My road to 1500

1-6-17
Bench

Band pullaparts, band dislocations, stretching

Bench press 20kg 2x5, 50kg 2x5, 80kg 5x5
DB Flys 15kg 4x12
Side Laterals 7.5kg 5x12

That was pretty much it tbh. All I wanted to do today was loosen myself up a bit, get a bit of blood flowing.

Pulling Sumo yesterday has caused some insane Doms today, probably because I’m not used to the movement pattern! My Glutes and Hamstrings have been aching all day!

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Make sure you don’t push it hard, might be best to hit it often but light say a few sets up to 185 every other day. With your normal day going a little heavy but should help your body adjust. Rolling the hamstring with a lacrosse ball helped me a lot.

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I think that may be the best option bud, my knees are very achey today aswell, not used to forcing them to lockout like that!!

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Knees are still very achey, almost feels like tendinitis! The ache I have reminds me a lot of the elbow ache / pain I used to get when I low bar squatted twice a week

5-6-17

Leg swings, band dislocations, stretch hips

Squat 20kg x8, 60kg x5, 80kg x5, 100kg x5, 140kg x5, 170kg 3x5

Romanian Deadlift 120kg 3x8
GHR 3x amrap, 8/8/6
Neutral Grip Pullups x10, 10, 9, 7
Kroc Rows 35kg x23

First day on my new program, I’ve decided I’m going to do 5-6 weeks around the 5 reps range, get a little more volume in than I usually do. Decided to do 3x5 this week as I’m still a little beat up from my meet. Next week will be 4x5, weights started at 72.5% of 1rm and will increase by 2.5-5kg every week depending on lift.

Had a long conversation with 1 of the PLers at the gym who competed with me, he watched a few of my vids and a couple of deadlift sets and pulled my form apart, so I’ve got a few things to work on! He also told me my Glutes / Hammis are weak as hell going off what he could see, so those are going to be a big priority over the coming months!

I can’t say I’m surprised as I’ve not really worked them at all outside the main lifts, the guy who was doing my programming didn’t prioritise them at all!

Knees are still very achey, not overly happy about it tbh which is another reason I decided to go lighter and cut out a set of squats… I also totally skipped Leg Press as I didn’t want to aggrivate my knees.

Edit** forgot to mention, that it was the Sumo pulling thats caused my knee issues so i’m leaning towards just soldiering on with conventional for now.

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Body might not be able to take sumo, but also could just be too heavy too fast. Just something to think about

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Quite possibly the latter mate, I’ve got Brits in 12 weeks so I guess I was trying to rush it a little, I should know better really.

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6-6-17
Bench

Band pullaparts, stretch chest and shoulders

Bench 20kg x5, 50kg x5, 80kg x5, 110kg 3x5

CG Bench 90kg 3x5
Side Laterals 10kg / 12.5kg / 15kg x 12, 12, 12
Inc DB Flys 15kg x15, 20kg 3x12
Rope Pressdowns 3 plates 5x15

Decent session today, nothing felt heavy but thats how I wanted this week to feel. Tightened up my bench setup and it felt great!

I have a similar thing. I’m going to play with switching styles every three weeks, but always doing my back off sets sumo to keep in practice.

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8-6-17
Deadlift

Leg swings, stretch hips and legs, band dislocations

Deadlift 60kg x5, 100kg x5, 140kg x5, 170kg x3, 190kg 3x5

Paused Deadlifts (just off floor pause) 140kg 3x5
Stiff Legged DL 100kg x8, 110kg x8, 120kg x8, 130kg x8
Front Squats 80kg 3x8
BB Rows 100kg 2x8, 110kg 2x8
Chins x10, 10, 9, 7

Decided to soldier on with Conventional, seeing as my knees still aren’t 100%. Playing with a slightly wider stance, and toes turned out a little more, I also started with the bar closer to my shins than I usually do, and I could feel myself sit back slightly before the pull, maybe this is the break through I need? Only time will tell!

Paused deadlifts felt like crap, they pumped my lower back up something rotten! I’m hoping these will help beef up my lagging glutes / hamstrings and reinforce my new form.

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For me to sit back I need the bar on my shins and scrape it up my legs.

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9-6-17
Bench

Band dislocations, band pullaparts

Bench 20kg 2x6, 60kg x5, 80kg x5, 100kg x3, 110kg 3x5

Slingshot Bench 130kg x5
Inc DB Press 30kg x10, 35kg x10, 40kg 2x10
Seated BB OHP 60kg x6, 65kg x6, 70kg x6
T Bar Row 60kg 4x12
Skull Crushers 35kg 4x12

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12-6-17
Squat

Leg swings, hip thrusts, stretch

Squat 20kg 2x5, 60kg x5, 100kg x5, 140kg x5, 175kg 3x5

Paused Deadlift 60kg x3, 100kg x3, 145kg 3x5

Romanian Deadlift 130kg 3x8
Neutral Grip Pullups 5x amrap, 7, 7, 7, 6, 6
Kroc Rows 35kg DB x28

First time squtting straight out of a monolift today, it did feel a little weird but as the sets went on it felt better, I’ll keep working it until I’m used to it.

Paused Deadlifts felt like hell again, major back pump but I’m going to keep hitting these hard!

Second set of Squats and last set of Paused Deadlifts:

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13-6-17
Bench

Stretch pecs / shoulders, band dislocations, band pullaparts

Bench 20kg 2x6, 50kg x5, 80kg x5, 100kg x3, 115kg 3x6

CG Bench 100kg 3x5
DB Shoulder Press 35kg x6, 40kg x6, 42.5kg x6, 45kg x6
DB Inc Flys 17.5kg 2x12, 20kg 2x12
Skullcrushers 30kg 3x15
Rope Pressdowns 5 plates 3x12

Good session today, everything felt in the groove. Really happy with the Shoulder Press, never hd the 45s up before!

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15-6-17
Deadlift

Foam roll, stretch, leg swings

Deadlift 60kg x5, 100kg x5, 140kg x5, 170kg x3, 195kg 3x5

Banded Deadlifts 140kg + 40kg band tension 3x5
Leg Press 200kg x10, 280kg x10, 320kg x10
Romanian Deadlifts 120kg 3x10
BB Rows with chains 80kg x8, 100kg x8, 120kg x8
Chins x10, 10, 8, 7

Changed my deadlift stance slightly, which felt a little strange but the reps felt a lot smoother than they usually do! Did a lot of pulling volume today which I’m hoping I’ll get used to, because I felt like I was going to die by my second set of Romanians!!

My Matflexes came today, theyr so comfortable, and feel like an extension of my feet rather than a shoe! Looking forward to training in them. Didn’t manage it today as I went straight to the gym from work!

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16-6-17
Bench

Band pullaparts

Bench 60kg 2x5, 80kg x5, 100kg x5, 117.5kg 2x5

Floor Press with chains 60kg x5, 80kg x5, 100kg 3x5
Inc DB Press 35kg 4x10
Military Press 50kg 3x8

Left it there tonight as I was in a rush, had to get home and showered before me n the missus were goin out for a meal!

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17-6-17
Front Squats

Stretch legs / hips, leg swings

Front Squat 20kg 2x5, 60kg x5, 80kg x5, 100kg x5, 120kg x5, 140kg 3x4

BB Rows 110kg 5x5
Side Laterals 12.5kg 4x10
Front DB Raises 10kg 4x12
Shrugs 120kg 3x12

Front Squats were meantto be 3x5 today, but its a movement I dont really train very often, so I just worked up to see how the weights felt, managed 4 reps on my first set so did another 2! Next week I’ll go with 130kg 3x5 and work from there. I found that my core / upper back was tiring long before my legs were so hopefully these will help bring those up along the way!

Skipped a couple of assisstances today as my elbows were complaining a little from work this morning, nothing serious though!

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19-6-17
Squats

Band dislocations, foam roll legs, stretch hips, banded side steps, leg swings

Squats 20kg 2x5, 60kg x5, 80kg x5, 100kg x5, 140kg x5, 180kg x3, 220kg x2, 180kg 2x5

Paused Deadlifts 100kg x5, 150kg x5, 5, 3
Stiff Legged DL 135kg 3x8
Leg Extension 3x12
Pullups x8, 8, 6

Wow, its been 30 degrees in the UK today, and after working all day in that heat I felt drained! Everything felt like hard work tonight!

Felt like hitting a heavy single foe a change so worked up to 220kg, had planned to just do a single but the first rep felt decent so went again! Decided to Squat in my Matflexes, just to see the difference and they felt better than my Adidas Powerlift, maybe something I’ll play about with for a while.

I’ve found a weight for Paused Deadlifts that I’m goingto stick at for a while, couldn’t manage to finish my 3rd set so I’ll keep these at 150kg for a couple of weeks!

By the time it came to doing pullups I was spent, felt pretty sick from the heat so called it a day!

2nd back off set from Squats, and first set of Paused DL:

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20-6-17
Bench

Stretch pecs and shoulders, arm circles, band pullaparts, band dislocations

Bench 20kg 2x5, 50kg 2x5, 80kg x5, 100kg x5, 120kg 3x5

CG Bench 100kg 3x5 to 2 inch block
DB Shoulder Press 35kg x6, 40kg x6, 45kg x6, 25kg x16
DB Flys 17.5kg 3x12
Skullcrushers 30kg 3x15
Straight Bar Pressdowns 5 plates 3x12

One thing I’ve noticed recently is I seem to not be touching low enough on my chest, which leaves the bar behind my elbows.

Atleast it looks that way on the video I took of days first set:

It’s not touching too low. Just think of pulling your elbows out as you descend and especially when you touch. That fixes it for me.

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