Bench: 102 x 3 (spotter touched bar on 3rd rep. I needed him to), 90 x 2 x 5. This was just too hard. Truth be told I've been sick as hell for 4 days, so that obviously didn't help, but I still believe this is harder than it should of been. A couple of weeks ago I felt I could of crushed 100kg for 5 or 6 reps, now I feel like I'm burning out again. I pretty much believe I'm working too close to my 1RM; I'm at around 90% + and I just dont think it is doing me any favours. I wanna start hitting rep PRs in the 80-90% range just like all the Russian scientists reccommend. Obviously these PRs will be in the form of sets across or total reps but that's fine by me.
Halting Press (stopped at just above head height): 60 x 5 x 5 (short min rest)
Squat: 110 x 3 x 5
BW Dips: 15, 12, 9 (short rest)
Wednesday 31 October 2012
Sunday 28 October 2012
The Gift Of Giving
So after my session today, me and the Mrs went down to the shops. I was wondering around when a woman approached me and asked if I could give her a hand putting a pool in her trolley. I said, "Sure" and followed her over to the big stack of boxes where the inflatable pools were kept. It was a $500 pool so it was fairly sizeable; about 1.5m tall and thick enough to stop me getting my arms all the way around it. As I was by myself, there was only one feesible way I could get the thing in the trolley and that was to wrap my arms around it, and sumo style it off the ground, then shrugging it the extra few inched I needed to get the requisite height in order to drop it straight down into the trolley.
The middle aged single mother had a gaggle of children around her as well as what was most likely the grandmother. Clearly, the potentiall pool party was only a possibility if I managed to get this sizeable object safely on it's way to their backyard. I didn't dissapoint. The thing was heavy and the box left a bit of a gash in my bicep but I completed the lift with relative ease.
What made me equally happy was the fact that the lady must of approached me based on the appearance of my potential strength. Indeed, I've never looked bigger.
Bench: 101 x 3, 95 x 2 x 3, 85 x 8. The top set went well. First rep paused and it felt like I could of hit this for 5. The back off sets are just for volume. Will go 102 then 103, hopefully all for 3, then back down to 101.
Behind the Neck Push Press: 40 x 5. Obviously inspired by C&P. I stopped it at 40 though because the movement hurt my left delt which has been a bit screwed since the epic air hockey battle from a few weeks back. So, in lieu of more sets, I decided to..
Press Partials (nose level): 60 x 5, 65 x 5, 60 x 5. felt a little heavy, but good. I'll run the bottom half of the movement on my other bench day.
Weight Dips: 25 x 8? x 5 (1-2 m in rest). Not exactly sure how many sets we did. I was with a mate and we just did sets of 5 until we couldn't do anymore. He only got 3 reps on his last set and I almost failed on my 5th rep on my last set so we called it a day.
Then we did some decline DB press and machine flys. He like the BB stuff.
The middle aged single mother had a gaggle of children around her as well as what was most likely the grandmother. Clearly, the potentiall pool party was only a possibility if I managed to get this sizeable object safely on it's way to their backyard. I didn't dissapoint. The thing was heavy and the box left a bit of a gash in my bicep but I completed the lift with relative ease.
What made me equally happy was the fact that the lady must of approached me based on the appearance of my potential strength. Indeed, I've never looked bigger.
Bench: 101 x 3, 95 x 2 x 3, 85 x 8. The top set went well. First rep paused and it felt like I could of hit this for 5. The back off sets are just for volume. Will go 102 then 103, hopefully all for 3, then back down to 101.
Behind the Neck Push Press: 40 x 5. Obviously inspired by C&P. I stopped it at 40 though because the movement hurt my left delt which has been a bit screwed since the epic air hockey battle from a few weeks back. So, in lieu of more sets, I decided to..
Press Partials (nose level): 60 x 5, 65 x 5, 60 x 5. felt a little heavy, but good. I'll run the bottom half of the movement on my other bench day.
Weight Dips: 25 x 8? x 5 (1-2 m in rest). Not exactly sure how many sets we did. I was with a mate and we just did sets of 5 until we couldn't do anymore. He only got 3 reps on his last set and I almost failed on my 5th rep on my last set so we called it a day.
Then we did some decline DB press and machine flys. He like the BB stuff.
Saturday 27 October 2012
Some Squats
Slight re-jig to training this week.
Squats: 100 x 3 x 5, then some pause squats then some off the pins at the bottom position. Yep these are a little more difficult. I really felt like the push was focused on the quads.
Front Squat: 100 x 3 x 3. Easy weight. Form still not great though I'm sure. Bar placement felt good though.
Abs
Kettle Bell stuff
1v1 soccer game for about 30 mins.
Squats: 100 x 3 x 5, then some pause squats then some off the pins at the bottom position. Yep these are a little more difficult. I really felt like the push was focused on the quads.
Front Squat: 100 x 3 x 3. Easy weight. Form still not great though I'm sure. Bar placement felt good though.
Abs
Kettle Bell stuff
1v1 soccer game for about 30 mins.
Thursday 25 October 2012
Change of Plans
So after talking up this modified TM routine the other day, I'm now going to ditch it. The reality is I have made fuck all progress in pressing movements for a long time and I just want to get some gains on the board through something a bit more conventional to get my satisfaction back. Now just isn't the time to be trying something I'm not 100% confident in.
I'm gonna run a wave cycle as outlined by Pavel. I'll use 3s as my top set then 2 back off sets of 5 minus 5-10%.
Today I did:
DL: 175 x 3 x 5.
Press: 71 x 2 x 1. This was suppossed to be 5 sets of 1 but the 2nd rep was a fucking grind.
Bench: 90 x 5 x 3
It was a little bit of a "one of those days" situation and that's fine but like I said, I'm just not 100% confident in this routine at the moment, despite the fact it's probably preety reasonable.
The reason I deadlifted today was because Chris (the Hulk) needed to borrow my belt so I though I would pull with him.
Deadlifting prior to pressing is shit. Plus I'm just tired after teaching and I don't like lifting in the afternoon.
* whinge whinge..hahaha. I'll be right.
I'm gonna run a wave cycle as outlined by Pavel. I'll use 3s as my top set then 2 back off sets of 5 minus 5-10%.
Today I did:
DL: 175 x 3 x 5.
Press: 71 x 2 x 1. This was suppossed to be 5 sets of 1 but the 2nd rep was a fucking grind.
Bench: 90 x 5 x 3
It was a little bit of a "one of those days" situation and that's fine but like I said, I'm just not 100% confident in this routine at the moment, despite the fact it's probably preety reasonable.
The reason I deadlifted today was because Chris (the Hulk) needed to borrow my belt so I though I would pull with him.
Deadlifting prior to pressing is shit. Plus I'm just tired after teaching and I don't like lifting in the afternoon.
* whinge whinge..hahaha. I'll be right.
Tuesday 23 October 2012
Tired From An Early Start
Up at 650am for prac this morning. The day went okay really but by the time I got to the gym at about 3pm I was so tired and hungry!
Squat: 80 x 5, 90 x 2 x 5.
WPs (weighted pull ups): 15 x 2 x 5
DBRs (db rows): 38 x 3 x 12
DB Curls: 18 x 12 (then hold for time), 18 x 6 (hold for time) Both sets were max reps then just holding the dbs for as long as I could absolutely destroyed my forearms!
Squat: 80 x 5, 90 x 2 x 5.
WPs (weighted pull ups): 15 x 2 x 5
DBRs (db rows): 38 x 3 x 12
DB Curls: 18 x 12 (then hold for time), 18 x 6 (hold for time) Both sets were max reps then just holding the dbs for as long as I could absolutely destroyed my forearms!
Monday 22 October 2012
I Have To Admit, It's Getting Better...
Bench: 100 x 3 (first rep paused), 95 x 3 (all paused). I got 101 x 3 a couple of months back so I thought I would start with 100 and build up to a PR over the next couple of weeks, using 3s. The great thing about this set was that it was fucking easy! I widened my grip a little too. Felt good.
Abs
Press: 60 x 5 x 5. Last couple of sets a little hard. Was certainly a litlle fatigued from the bench but all in all I think it was a pretty good 5 sets.
Dips BW: 3 x 12. Triceps were destroyed from all the pressing. They cramped up after the third set so figured that was enough!
Abs
Press: 60 x 5 x 5. Last couple of sets a little hard. Was certainly a litlle fatigued from the bench but all in all I think it was a pretty good 5 sets.
Dips BW: 3 x 12. Triceps were destroyed from all the pressing. They cramped up after the third set so figured that was enough!
Friday 19 October 2012
A Pretty Piss Poor Couple Of Days Really
So, yesterday I:
Pressed 70 x 3, 65 x 2 x 3. Of Course I was going for 5 or atleast 4 for a 1 rep improvement on last time I hit this weight. The fact that I only got 3 reps, which merely tied what I got during my pre comp bench cycle, is extremely dissapointing. Despite my efforts to "emphasise my press" it has gotten nowhere while my bench would of almost certainly failed to improve also. Clearly this linear progression I have just run has gotten me nowhere and then again, why should of it? I have done it so many times it clearly just isn't working anymore.
It is time to change to the heavy bench/medium press & heay press/medium bench setup that Jordan mentioned to me. Jordan, where do you get the idea for this again? It just sounds so damn logical. It gives me the oppurtunity to progress both lifts once a week, while also doing both lifts 2 x a week. Jamie Lweis recommmends it in his programming also.
Bench: 96 x 5 x 1.
Dips: 22.5 x 5, 5, 10.
RTCPDs: 54 x 3 x 12
Incline: 60 x 5 x 5.
BW: 84.1kg. Atleast there is some good news. I have put on almost 5kg since the end of soccer season and I can still fit into the last whole on my belt (it's tighter than it used to be though). I have clearly put on some muscle mass and exercises like weighted dips continue to improve.
Today I:
DL: 205 x 2. Dissapointing. Wanted 3. My lower back was feeling fatigued in the warm ups and that gave me the impression that I wasn't going to be a good day. A shitty warm up is almost always a bad sign. These are just the ebs and flows of training I guess. However, next week, unless I'm feeling really fresh, I will do something a bit easier like 180 x 3. Then the following week, start making 2.5kg jumps and try and hit 207.5 x 3 fresh.
Shrugs: 210 x 3 x 5, 110 x 25, 100 x 11 + 4 (no straps). This last set is to work on my grip.
Squat Rehab: 60 x 5, 80 x 2 x 5. Fine.
Pull ups: 6 x 6. Just did as many sets of 6 as I could with short rest.
Hammer Curls: 16 x 10, 14 x 10.
Pressed 70 x 3, 65 x 2 x 3. Of Course I was going for 5 or atleast 4 for a 1 rep improvement on last time I hit this weight. The fact that I only got 3 reps, which merely tied what I got during my pre comp bench cycle, is extremely dissapointing. Despite my efforts to "emphasise my press" it has gotten nowhere while my bench would of almost certainly failed to improve also. Clearly this linear progression I have just run has gotten me nowhere and then again, why should of it? I have done it so many times it clearly just isn't working anymore.
It is time to change to the heavy bench/medium press & heay press/medium bench setup that Jordan mentioned to me. Jordan, where do you get the idea for this again? It just sounds so damn logical. It gives me the oppurtunity to progress both lifts once a week, while also doing both lifts 2 x a week. Jamie Lweis recommmends it in his programming also.
Bench: 96 x 5 x 1.
Dips: 22.5 x 5, 5, 10.
RTCPDs: 54 x 3 x 12
Incline: 60 x 5 x 5.
BW: 84.1kg. Atleast there is some good news. I have put on almost 5kg since the end of soccer season and I can still fit into the last whole on my belt (it's tighter than it used to be though). I have clearly put on some muscle mass and exercises like weighted dips continue to improve.
Today I:
DL: 205 x 2. Dissapointing. Wanted 3. My lower back was feeling fatigued in the warm ups and that gave me the impression that I wasn't going to be a good day. A shitty warm up is almost always a bad sign. These are just the ebs and flows of training I guess. However, next week, unless I'm feeling really fresh, I will do something a bit easier like 180 x 3. Then the following week, start making 2.5kg jumps and try and hit 207.5 x 3 fresh.
Shrugs: 210 x 3 x 5, 110 x 25, 100 x 11 + 4 (no straps). This last set is to work on my grip.
Squat Rehab: 60 x 5, 80 x 2 x 5. Fine.
Pull ups: 6 x 6. Just did as many sets of 6 as I could with short rest.
Hammer Curls: 16 x 10, 14 x 10.
Wednesday 17 October 2012
Training In Aus + Back In NZ
So, after 10 days in Aus, training in the Dungeon, I got back to NZ last night.
Highlights from my time there were a 200 x 4 DL PR, and a 67.5 seated press which is still pretty average numbers but at least I'm improving. The real test will be tomorow though when I press because I have to hit 70kg for at least 4 reps to make any progress on it since I started prioritising press over bench. I will really want to hit 70 x 5.
Seems as I just love training so much, I thought I would take a leaf out of Jamie Lewis's book and do some calf and ab work as well as squats at my gym today. When I got there, I was stunned to see something beautiful; 2 new wooden lifting platforms built into the ground, 2 new bars, a variety of bumper plates ranging from 5-25kg as well as .5kg microplates and even a bunch of kettle bells and medicine balls in what is a new conditioning area.
Fucking amazing.
I was so excited, I almost went for a deadlift PR right then and there but decided against it and did some power cleans instead. Got up to 80kg which were a little ugly and called it a day. I might just make power cleans part of my regular week now, starting at 65kg.
Squats: 60 x 5, 70 x 2 x 5. Will progress by 10kg for a while.
Highlights from my time there were a 200 x 4 DL PR, and a 67.5 seated press which is still pretty average numbers but at least I'm improving. The real test will be tomorow though when I press because I have to hit 70kg for at least 4 reps to make any progress on it since I started prioritising press over bench. I will really want to hit 70 x 5.
Seems as I just love training so much, I thought I would take a leaf out of Jamie Lewis's book and do some calf and ab work as well as squats at my gym today. When I got there, I was stunned to see something beautiful; 2 new wooden lifting platforms built into the ground, 2 new bars, a variety of bumper plates ranging from 5-25kg as well as .5kg microplates and even a bunch of kettle bells and medicine balls in what is a new conditioning area.
Fucking amazing.
I was so excited, I almost went for a deadlift PR right then and there but decided against it and did some power cleans instead. Got up to 80kg which were a little ugly and called it a day. I might just make power cleans part of my regular week now, starting at 65kg.
Squats: 60 x 5, 70 x 2 x 5. Will progress by 10kg for a while.
Thursday 4 October 2012
Too Many Deads?
Deadlift: 195 x 3. During the warm ups, I just didn't believe I was going to get 5, it was just feeling too heavy. 2 potential factors could be considered: 1. Adding 5kg per session is not the best idea to keep gains coming for a long period and; 2. I need to reduce/eliminate the early week deadlift session.
I'm going to keep adding the 5kg but I'm going to change what I do for deadlifts on Monday/Tuesday. I will simply do some other lighter variants such as deadlifting off a platform for quad emphasis etc.
Shrugs: 200 x 5. I was going to do 3 sets but I tweaked something on the left hand side of my back near my lat. 100 x 25.
Chins: I keep ripping caluses of during deadlifts which makes gripping the bar for chins a pain in the arse. Didn't do many reps.
Curls
Neck harness !
I'm going to keep adding the 5kg but I'm going to change what I do for deadlifts on Monday/Tuesday. I will simply do some other lighter variants such as deadlifting off a platform for quad emphasis etc.
Shrugs: 200 x 5. I was going to do 3 sets but I tweaked something on the left hand side of my back near my lat. 100 x 25.
Chins: I keep ripping caluses of during deadlifts which makes gripping the bar for chins a pain in the arse. Didn't do many reps.
Curls
Neck harness !
Wednesday 3 October 2012
Hanuman
After reading Jamie Lewis's post on Hanuman and Indian strength culture, I am obsessed with this deity. I just think the Indian philosophy of strength representing the effort and discipline of the mind is a fantastic one and something a lot of lifters can identify with. Then on top of that, the fact that Hanuman is a monkey and jacked as fuck, makes him so cool.
Press: 65 x 3 x 5. Warming up my traps were so fatigued from yesterdays deadlifts, even the lighter warm up sets felt a little heavy. I really wanted to hit 65 x 3 x 5 though as it's been a while since I have lifted that weight but a little doubt crept into my mind. Then, I focused on Hanuman. I pictured his form entering my body with my skin merely wrapped around his presence and his power. He gave me the inspiration I needed to smash out the next 2 sets of 5. It may sound a little fucked, but I will take Hanuman with me when I lift.
Bench: 92.5 x 5 x 1. Not too hard at all. Think I'm learning to deal with the press fatigue better.
Dips: 15 x 5, 5, 10.
DB Incline: 20 x 12 (no rest), 22 x 12. Faaaaaark this last set gave me the burn.
Press: 65 x 3 x 5. Warming up my traps were so fatigued from yesterdays deadlifts, even the lighter warm up sets felt a little heavy. I really wanted to hit 65 x 3 x 5 though as it's been a while since I have lifted that weight but a little doubt crept into my mind. Then, I focused on Hanuman. I pictured his form entering my body with my skin merely wrapped around his presence and his power. He gave me the inspiration I needed to smash out the next 2 sets of 5. It may sound a little fucked, but I will take Hanuman with me when I lift.
Bench: 92.5 x 5 x 1. Not too hard at all. Think I'm learning to deal with the press fatigue better.
Dips: 15 x 5, 5, 10.
DB Incline: 20 x 12 (no rest), 22 x 12. Faaaaaark this last set gave me the burn.
Monday 1 October 2012
Conventional Deadlifts Make Me Wanna Go Home And Cry To Mamma
Back got blasted today. I love split routines.
Rehad Squat: 60kg. Can't wait to start squatting properly again. My legs have lost a descent amount of mass.
Conventional DL: 180 x 4 x 3. Conventionals are a lot harder than Sumo's for me. Maybe it's because my lower back is weak? I don't know really.
Pull Ups: 15kg x 6, 10kg x 2 x 5. Pull ups aren't feeling good at the moment. I think it might just be the fact that I have gone to weighted pull ups withouht doing much of them really (previously did chins). Might also be the fact that upper body is a bit fatigued from yesterday's deltoid demolition.
Rows: 34 x 3 x 12
Conventional DL: 180 x 4 x 3. Conventionals are a lot harder than Sumo's for me. Maybe it's because my lower back is weak? I don't know really.
Pull Ups: 15kg x 6, 10kg x 2 x 5. Pull ups aren't feeling good at the moment. I think it might just be the fact that I have gone to weighted pull ups withouht doing much of them really (previously did chins). Might also be the fact that upper body is a bit fatigued from yesterday's deltoid demolition.
Rows: 34 x 3 x 12
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