08.11.13
Squat, deload week
Squats:
Work up to 125 kg for a single
SLDL:
3 x 5 x 100 kg
14? x 60 kg
That was that! I decided to work up to a single at my training max for squats today (122.5 kg), but this felt super light so I slapped another few kilos on the bar and went for another single. It’s a bit frustrating that I didn’t feel this fresh a week ago when I went for a squat PR, but I think I had just accumulated too much training/life stress over the week. Excited to start a new cycle next week.
10.11.13
SGHP, deload week
SGHP:
Up to 87.5 kg *
7 x 2 x 70 kg
4 x 3 x 60 kg
CGHP from pins
3 x 3 x 60 kg
Incline DB press:
3 x 6 x 32 kg
Neutral-grip chin-ups:
2 x 8 x BW
Triceps extensions:
15, 12 x 40
-
- My form wasn’t the prettiest on the 87.5 kg snatch-grip high pull. I didn’t get enough hip pop and ended up pulling the bar to just below nipple level, which was about 10 cm short of where I aim for.
Last workout for my deload week, on Tuesday I’ll be starting another 5/3/1 six-week cycle that will end right before the week in which I’ll be visiting my in-laws for Christmas. I didn’t "de-"load a great deal this past week, at least not in terms of intensity. I tried to keep volume down and to go for different rep ranges, though, and feel somewhat more energized going into the coming week. I’ll be dropping down my training PRs in order to try to add volume to the “+” sets.
Starting my next six-week 5/3/1 cycle today. Feels good to be at it again.
Deadlift, week 1
Conventional deadlift:
5 x 100 kg
3 x 130 kg
3 x 150 kg
5 x 167.5 kg
9 x 130 kg
Deadlift felt really good today. I wasn’t going for an absolute rep PR with my top weight because I hadn’t done any more than 5 reps on deadlifts in like three months. Probably left 2-3 in the tank, which is OK. I’m starting to do the drop-down sets with the lightest weight for this cycle, which, directly after the heaviest set is a lot harder than I thought. It feels nice to get some more volume in.
Front squat:
3 x 8 x 70 kg
Leg curls:
2 x 10 x 2 x 55 kg
9 x 55 kg
45 degree hypers:
2 x 20 x BW
My spinal erectors felt absolutely fried after this workout. I suspect it had to do with all those higher-rep conventional deadlift sets after having deadlifted sumo for the last four weeks and with the 20-rep sets of hyperextensions at the end…
14.11.2013
Bench press, week 1
Bench press:
5 x 60 kg
3 x 77.5 kg
3 x 87.5 kg
8 x 100 kg (PR)
2 x 110 kg
Paused bench press (4" pause)
3 x 4 x 80 kg
One-arm row
3 x 10 x 34 kg
Dips
3 x 8 x BW + 24 kg
60 band pull-aparts (red monster mini) spread throughout
Workout felt really solid today. I’m fairly certain that 100 kg for 8 reps is a rep PR for me on bench press. The bar was really flying off of my chest today; I was experimenting a bit with my foot position and tried to spread them a bit further apart and keep them a bit flatter on the floor so as to sink my knees below my hips. I’ve got super-long femurs and it’s hard to get good leverage for leg drive, but I think I’ve got a good position now.
With regard to the bench press earlier in the log I can only echo what I’ve been taught and you may find it useful, you may not.
You can see you’re losing tightness ever so slightly as you shuffle your feet at about 55 seconds in the middle of the set. What helped my press was focussing on driving through the heels and keeping everything tight to the point of discomfort.
[quote]Jable1066 wrote:
With regard to the bench press earlier in the log I can only echo what I’ve been taught and you may find it useful, you may not.
You can see you’re losing tightness ever so slightly as you shuffle your feet at about 55 seconds in the middle of the set. What helped my press was focussing on driving through the heels and keeping everything tight to the point of discomfort. [/quote]
Thanks for your feedback!
Yeah, I’m working on that and think I have it down for singles, doubles and triples, but I often find that higher-rep sets give me problems when it comes to staying tight. What actually happened in the video was a bit of a fluke; you can’t really see it from that angle, but I brushed the safety rail with my left elbow, which threw me off completely. Of course that’s another issue altogether.
What I’ve recently found useful has been pushing my feet far outwards and setting my upper-body weight as much as possible on my traps. That seems to make me want to shift around a lot less in the set.
15.11.13
Squats, week 1
Squats:
5 x 60 kg
3 x 82.5 kg
3 x 95 kg
5 x 107.5 kg
2 x 120 kg
12 x 82.5
So I’m following the “first set last” for AMRAP protocol, which I’m hoping will give me some needed volume. I stopped today at 12 reps because the bar slid down my back like a mofo and I didn’t have any grip any more. One conclusion I made after today’s session is that high-rep squats following a heavy double suck. At any rate, the five-rep set felt good; probably had two left in me, but had the forthcoming sets in mind and laid off a bit.
Paused squats:
3 x 3 x 82.5 (4" pause)
SLDL:
5 x 5 x 120 kg (grip was an issue here, I didn’t bring any tape or chalk with me and was sweating profusely.)
Hanging leg raises:
3 x 10 x BW
Et c’est tout! Looking forward to two days off.
18.11.13
SGHP/OHP, week 1
SGHP:
Up to 1 x 80 kg
6 x 3 x 65 kg
CGHP from pins:
2 x 3 x 60 kg
Bar speed was really good with the high pulls today. Still need to work on pulling towards my throat, though, as I get pulled forward on some reps. I’m hoping to be able to get up to a 90 kg single by the end of the year and shoot for 100 kg next year.
OHP:
3 x 40 kg
3 x 45 kg
3 x 50 kg
6 x 40 kg
My overhead mobility still sucks bigtime and I seemed to have a really tight left shoulder today, so I didn’t push anything. I’m going to try to hammer out the mobility work a couple of times a day for the next little while and see if it finally solves my pressing weakness.
Superset:
Chin-ups:
4 x 8 x BW
Barbell floor press:
3 x 8 x 75 kg
That was that! After a weekend with not nearly enough sleep, lots of bad food and “tasty” hockey rink beer, I was pleased with my performance today. Tomorrow begins the “5” week, which I’ll be using as a mini-deload or at least an “as you feel” week.
19.11.13
Deadlift, week 2
Conventional deadlift:
3 x 100 kg
5 x 120 kg
5 x 140 kg
5 x 160 kg
10 x 120 kg
Front squat:
3 x 6 x 80 kg
Front squat iso hold (10")
1 x 140 kg
1 x 150 kg
2 x 160 kg
Leg curls:
8 x 60 kg
2 x 7 x 65 kg
45 degree hypers:
2 x 20 x BW
Feeling somewhat beat up today and didn’t go for any extra reps on the heaviest deadlift set. Bar still popped off the floor pretty well, though.
20.11.13
Bench press, week 2
Bench press:
5 x 60 kg
5 x 72.5 kg
5 x 82.5 kg
10 x 92.5 kg
2 x 100 kg
1 x 110 kg
I think that’s a new rep PR for 92.5 kg, but I’m not sure so I won’t annotate it. Definitely surprising considering I felt like junk this morning. Decided to work up to a single at my training max and then skip paused bench, since my shoulders were a bit cranky.
One-arm row:
3 x 10 x 36 kg
Dips:
3 x 8 x BW + 26 kg
Band pull-aparts (throughout):
5 x 15 x red band
After today’s session I was waiting for the train to work and some dude said to me in passing, “you better train legs, they’re way too thin”. That pissed me off, especially as he just walked away and didn’t even bother to look me in the face. Some people are giant mofos. I especially find the people here to be passive-agressive, which is more or less the opposite of how I am. If I’ve got to settle a beef with someone or if someone is annoying me, I’ll go right to them and speak with them instead of saying something moronic in passing. We might argue, but it’ll be setted quickly. All this passive agression is just a way for people here to avoid uncomfortable situations.
22.11.13
Squat, week 2
Squat:
5 x 60 kg
5 x 80 kg
5 x 90 kg
7 x 100 kg
1 x 120 kg
Paused squat:
4 x 1 x 100 kg (4-5" pause)
SLDL:
4 x 3 x 140 kg
Hanging leg raises:
3 x 8 x BW
Today I felt somewhat beat up so I decided not to push anything. Our apartment building is unfortunately not very soundproof and our upstairs neighbours decided to watch some kind of comedy show in their bedroom while we were trying to sleep.
One thing I notice is that I suck at squats for reps. Based on today’s reps for the “+” set, I’ve already out-benched my squat at 100 kg. Although I didn’t push it too hard and left another rep or two in the tank, this is still disconcerting. I have a crappy build for squatting (long, long femurs), but refuse to use that as an excuse! I want to be consistently maxing 140 kg by the beginning of next year and make a push for 160-180 kg next year. Going to try to keep my volume high-ish, since I obviously suck at volume. I might run the six-week Russian squat program again, which is really fun.
A fellow trainee approached me today and asked if I’d like to train for and take part in a bench press competition next March. He’s a big guy and benches in the range of 170 kg, but I think it’d be fun. If I can propel my gym PR to 130-135 kg by that point, I’d do it.
So, I have no idea what I did this week, but my left shoulder is totally jacked. I began to notice it yesterday, sort of a dull aching pain, nothing too serious and only in certain positions. Hopefully things are better for my training on Monday! I’ll ask my wife if she can massage it for me. One of the many perks of marriage.
Also, a buddy of mine wants to take up weight training and has asked if he can join me a couple of days a week at the gym. So he’ll be there on Tuesday and I get to “show him the ropes”, as it were. None of this machine nonsense, he’ll start by learning to deadlift, squat and press properly!
25.11.13
SGHP, week 2
My shoulder wasn’t quite better today, although it’s improved a lot since the weekend. I nevertheless decided to forego overhead pressing today in order to keep my recovery going.
SGHP:
5 x 40 kg
4 x 50 kg
3 x 60 kg
2 x 70 kg
1 x 75 kg
1 x 75 kg
6 x 3 x 65 kg
Barbell floor press:
8 x 75 kg
8 x 77.5 kg
8 x 80 kg (PR?)
Superset:
Neutral-grip chin-ups:
8, 8, 6, 4 x BW
Incline dumbbell press:
3 x 8 x 28 kg
Training felt pretty good today despite having a wonky shoulder and having been in Belgium all weekend eating everything under the sun that one shouldn’t eat. Tomorrow a buddy of mine is going to begin training with me, although he’s an absolute beginner so I’ll have to notch down the pace of my training in order to be able to show him the ropes. No worries, it’s heavy deadlift day!
26.11.13
Deadlift, week 3
Conventional deadlift:
3 x 120 kg
5 x 140 kg
3 x 155.7 kg
1 x 177.5 kg
1 x 185 kg
1 x 195 kg
7 x 140 kg
Felt pretty good today; 195 kg moved really slowly but my form felt very good. Totally beat after the main work sets so I only went after 7 reps at 140 kg.
Front squat:
4 x 3 x 100 kg
Leg curls:
10 x 60 kg
6 x 65 kg
4 x 70 kg
(Yeah, so at this point I’m basically done)
45 degree hypers:
20, 25 x BW
Training felt good today. Took a bit longer than normal since I was giving my buddy technique pointers the whole time. He deadlifted and squatted for the first time ever and had pretty good form. He was feeling kind of funny after the workout, though, and ended up throwing up. I then enquired further and he told me that he hadn’t had anything to eat or drink all day. Aha… That might be the culprit! Poor guy.
28.11.13
Bench press, week 3
Bench press:
5 x 60 kg
5 x 82.5 kg
3 x 92.5 kg
1 x 105 kg
1 x 110 kg
1 x 115 kg
0 x 120 kg
Paused bench press:
2 x 2 x 100 kg (2" pause)
One-arm row:
3 x 7 x 40 kg
Dips:
7 x BW 30 kg
7 x BW 35 kg
6 x BW 40 kg
Yesterday’s training was so-so. I tried to grind out 120 kg and didn’t get past my typical sticking point, which was kind of disappointing. I suck at heavy singles, which is unfortunately the point of powerlifting. Thinking about bringing in some negative overloads into my training at some point, anyone have any programming experience with these?
On a sidenote, following the workout I tried to reconcile a situation with another gym member who last week had made a completely uncalled-for comment to me and who I’d in return called an asshole. Seems as though he’s a psychopath, since he didn’t want to hear me out but instead decided to physically threaten me numerous times. Since he’s about 2 metres tall and probably weighs 110-115 kg, I will be avoiding my home gym for a while now. The management is so powerless in these situations, it’s pathetic.
29.11.13
Squats, week 3
Squat:
3 x 80 kg
5 x 90 kg
3 x 100 kg
4 x 112.5 kg
8 x 90 kg
SLDL:
5 x 110 kg
4 x 130 kg
3 x 140 kg
2 x 150 kg
2 x 1 x 160 kg
5 x 110 kg
45 degree hypers:
3 x 20 x BW
Trained today at another location of the same chain as my “home” gym, which I’ll be avoiding for a while. Didn’t have a lot of energy today but hit a decent number of reps on squats. I feel as though that’s coming along well.
Visited a new gym yesterday, which was the same shitty chain, but was at least newish with a better atmosphere, better music and more people training there who looked as though they knew what they were doing. Will probably go there twice a week and to the strength gym twice a week from now on.
01.12.13
SGHP/OHP, week 3
Shoulder still wasn’t feeling 100% so I swapped OHP for incline barbell press. Lots of mobility and rehab exercises on the way this week, then I should be good for next Sunday.
SGHP:
Up to 1 x 80 kg
4 x 2 x 70 kg
Incline BB press:
5 x 75 kg
3 x 82.5 kg
2 x 90 kg
12 x 60 kg (ha!)
Chin-ups:
3 x 10 x BW
Barbell floor press:
6 x 80 kg
4 x 90 kg
2 x 100 kg
I won’t say I set a PR on floor press, since I’ve never really gone heavy with this exercise, but it felt good to approach a PR-like weight. I think I’ll be able to hammer out that triceps weakness in a matter of time.
03.12.13
Deadlifts, week 4
Decided to continue doing conventional DL for the next three weeks instead of switching to sumo as planned. Want to nail down a few technique points and get some volume in.
Conventional deadlifts:
4 x 100 kg
3 x 132.5 kg
3 x 152.5 kg
3 x 172.5 kg (gassed, decided not to go for any “+” reps)
1 x 190 kg (wanted to at least do a single at my training max)
7 x 132.5 kg (dead)
Felt a bit weak on deadlifts today; the last few days have been iffy in terms of recovery. Gots to eeeeat!
Front squats:
3 x 8 x 75 kg
Leg curls:
10, 10, 8 x 60 kg
45-degree hypers:
2 x 25 x BW
Training felt OK today with the exception of my heaviest two deadlift sets. Bit of a bummer. I’ll be going to the strength gym again this Thursday and Friday and am looking forward to smashing some PRs.
05.12.13
Bench press, week 4
Back at the powerlifting-friendly gym today and tomorrow.
Bench press:
4 x 70 kg
3 x 80 kg
3 x 90 kg
3 x 100 kg
1 x 110 kg (felt really weak on this today, was hoping to double or even triple it, but laid off)
Bench press top hold:
1 x 120 kg (5")
Paused bench press:
3 x 3 x 90 kg (3" pause)
One-arm row:
12, 12, 10 x 33.5 kg
Dips:
9, 8, 8 x BW + 25 kg chain
Band pull-aparts
4 x 15 x Red band
06.12.13
Squats, week 4
Trained with a buddy today at the PL-friendly gym. Squats sucked, but everything else felt good.
Squats:
2 x 1 x 80 kg (long pause)
3 x 87.5 kg
3 x 97.5 kg
3 x 110 kg (wanted to go for a PR of 5 here, but didn’t have the gas)
1 x 122.5 kg (folded a bit forward)
Paused squats:
2 x 2 x 100 kg (3" pause)
Hanging leg raises:
3 x 8 x BW
SLDL:
5 x 130 kg
4 x 5 x 140 kg (felt really, really good).
All in all a good workout. It was nice to see three people deadlifting with heavy weight and good form at the same time at the gym – I have in fact not seen three people deadlift properly in four whole years of training at my other gym. Really motivating.