That squat looked beastly mate, congrats. I remember that feeling of coming back from a lower body injury, and the first time you hit weights you were doing before like “I’m back motherfuckers, now the real work begins!” (not to diminish the work you’ve done to get to this point, just telling you what went through my head). Happy for you.
Anyway, this log has been a valuable source of information to me, even if I’ve never interacted before. Thanks for sharing your experiences. Keep up the good work man.
Deadlifts
145kg: 5 - mixed grip
160kg: 3 - belt on
180kg: 4 - PR
180kg: 1 - belt off
145kg: 10 - belt back on
Hanging Leg Raises
BW: 3x6
Crosstrainer
60min
Bodyweight: 97.5kg
My lower back was smoked today, presumably from the trap bar deadlifts. I was hoping for 5 reps with 180kg but 4 is still a PR, and they were solid. Instead of going heavy for a joker I decided to go beltless, and got a clean 180kg single. The first set last was good, but once I got to 10 reps I’d had enough lol. I just didn’t want number 11.
Training: Good this week, especially the 120kg squat.
Nutrition: Not great.
This week I’ve done a decent job of eating more proper food, but not clean enough to lose weight. That’s fine though - until the 16th I’m really only interested in getting stronger. After that I’ll begin my “T-ransformation”.
EDIT: Later on in the evening I experimented with some kettlebell swings. I haven’t trained with kettlebells consistently since before my injury, and I think I’ve only played around with them a handful of times. Anyway I built up to a 25 rep set with the 40kg, which really pumped up my forearms and got me breathing hard, but I felt powerful. If it weren’t for my upcoming move I would definitely continue with 5/3/1 but now I’m excited to get back into kettlebells. I’m leaning towards running a modified version of Dan John’s 10,000 swing routine and using a heavier weight for lower reps - 40kg for 5, 10, 15, 20 rather than 24kg for 10, 15, 25, 50. It will still kick my ass from a conditioning perspective, but should be much more productive in terms of strength. I also think I’ll drop the frequency to 3x a week, and run it as a long term routine, rather than 5x a week for a month. I’m pretty happy with that set-up - I expect I will lose some barbell strength, but nothing that can’t be quickly regained.
I like this. Adds up to 250 per session right? Will you do strength movements too? You might try doing it every other day so it alternates between 3 and 4 times a week, and then if you NEED a day off for recovery or just you can add it in - so it’s flexible.
I’ve done a descending pyramid starting at 30 reps (29,28,27… down to multiple sets of 10) for a total of 500 reps before - that is a killer, and might be a fun challenge once you’ve adapting to the 40kg for that sort of volume.
@MaazerSmiit yes 250 total reps and I would alternate with a strength movement. I will be limited obviously but I can do: kettlebell press, pull-ups, ring dips, one arm push-ups, pistol squats and goblet squats. I might rotate through them in order or randomly with a dice etc. That sounds like a very cool rep scheme, I might try that.
I’m hopeful I’ll be able to maintain most of my strength on the big 3 with the above routine. My bench never seems to drop off much if I neglect it, my squat can’t drop much lol and hopefully heavy swings will keep my deadlift ticking over. Will just have to see though.
I had low expectations for this session because I was very tired after work and I forgot my wrist wraps, but I smoked 120kg which is awesome. I feel like 120-120-200 is pretty much a certainty for when I test my maxes. Speaking of which I plan to bring that forward to Friday. If I do go heavier, a 1000lb total is on the cards, so that’s cool.
Squats
75kg: 5
85kg: 3 - belt on
95kg: 8
110kg: 1
115kg: 1
120kg: 1
100kg: 3
Deadlifts
160kg: 1 - belt on, mixed grip
180kg: 1
180kg: 1
180kg: 1
180kg: 1
180kg: 1
Back Extensions
BW: 50
Crosstrainer
40min
Bodyweight: 98.5kg
Perfect day today. This will be my last heavy lower body session before testing my maxes, so I wanted to hit some heavy singles but definitely avoid failure. The 120kg squat was tough but certain, as were the 180kg deadlifts.
Up until today I have been training in flat-soled casual shoes that really weren’t designed for activity, so I bought some wrestling shoes and tried them out today. Felt very good.
Tomorrow I’m going to do the 5/3/1 presses and some heavy benching, I’ll do active recovery on Wed (probably some light squat/bench/deadlift) complete rest on Thurs and test maxes on Fri. Right now I’m thinking of going for 125kg-122.5kg-205kg as I’d much rather get small PRs all round than ambitious fails. But we’ll see.
Press
52.5kg: 5 - belt on, wrist wraps
60kg: 3
67.5kg: 3
Squat
80kg: 1 - belt on
90kg: 1
100kg: 1
110kg: 1
100kg: 1
90kg: 1
80kg: 1
Pull-Ups
BW: 12 - log PR (I think)
Crosstrainer
30min
Bodyweight: 98.3kg
I decided to squat today so I can take two rest days, and I think it was the right decision. Not much to say, everything was spot on. I forgot my knee sleeves but it didn’t seem to matter at all.
I feel strangely nervous about Friday, which is unnecessary because whatever happens it won’t take anything away from the last 12 months. I’m very excited. See you all on the other side.
This went pretty perfectly. Video to follow. I’ve never done a proper mock meet before, and I can definitely understand the addiction. This left me a bit satisfied, but largely just hungry for more. I ended up totalling 455kg, which quite nicely makes 1001lbs. I don’t have much to write actually, I’m just thrilled.
Training: Very good - 3 solid training days and a decent performance in my mock meet.
Nutrition: too much!
This has been a great week, and today has really felt like a redemption. My bodyweight is up as I’ve been deliberately relaxed with my diet, but that’s fine. Now I shall change my focus to transforming my physique with kettlebell conditioning and a sensible diet, while retaining as much strength as I can. Onto the next chapter!
This was an ok first session back with kettlebells. Technique-wise everything was great, but I’ve got a lot of improving to do in terms of conditioning haha! I quickly realised that 5 cycles of swings/pistols was not going to happen, both because of grip and cardio, so I just did 3 and got a time of 22min 22sec. I intend this to be my benchmark workout for the duration of this phase, and I’d really like to get under 10min. The single arm kettlebell deadlifts were pretty good - swings affect my lower back in a different way to deadlifts, so these should keep things ticking over a bit. With the grippers I wasn’t completely closing every rep. I want to make my forearms a bit of a side project - grip isn’t a limiting factor on my deadlift, but I just think it would be fun.
Your vanity pic is awesome. You should get it blown up and put into a frame. Im not sure if you know, but T-nation used your pic in their twitter feed. Lol.
Thank you very much @theBird haha! I didn’t know that - I just checked it out now. I’m surprised T-nation was willing to in some way be associated with my measly 275lb squat haha. Surely something they’d rather keep quiet lol. But that’s pretty cool.
