Crossfit workouts can get very competitive, this side of things can be really motivating for those taking part. It's something about mi-gym that I absolutely love. I love recording the results of challenges and seeing how I did overall and how much I bettered myself from the last time, it motivates me.

The theory is that as you train, you'll get stronger and faster and will be able to perform more reps, or an allocated number of reps in a faster time than you could previously. 

For those that are new to Crossfit, or just aren't strong enough to keep up yet, all the exercises are scalable (something else I like about mi-gym). You can reduce the weight on resisted exercises or use bands to assist in bodyweight exercises (such as pull ups), so everyone can train together and you can adjust what you are doing as you get stronger over time. All sounds great!

Sadly the competitive side is a double-edged sword. As in any competition, people will look to win at any cost and will seek the competitive edge while staying within the rules. And so the 'kipping pull-up' was born. At some point, some people that were (presumably) strong enough to perform an actual pull up introduced the swing in order to do more pull ups faster and in doing so, not really performing a pull up at all.

My opinion on the matter (and it really is just my opinion) is that if you aren't strong enough to do XX number of pull ups as part of the prescribed workout, then use a band to assist for now, then train your ass off at pulling exercises until you are strong enough to do them unassisted (by band or by kip).

I'm starting to see fit people with very little pulling strength as a result of learning to kip and forgetting that it's an exercise not a race.

After all, surely if the exercise is pull ups and you start kipping then you're basically just cheating?

mi-gym.com photoshoot

This week a very good friend of mine, Jamie Hammond, brought his studio setup along to mi-gym. We didn't really have a specific photographic agenda, just wanted to experiment with the lighting and the venue to see what we could create.

We shot everything on my Canon 550D and used 3 lights to get these shots.

Huge thanks to mi-gym.com for letting us use the space.
All the equipment featured is from Jordan Fitness
It goes without saying that the shoot was powered by Superlife Nutrition

Rachel from mi-gym

Train hard, play hard

Close up of Brad Wendes

William Wayland of www.powering-through.com

Jordan resistance band

All fun and games at mi-gym

Jamie the photographer trying to lift

Brad Wendes - gymnastic rings

Box fit

Brad Wendes barbell curl

Brad Wendes - Kettlebell goblet squat

Brad Wendes hanstand

Brad Wendes & Kelly Stevens

Loving the Superlife Nutrition Super Protein

Tips for pull ups & muscle ups

I've had a few requests for more exercises and tips on improving your pull up and training for the muscle up.

You can check out my recent article on my own training for Pulling Power as well as my recent post on Isometric Contractions for Strength.

This week I filmed a quick video at mi-gym on the specific exercises for high, strong pull ups as well as making the transition from pull up to muscle up. All of these exercises are relatively simple to perform and require very little equipment.
All the equipment in this video, including resistance bands, is available from Jordan Fitness: http://www.jordanfitness.co.uk/

Hopefully there's something here for people of all abilities, let me know what you think.

As always, let me know what you want help with, what articles you want to read and what videos you'd like to watch. Requests to: brad@bradwendes.com

Isometrics for Strength

Firstly let's briefly go over the different ways in which our muscles contract:
Concentric Contraction - Where a muscle contracts as it shortens (eg. bicep while lifting a weight during bicep curl)
Eccentric Contraction - Where a muscle contracts as it gets longer (eg. bicep while lowering a weight during bicep curl)
Isometric Contraction - Where a muscle contracts without shortening, lengthening or moving any of the bones attached to the muscle (eg. pushing against a wall or trying to lift something too heavy for you to move)

Now I'm a big fan of Isometric Contractions (static holds) as part of my training, particularly holding at the top of a pull up movement and holding the bottom of a press up movement (chest off the ground obviously).
In fact I've been holding these positions as part of my general conditioning for as long as I can remember (having a Pilates instructor as a mother is partly to blame) so when I started introducing clients to these holds I was surprised at how difficult they found them.

When I recently read an article by Superlife Nutrition co-founder Stephen Kirlew, I was pleased to see that he was all for the use of Isometric contractions:

"Your muscles make up approximately 60 -70% of your body's power" says Stephen, "the rest comes from the tendons which are often neglected when training." Tendons are tough, flexible bands of tissue that connect muscles to bones and are extremely strong. "I weigh 176lbs and can lift more than guys double my size because my power comes from a combination of muscles and tendons and a lot of these huge guys don't realise that."

Stephen is British armwrestling champion, so he knows a thing or two about pushing against an immovable force.

A massive plus point in strengthening tendons is that you gain strength without adding any bulk.
I know this is definitely something that's of interest to my female clients.

So, in keeping with trying to increase your strength without adding bulk. Here's some challenges for you to train your tendons;
- Hold at the top of a pull up, at least chin above bar. Hold until failure or 20 seconds, whichever comes first.
- Hold at the bottom of a press up, chest 1" above the ground. Hold until failure or for 60 seconds,whichever comes first.
- Perform a barbell bicep curl with your usual weight (comfortable 6 - 8 reps) and hold the bar with your forearms parallel to the floor until failure or 30 seconds, whichever comes first.

You might be surprised at how difficult these challenges are.
If they're tough, try putting them into your regular workout to strengthen out these weaknesses.

Let me know how you get on.


Full article by Stephen Kirlew:
http://www.superlifenutrition.co.uk/blogs/news/7518902-tendon-titan

Pulling Power

It's getting towards the end of the month and time to start thinking about tweaks to my program for April.
For my legs I'm changing the French Contrast to focus on explosive power and increased velocity, this will involve lighter loads, faster movements and slightly modified exercises - more on this in a future blog post.

I am now looking to increase my explosive upper body pulling power, this prompted a discussion with Will Wayland (http://www.powering-through.com) about possibly using French Contrast for upper body pulling.

The French Contrast method is best used to increase ballistic power, so it lends itself to jumping or pressing very well.
But upper body pulls tend not to be ballistic or explosive. However I do want to develop explosive ballistic power in my upper body pulls. This power will make muscle ups and Parkour climb ups easier to perform.

The discussion then moved onto how it could be achieved by varying the exercises slightly so as not to completed destroy yourself. Will was of the opinion that weighted pulls ups and variations thereof would be a good start but was concerned that a lack of variation would fatigue the upper body. I wanted to take a slightly different approach and look at using barbell bent over row and kettlebell bent over row in addition to pull up variations to avoid excessive fatigue by just using one exercise.
After some further discussion and different ideas on exercises and contrasts, we settled on what we both think will be an efficient French Contrast method for building upper body pulling power, specifically with regard to the muscle up.

As much as I don't want to turn into a 'one trick pony' the increased power in my legs is phenomenal, so I am going to try French Contrast for upper body pulling during the month of April.

One session per week will be as follows.
3 sets of the following French Contrast circuit:
3x Weighted (high) pull up, 14.5kg
5x fast medicine ball slams (driven by lats)
3x Resistance band speed row
5x band assisted muscle up (on bar)
With 2-3 minutes recovery between sets

Each of the pulling exercises pull will involve taking the elbows back as far as possible, the pull ups will all be chest above bar (I hope)

After this circuit I'll then perform these additional exercises:
3 sets of 10reps 2x 20kg kettlebell bent over row
3 sets of 5reps Bulgarian dips on rings (must not forget top phase of the muscle up)
3 sets of 6 band pull/push (featured in this video)
3x 30 second static hold, chest to bar (top of pull up)
3 sets of 6reps 70kg Barbell overhead press 

That should be enough to blitz my upper body and increase ballistic pulling power.
I'll keep you posted on how it's going.

This is purely me experimenting on myself to see how it works out.

If you want to try it yourself please let me know how you get on

Barbell bent over row can wait until next month