"Light Day"?

Skipped light day today. I went to the park, did some dynamic stretching, light running and kicked the soccer ball around instead. Good stuff.

Tuesday

RDL: 70 x 3 x 8. Used straps. EZ-PZ.

LTE: 40 x 3 x 8.

Chins: 8.5 x 3 x 5. Very hard. Chins haven't improved much at all in months. I'm not sure if adding weight to the chins while I continue to add weight to my body is very realistic. I might just look at doing bodyweight chins.

Conditioning: 40m hill sprint x 7. Feeling pretty tired after yesterday but I knew I had to get out of the house and do something. Felt pretty good after the sprints.

A 3 x 5

Squat: 165 x 3 x 5. I remember reading what Justin Lascek said about the Texas Method in regards to volume day. He mentioned doing a third of the reps done on volume day on intensity day. I'm progressing a 2 rep max at the moment so I thought it might be better to go down to a 3 x 5 opposed to a 5 x 5. With that said, I bumped the weight up an extra 5 kilos. It was a tough squat session but I probably preferred it to a 5 x 5 at a more sub maximal weight anyway. I suppose as intensity day weight increases, the volume day 5 x 5 probably isn't as realistic in some ways. It has to be modified to some extent at least.

It will be interesting to see how my intensity progresses over the next couple weeks. My immediate goal is to squat 200kg and I figure I should manage that.I read something interesting from Jim Wendler yesterday about only being able to train within 90% of your one rep max for a couple of weeks before the body begins to fail in recovery. In doing the TM, my one rep max is changing every week but with that said, I must be approaching my 1 RM.

Bench: 90 x 4 x 5, 95 x 1 x 5. First four sets were easy so I thought I would bump up the 5th set 5 kg. Did it comfortably. It seems like I will have to program bench volume differently to squat volume.

Saturday Condish

Run around the park, did a bunch of sprints and other stuff kicking the soccer ball. It was good times.

PRs

Press: 72.5 x 5

Squat: 195 x 2

DL: 180 x 3

A good day in the gym.

2.5 Hour Walk Plus Light Day

I got up this morning, had breakfast and then decided to go for a walk. I thought I would do the typical 45min track down the river. I got to mu usual spot where I would turn around but I thought I would just keep going. I ventured all the way down the river into the centre of town. It took about 2.5 hours. The walk was absolutely beautiful. The scenery along the Waikato River is amazing, I had such a great time.

After I got into town, I picked the car up from the Mrs, drove to the gym and proceeded to do my light day routine.

Squat: 125 x 2 x 5

DC: 18 x 3 x 12

After the session I walked around the rec centre where my gym is located. There's quite a bit of area that I've never explored. In my travels I found a fancy looking electronic scale, which is handy because my scales are home are broken. I hoped on and weighed in at 93.5kg.

After that I drove back into town, met the Mrs and walked around town for about 2 hours looking for a present for a friend.

Assistance And Hill Sprints

RDL: 65 x 3 x 8

LTE: 38.5 x 3 x 8

Conditioning: River hill sprint x 5. Hard stuff.

Gruelling

Press: 63.5 x 5 x 5

Squat: 160 x 5 x 5

Press was fairly easy. Squats were pretty hard.

I really don't have the motivation to do pull ups after a 5 x 5 squat session. I'm dropping them out of the programme and I'll just progress chins on Tuesdays or Fridays.

"Jarryd Hayne is more than a footballer. He is a example of athleticism at its most elite level. Like Muhammed Ali, Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods, Jarryd Hayne has the ability to take the game of Rugby League to dizzy heights that the game's organizers never would of thought possible."

Running Down A Dream...

20m x 3
40m x 6
Up and Backs x 2

A 1 rep improvement on the 40s and the up and backs. I'm certainly not feeling fast yet, I have a few niggles in my hips and hamstrings but that is too be expected as I haven't sprinted for such a long time. I'm looking forward to improving and possibly burning off a little be of bodyfat in the process.

It's An Attitude

Bench: 100 x 5. Crushed it.

Squat: 192.5 x 3. Felt lighter than last week.

DL: 177.5 x 3. Had a couple more in me.

Hitting PRs and gaining mass isn't all that's important. Go in there, believe in yourself and have fun. Everything else is just a consequence.

Light Day

Light Squat: 123 x 2 x 5

Dumbell Curls: 20 x 10, 12 x 12, 14 x 12

Tuesday: Conditioning Improving

Power Cleans: 40 x 3 x 3

RDL: 62.5 x 3 x 8. Forearms don't have the grip strength I need. I tried the hook grip but that didn't seem to work at all. I will have to look into it.

LTE (lying tricep extension): 37.5 x 3 x 8

Conditioning: Street run with two hill sprints. Easier than last week. Didn't have to stop running for a breather between hill sprints.

"You've never made it."

Another Volume Day

Bench: 90 x 5 x 5

Squat: 160 x 5 x 5

Chins: 7.5 x 3 x 5

"Get huge everyday"

The funny thing is, I’d always try to get Carlo to do extra workouts with me. I’d say, “Carlo, come back to the gym with me and do some bent rows and skull crushers.” he’d laugh and always say, “Nah, man.” Then he’d go home and grow some more.

-Jim Steel

Saturday Conditioning

Dynamic stretches
Stride troughs 40m x 2
Sprints: 20m x 3
Sprints: 40m x 5
"Up and Backs" x 1. 5 markers spaced 10m apart in a line. Start at the the first marker on your belly. Get up and sprint to the third marker, go around it and sprint back to the second marker, get on your belly, get straight back up and start the process over. So effectively it's up two and back one. Work your way through all the markers and you finish when you get back to the first marker. That's one rep.

I only did one today because I've got to start slow. Next week I'll do two reps and add a 6th rep in the 40m sprint.

Iron MIke Webster

I just read a great article over on startingstrength.com. Here it is.

Back To Big

Press: 71 x 5

Squat: 190 x 3.

Dead lift: 175 x 3.

Great day in the gym. Very rewarding. There's not a much better feeling when you do something when your not sure if you can.

I was thinking about trying to lean out and loose a bit of weight but I think that would be something best to do when I'm done with this cycle of the Texas Method. Considering I still want to drive my strength and lean body mass up, it would be a bit counter productive to try and go on lean gains. With that said, I'm gonna stay enthusiastic about my two conditioning session per week.

"Get big today. Get abs tomorrow."

To Back It Up...

http://stronglifts.com/prison-guys-build-muscle-training-lessons/

Awesome Clip

Just watched this video. It was special.http://stronglifts.com/how-to-build-muscle-without-protein/

Tuesday Conditioning

Some sprints, kicking the soccer ball. It was great.

Some Assistance

Back extensions: BW x 5 x 10.

Lying triceps extensions: 35 x 3 x 10.

Power cleans: 60 x 3 x 3. I think these were pretty bad. Next time I'll definitely do them first. My back was gone after the extensions.

Pull ups PR

Squats: 165 x 5, 160 x 5, 155 x 2 x 5. Mixed it up a little bit with the volume squats. It was a little more enjoyable.

Press: 63.5 x 4 x 5. Did 4 sets as it was my first volume day with the press.

Pull ups: BW x 2 x 5, 1 x 7. Getting better.

Saturday Soccer

I forgot to mention last week I played about 20 mins of soccer as I did today for my mates team. It was good fun and good conditioning. Last week we won 7-0 and this week 4-0! I almost scored a screamer from about 30 metres out but the keeper made a ridiculous save, just tipping it over the bar. The save was actually absurd. I played in CM is a box to box type role. I won a lot of tackles which was fun.

Disappointing PRs

I'm feeling a bit philosophical at the moment; I guess that's just my way of dealing with the disappointment of today's session.

Bench: 100 x 3. 4th rep failed. I was going for 5. Don't really know what to say about this. It makes me angry thinking about it. 3 months ago I hit 100 x 3 x 5, did another reset, expected good results, then this happens. It's bullshit. One logical explanation is that over the last few weeks I have been trying to keep my elbows tucked and this change in form will make my bench momentarily suffer. Anyway, I'll have a think about what to do then just keep trying to improve.

Squat: 187.5 x 3. Third rep incredibly hard and slow.

Dead lift: 185 x 1. Second rep failed. Was going for 3. This is also shit. It felt weird failing a dead lift rep. I'm sure that has never happened before.I hit 182.5 for a very comfortable 3 last week. In fairness though, last week I didn't squat first. I probably should of waited 5 -10 mins after today's squat session before I dead lifted.

At the end of the day there's no point whinging. It's not all about the numbers anyway.

Big Time DOMS

Hamstrings have been killing me since yesterday after volume squats. It made light squats feel like pretty heavy squats.

Squat light: 120 x 2 x 5.

Press medium: 60 x 3 x 5.

DC: 20 x 8, 18 x 10, 18 x 8, 12.5 x 10.

stretching and foam rolling

"If your not lifting, what are you doing?"

Tuesday Conditioning

Conditioning: Around the block high intensity run incorporating two hill sprints

This Tuesday session will be modified as I get fitter. I will also be logging a Saturday session.

Volume

Bench: 80 x 5, 82.5 x 5, 85 x 5, 87.5 x 5, 90 x 5. First volume day for bench.

Squat: 157.5 x 4 x 5. They felt light on my back but a little heavy on my legs. I felt slightly uncoordinated too, probably cause I haven't squatted in a week. A few reps were a bit dodgy. I didn't keep the weight on my heels a couple of times.

Chins: 6.25 x 3 x 5

Had a bit of a chat with a guy named Chris at the gym today. He's got a bit of a powerlifting/bodybuilding and swimming background. Now he says he does powerbuilding. He's a big strong guy, 100kg and lean. He can bench around 170kg. I asked him, out of curiosity, how many grams of protein he goes for in a day. In fairness, I don't think he's trying to put on weight but he said about 200grams is all he needs. That, along with some other info I have been getting, makes me think 300g of protein per day at my bodyweight of 90kg is probably a bit excessive. I'll set a revised target at around 250g per day.