RoryQ

Chris- Yep, still training. After the 40 Day programming I have been doing hypertrophy stuff since. Spent a fun month doing an old school Dave Draper full body routine, then a 6 day 'fat burner' from him. Did a sample week of German Volume Training, took a week off for honeymoon and now I'm at the end of my first 5 day GVT cycle (5 more to come). Day 1- chest / back - bench 10x10, row 10x10, 3x10 of two assistance exercises Day 2 - legs/abs- front squat 10x10, lying leg curl 10x10, 3x10 leg raises, calf raises Day 3, rest Day 4 arms/shoulders- biceps and triceps, 10x10, assistance work on shoulders Day 5 rest Etc. The DOMs from the front squats is crippling. I think that I'm probably too weak to really benefit optimally from GVT but I'm going to finish it out and then do another Draper routine, but an upper / lower split. 4 days in 7, nice variety of free weights and some machine work. At the moment I'm loving the higher rep work and shortish rest periods of all this type of training.

I was sorry I missed JoJo when he was in Ireland.. The timing just didn't work. Seems like a super cool guy.

I finished 'Under the dome' a while back- not seen the TV show yet though. Almost finished Joe Abercrombie's 'The blade itself'... Really, really enjoying it. Like a slightly funnier version of another (anti)heroic fantasy I read - Richard Morgan's 'The steel remains'. Just when I think I am done with fantasy writing I get a taste for it again... Got quite a backlog now after this... Peter F Hamilton's Void trilogy, 'The lies of Locke lamora', 'the name of the wind', the new Neil Gaiman novel and 'The wind through the keyhole'. Oh, and a Glen Cook 'Black Company' omnibus.

Final sitting on my left arm sleeve with Mo Coppoletta (TFB) in August, and booked in for another two days in Tokyo for work on my front by Tomo (Yellow Blaze). That's November... going to be a flying visit. When these are done it's the last of the big work for me, I'm going to fill in what's left in one-shot tattoos that I ration out :) Not been posting much because I've been busy with work, moving house and getting married (18 days away). Still lurking though...!

Got a dagger and snake from Steve Boltz when I was in Brooklyn recently, but I want to respect their request not to put pics of their work up on the interweb, so no visuals I'm afraid. Steve was a real gentleman- he's all about giving the customer a good tattoo, no fuss no messing around. Recommends a mean coffee shop too. Back in The Family Business week after next to finish my left arm, withMo Coppoletta. They just put a pic up on IG today- it's the double chrysanthemums in autumnal colours (for want of a better description).

@Tim Burke Diego Azaldegui, I reckon ... He does big Japanese work but some traditional style pieces too. Super friendly guy also.

Trade Winds This was the Trade Winds I had... Different brewery it appears!

I think I've had trade winds on cask.., a kind of citrus-y IPA, pale ale? Not sure it's the same beer though... Labelling doesn't look familiar.

I was in a clothes shop in Coventry Garden a couple days ago and a shop assistant showed me his sleeve. What was cool about it is that it was vintage Thomas Hooper- from when he was on Into You..! Very ornate, still perfect after 7 years or so. I got tattooed in TFB (progress on my arm, Mo Coppoletta) and we spun by FST briefly to look in. My fiancé is booked in with Stewart next month.

That could work... When I know our movements I'll drop you a line.

A flying visit over the first weekend in May...

I must admit I've never heard of that sheet. I googled it - is it a juggalo thing?

@JeffK Nice, Chris is a cool dude. That piece reminds me of a forearm mace piece he did a while back... Really cool. Made an appointment with Steve Boltz in May. Just going to pick something off the wall in Smith St...

Had my first of three appointments at The Family Business (with Mo) on Friday. We're bringing an old half-sleeve he did on my down into a full sleeve. Got the outline on and some shading, but I'm really looking forward to getting back in to follow on with it... April and May should see it finished. Also squeezed in a brutal drinking session with two old college friends, involving 32% strength beer from BrewDog in Shoreditch. Had to snooze on a bench in the airport before my flight back. Getting too old for this shit.

I went to the first one. A pretty good convention, I think, considering it's still relatively new? It had Nikko Hurtado, King Carlos, Robert Hernandez... And the roster seems to improve every year. Cool.

Hi Imogen, Welcome to the board. I think there are a couple of other Irish posters here who are semi-active.

I don't think what you're describing is a problem. I have to travel to chip away at my front piece, which is a kind of annual thing, but in the meantime I still grab smaller pieces.

Recently I have been thinking about a couple of pointed hints (or actual statements) by artists or studios to the effect that they do not want their work re-cycled elsewhere on the web, particularly tattoo photo blogs. In some instances the reason seems to be a concern about the work being passed off as someone else's, but also sometimes it is any reproduction by blogs or sites which exist to harvest and reproduce photos which pop up on twitter / instagram, etc. While I think we would all agree that a scratcher misrepresenting a stolen image as being his work is clearly a thief and fraudster, what do we make of the so-called photo-harvesting sites? Even when the credit for the work is attributed, partially or fully, you could make the argument that the site does not pay back the artist for the value their work adds in terms of driving up traffic, hits etc. (Would it be different if these sites asked permission from each individual artist? I think this would be an obvious way to conclusively establish whether someone wanted their work used) Moving on from that, what makes the recycling of images more acceptable on a forum like this? For example: I see an amazing ROA and post it from instagram to the ROA thread.... In a way the end result can be similar to the actions of a blogger, and permission likely rarely sought before things are pulled. I think the bulletin board concept and sense of this being a community of enthusiasts probably explains a lot : Is it is a less self serving process in some ways, particularly as regards intent? No individual poster could be said to directly benefit from re posting images in the way that a site owner may... Anyway, curious to hear any thoughts...

The whole neighbourhood that The Pearl is in is a really cool place to stroll through on a weekend too. Welcome, Mark!

I have a 'premium' line Woolrich shirt with mother of pearl buttons and really heavy wool. Bought it in Tokyo for about $200, but it has the feel of a really high quality product. Other than that I just have some regular Pendleton board shirts, but I admit to sometimes waiting until a sale is on to buy 'em. Why not - it's not like they change from season to season! The run-of-the-mill Woolrich and Pendletons are supposed to have taken a slight nose-dive in quality over the past number of years, but I still think they are decent value for woolen shirts. I don't mind wearing cotton shirts with a suit and tie for work, but if you want a shirt to wear casually (like a Pendleton board shirt) I think wool is the way to go: Warmer, more hygenic etc. I reckon with hoodies, zip-up tops it's the same, it's worth investing in wool. I like those Greenspans / Pendleton collabs but I think I'd like to pick them in person rather than chance buying online.... Maybe if I ever make it to the West coast.

I would recommend it, yeah... You're spreading the work out over the week so you get daily practice at each lift, rather than hitting them once or twice a week. And because it's only two 70-80% effort sets per day you don't feel too beaten up. That said, it does mean you have to stick to it and get your 5 workouts a week for a few months for it to pay off. It feels like a good way to ensure you're training he fundamental things.

Awesome, look forward to hearing how you get on! Re: the Bulgarians as pictured in that link- they're quite a skill intensive exercise and there's room for quite a lot to go wrong. I personally wouldn't do them with a barbell behind your back at first (or ever, really)... Too hard to ditch out of if you lose balance. My unsolicited few cents.

No, I don't really look at it either, bar particular threads (touching on the above programme, for example). But you're right, he's a good source of info. He has a great article on different approaches to hypertrophy that switched me on to him again lately- A Look at Some Popular Hypertrophy Programs | BodyRecomposition - The Home of Lyle McDonald I actually would like to try the Haycock programme mentioned in the article, but I think, as a whole body programme, it's too similar to what I'm doing at the moment. An upper / lower split like McDonald's routine, will be more of a change.

About 14 workouts left till this Dan John programme is over. Been planning to cycle into a hyper trophy programme.. Maybe this one from Lyle McDonald:- Mon: Lower Squat: 3-4X6-8/3' (3-4 sets of 6-8 with a 3' rest) SLDL or leg curl: 3-4X6-8/3' Leg press: 2-3X10-12/2' Another leg curl: 2-3X10-12/2' Calf raise: 3-4X6-8/3' Seated calf: 2-3X10-12/2' Tue: Upper Flat bench: 3-4X6-8/3' Row: 3-4X6-8/3' Incline bench or shoulder press: 2-3X10-12/2' Pulldown/chin: 2-3X10-12/2' Triceps: 1-2X12-15/1.5' Biceps: 1-2X12-15/1.5' "For the thu/Fri workouts either repeat the first two or make some slight exercise substitutions."