Since last checkin, did a MTW pressday on Friday, plus I took class on Thursday and Sunday. All of these were hella awesome to be frank. I’m really appreciating the shift to eat, then exercise; I just feel generally better and stronger.
Also, Sunday class was great because we got to use more space and attack full out. I can still feel it…
Such an honour, @BOTSLAYER. Looking back I realised last summer that dancing my shit off wanted some pre-workout nutrition if I needed to use my brain.
I should probably have drawn conclusions about lifting from that. Also, driving a lifter body in general.
Another clue would be on intensive week when the teen ballerinas at my table were all “are you going to eat that?” No, as it happens the cook just shoved a ton of fries on me because they were short of vegetables. embarrassed
Then the fries began to disappear. Slowly at first, then like a run on the carbs bank.
So, what have I been up to? I went on a short trip to Vienna, came back, took class, went to the Mobile World Congress for three days of insanity, took class, went to Liverpool, and only today have I been in the gym to test pressday 3RMs, doing sets of 3 adding 5kg each time
OHP new 3RM was 85kg, so the new MTW is 75kg, up 5kg.
Push presses new 2RM was 90kg, say a 3RM of 87.5kg, new MTW of 77kg, up 7kg.
Squat new 3RM was 155kg, new MTW of 135kg, up 5kg.
Incline bench is still 85kg.
Notes: there’s totally some more where those squats came from, the posterior chain feels like it could do quite a bit more. That said, I could feel the weeks of disruption - I found the press lifts harder to control and I clanged the 85kg push press into the bars re-racking it. Also, my wrists suck.
There’s more disruption to come, as I’m flying to the west coast tomorrow for a Google event.
OK, Google event and two intercontinental flights in four days DONE. hopefully I can get back to a regular workout schedule. Today we tested pullday 3RM.
Muscle snatch went 1x3 @ 55kg, 60kg, 70kg, 75kg, 80kg, 85kg, for a new MTW of 75kg, UP TEN.
SGHP went 1x3@ 70, 75, 80, 85, 90 for a new MTW of 80kg, UP TEN.
Deadlifts went 2x3 @ 130, 135, 140 (two sets at each because mixed grip and balancing the work), no change BOO HOO.
Did some chest work - 1x10 incline bench @ 60, 70, 75, 1x8 80, failed at 85. Decided to try some cable flyes down-to-up as here: Building a Bodybuilder Chest so 2x10 with 20kg each side to feel it out. As usual with cable work I’m never convinced I’ve got the range of motion and angle right, but I can feel there’s potential to slaughter the upper chest.
Beyond that, I took class on the road in San Francisco with LINES. This wasn’t great - Kathy Mata is pretty cool as a teacher but I was so tired and jetlagged I couldn’t really concentrate. Barre wasn’t too bad thanks to the sheer power of ritual, but it all went to hell in centre. It didn’t help that I’m carrying some kind of injury underneath my left foot that hurts when I go up, and the bastard chose that particular moment to flare up.
And there was that intensive I signed up for. I was almost dreading this, but flying back to the UK put me in the right time zone and at least I got to sleep in my own bed. As for the foot I slathered it in diclofenac gel at every break - I’m not sure whether it warmed up, or whether the drug kicked in, but it was tolerable enough that I could dance on it for four and a half hours of William Forsythe choreography (if you don’t know, think maximum show-off factor and relentlessly fast).
Policy decision for this week: I’ma skip class and let it heal. Which means lifting weights instead!
Pressday! So this should be a MTW-10kg week but somehow I ripped into the workout at the MTW instead. 8x3 OHPs @ 75kg, 7th set at 80. Only paired the first and last sets but then again it was meant to be 65…I realised this part way through push presses but decided to do 'em anyway. 8x3 @ 77kg, 7th set at 82kg. Squats went 8x3 @125kg with 7th set at 130kg, paired sets, just fine. Incline bench went 1x10 @ 60, 1x10 @ 70, 1x5 @ 80, 1x5 @85, a single @ 90.
New thing: 3x10 cable down-to-up flyes for the upper chest, 22kg each side. That felt…new. Then 12 farmers’ with 2 25kg plates.
I feel I’ve got plenty of all of those, and quite pleased with how the accidental MTW pressing workout went…
Pullday! MTW-10 week. 8x3 muscle snatches, 65kg, 7th set @ 70kg. Heavy but so good. 70kg SGHPs, 8x3, 7th set 75kg. Deadlifts, 8x3 120kg, 7th and 8th sets 125kg, mixed grip alternating. New thing cable flyes.
Job jobbed. (Just realised I forgot the farmers.)
So this has been a bit wank. I did class on Sunday and Thursday; back in the gym today for an MTW-10 pressday. Not much special to report but the prescribed lifts were OK, I paired all the sets. Did 3x8 250kg leg presses for speed, 12 farmers’ with 2x25kg plates as extras. Incline bench press went 1x10 65kg, 70kg, 75kg, 80kg, 1x3 85kg.
Pullday! Muscle snatches, 65/70kg, 8x3 with extra on the 7th set. SGHP, 70/75kg. Deadlift, 8x3 120/125kg. Cable flyes - 20x 13kg, 10x 16kg, 10x 18kg. 12 farmers’ with 2x25kg plates. Time to bring the frequency back.
And, of course, I took class on Sunday.
Pressday. 65/70 OHPS, paired all sets. Same for 70/75 push presses. 125/130kg squats, paired. Incline BPs 10 at 65/70/75/80, 5 at 85. Down to up flyes, 20x 14kg, 2x10 16kg, 2x5 18kg each. 3x8 leg presses, 250kg. 12 farmer’s, 2x25kg plates.
I needed that after a terrible class on Thursday night. My horrible turns wrecked my confidence and concentration and that did for jumps. 
So, since the last audit: a real ripper of a class on Sunday. Spotting turns properly and feeling strong enough to give it a bit of style. Probably encouraged by return of my favourite scary bunhead fellow student as competitive stimulus.
Also, yesterday was pullday.
Aaaand…press. Didn’t get to flyes or benches because people hanging around not training.
Pull. Felt strong, so I did the first three sets of SGHPs as nine reps, then took a moment to be congratulated on “raw power” by a passing trainer 
and did the next three the same way, then finished the last 2 with the extra weight. Deadlifts were decent too and snatches OK.
Extras: Flyes, 14kg 2x20 (yeah), 16kg 2x10, 18kg 2x5, 22kg 1x5. 2 sets of 12 farmers’ with 2x25kg plates.
That makes four workouts and two classes in eight days. Thursday, meanwhile, wasn’t as good as last Sunday but was at least better than usual. And I learned how to piqué turn properly.
Back in the house of iron after a week on my travels. MTW-5kg phase is here, so that’s 8x3 70kg OHPs, 8x3 75kg push presses, 8x3 130kg squats, then 1x20 65kg incline bench, 1x15 70kg, 1x10 75kg, 1x4 80kg, and 3x8 270kg leg presses. No extras because I have to work.
Also, back to class the day before. Our stand-in teacher had to have one of my favourites stand in for her, so as usual with the stand-in’s stand-in, it all got very fast and very complicated right from the first combination. Quite pleased with barre and adage, kept closing incorrectly behind in turns (fuck fuck fuck), fell apart a bit in jumps. But got some really useful corrections; I appreciate the stand-in stand-in’s detail a lot.
Pullday! So 8x3 70kg muscle snatches (these were hard and I missed a couple - more from coordination than anything), 75kg SGHPs (paired, and just great), and 125kg deads.
Unusually, going to take stand-in stand-in’s own class this evening. Sunday’s reminded me how much I appreciate her classes. A bit of a risk doing both on the same day but what’s the worst that can happen? That’s right, total humilation and physical pain.
OK so, over the weekend I took Stand-in Stand-in’s own class, which was very, very fast, and my usual on Sunday, which turned out to be really rather awesome (only nine of us showed). Yesterday was a MTW-5 pressday, so 8x3 70kg OHP, 75kg push, 130kg squat. Paired all the sets and felt strong. Incline bench went 1x20 65, 1x15 70, 1x10 75, 1x6 80, 1x3x 85 (I like that). 3x8 270kg leg presses. 20x farmers with 2x25 (I like that too). Rounded off with stretching.
Also noted: an absolute ripper of a class last night.
Since last audit: a really great class on Thursday. And today, an MTW-5 pull day plus chest cable work and farmer’s walks. Got to get the frequency up!
Class yesterday (and of course Sunday). got to gym on Wednesday to find queue four deep for the rack.
MTW-5 pressday done. Felt good. Detail: incline bench went 1x20 for 70kg, 1x15 for 75kg, 1x10 for 80kg, 1x5 for 85kg. Well pleased.
Also, cruising nicely in ballet at the moment. I’ve had a couple of killer corrections lately that really helped with arabesques and attitudes, and my concentration seems to be making it to the end of class better.
Weird correction in class today: “Pull up and let your back smile as you breathe”. The week ends with 2 1h45m classes and 2 weights workouts. I wanted more, but on the other hand I’m happy enough the gf’s dental work went well (had to dump Saturday lifts for that)