Revolution, A Log.

Training Logs
1

I started my previous journal - “Sheiko, A Log” with the following post in May 2007;

So first things first now, an update.

Best equipped lifts in April '09 @ 108kg and 22 years old (still in single ply gear, and still drug free);
Squat: 305kg
Bench: 210kg
Deadlift: 260kg

A total gain of 180kg/400lb in less than two years of training. Deadlift remains crap… but everything else has become respectful at least!!

Best raw lifts @ around 110kg and 22 (done in Jan/Feb '09);
Squat: 200kg x5 and 207.5kg x4
Bench: 140kg x4
Deadlift: 232.5kg x5

Right now I’ve upped my conditioning training and refined my diet in an attempt to come down in weight. I’m sitting at 103ish kg at the moment, so my strength isn’t quite at PR levels…

Recent bests:
Squat: 190kg x6
Bench: 135kg x4
Deadlift: 220kg x5

I’ve said to myself that if I can equal my PR’s in September at 100kg I’ll be happy. And then put a push on to get back to competition weight (110kg) and go after some big lifts as it’s my last year as a junior.

I’ll probably regret doing this come April, and I WILL NOT edit these numbers, but this is what I’d like to put up at the national championships 2010;

Squat: 325kg
Bench: 220kg
Deadlift: 280kg

So, the Revolution is upon us!!

2

“Revolution” because I’ve undergone a lot of changes in the past month. Things are clearer now and I’m ready to push harder than ever. I’ve started to up my conditioning and taken down my weight too. It was at a high of 242lb in April and now sits around 228lb. I may compete at 220lb again next year.

I delayed posting this because when my other log ran outta space I was in the middle of a deload and only doing crappy conditioning shit. Seemed a shame to start a new log and only have that in it, so I waited til I had a solid body of training before getting this started. All the workouts to July 15th have been ported from my Irish log, so there’ll be references to people, events and places ya probably don’t know!!

Sheiko, A Log - which includes ALL of my training sessions from May 2007 to June 2009 can be seen here; Forums - T Nation - The World's Trusted Community for Elite Fitness

Over the past 2 years I’ve experimented with a lot of different training cycles…
-Sheiko
-Smolov Base
-A hybrid Westside
-Western Periodisation
-Doggcrapp
-5/3/1

Sheiko wasn’t that great… my squat became absolutely rock solid, and that has stood to me, even to today. But not much of anything else happened.

First run at smolov destroyed my hips. Second run broke my ribs. I WILL get a full cycle in of that fcuker if it’s the last thing I do.

5/3/1 has been relatively good to me. Thru 3 waves thus far. I haven’t gained much strength at all, but my conditioning is up, and bodyfat, measurements and weight are down, by a good bit. So in that regard, it’s been a success.

Doggcrapp was by far and away the most successful experiment of them all. I gained a HUGE amount of size and strength on it. Like I was literally getting bigger and hitting PR’s each week. It’s what I imagine drugs to be like!! Once it’s time for me to start gaining weight again, that’s where I’ll be going. Without a shadow of a doubt.

3

14/6

Last time I did my 2km run it was in the above time…

Well today I did it in…

12 minutes 20 seconds!!!

A 62 second PR without doing anything other than hill sprints and skipping. Pretty damn happy with that!!

Best part is, my lungs were good for way more. My calves and lower back cramping up is the only reason I didn’t go faster. I had enough energy to jog comfortably the whole time and still be able to pick it up with a little kick every now and again. I reckon the sub 12 mins 2km is on soon… Happy days.

Might take a crack at a sub 5 min 1km during the week too.

4

16/6

Hill Sprints - Tree Hill

250m jog

15 Up and downs

die for 2-3 minutes

250m jog

Time Taken: 15 mins 15 seconds

Happy with today’s effort. The “tree” hill, as it will be referred to henceforth for recording purposes, is actually a total bitch. It’s a bloody hard run (for me anyway) but still my favourite hill. Managed to push thru a lot better today, was getting down the hill a bit quicker and driving all the way up. It was slippy in places so there was one or two slips on the way up, nothing major, but enough to break my stride.

Last time I ran it I did 300m more on the jog, but 5 less hills in about 15 seconds more. Deffo improved today. I said I’d try Fran again when I got below 105kg. I don’t think it’s too far away!!

5

17/6

Still no training of any real significance going on… deload week and all that.

Diesel Crew Shoulder Warm Up:
5kg 'bells - 3 reps

Hang Power Snatches:
20kg 2x3
30kg x3
40kg x2
50kg x2
60kg x2 - one power snatch, one hang power snatch
65kg 3x2 - ^^same as^^

Hang Power Cleans:
60kg x3
70kg x3
80kg x3
90kg x2
95kg x2
100kg 2x1

Pull Ups:
bodyweight x14 - have a vid, but not really too happy with it

Pulldown Abs:
warm ups
stack +20kg x10, x9 AGAIN - grrrrr

Barbell Curls:
20kg x5
30kg x5
40kg x5
50kg x5
60kg x5
52.5kg x12 - 50% of bodyweight

Pushups:
1 minute - 42 reps → PRcore

Complete waste of a session really… getting a bit more comfortable with the oly stuff. Still nothing but a complete weekend warrior on them tho.

Didn’t really hit full hang on the pull ups, my left shoulder has a nasty habit of attempting to subluxate if I do tho :s I’l stick the vid up later…

Curls were fun… coulda actually got more with 60kg. Think my Pr’s around 62.5kg x7. I guess a mid term goal is to hit 50% of bodyweight x20. Mighta pushed on to 14 or 15 today but wanted to save a bit for the push ups.

Push ups - working towards 50 in less than a min!!

6

19/6

Still deloading…

Diesel Crew Shoulder Warm Ups:
5kg 'bells - 3 reps

Power Snatch:
30kg x3
40kg x2
50kg x2
60kg 5x2

Face Pulls:
2x15

Crossfit - Fran:
21 thrusters w/ 45kg + 21 pull ups
15 " " + 15 pull ups
9 " " + 9 pull ups
Time: 8 mins 32 seconds - BIG PR (previous 12.02)

Not much doing today really… went in, practiced some snatches from the floor, they were alright, not great, not crap, just alright!!

I said I’d try Fran when I was under 105kg, broke tha barrier on Wednesday so gave it a lash today. It’s about 5 weeks since I last did it, I came in with a time of 12.02 then. I was about 109kg then, and hadn’t done any cardio in about 2-3 years really!! I’ve been doing some runs, sprints and skipping today and it really showed on my time. A 30% improvement isn’t too shabby, and I have to say I’m pretty happy with it!!

Got thru all the thrusters in the first round in one go, then 5+5+5+6 on the pull ups, 8+7 on the second round of thrusters, 4+4+3+2+1 on the pull ups, and finished it off with all 9 in a row on the thrusters, 3+2+2+2 on the pull ups! I think if I planned it better I woulda broken the 8 minute barrier today. And if I learned to kip I’d hopefully see another substantial drop in time. For now I’m happy with that. I’ll give it another lash on my next deload in about 6 weeks time when I should be close to 100kg and hopefully I’ll get nearer 7 minutes then!

Time’s probably still not that great by CF standards, but considering I’ve done fcuk all cardio training, I’m happy!!

7

20/6

Hill sprints - Shallow Hill

300m warm up jog

20 up and downs

300m run

Time: 16 mins 48 seconds

The shallow hill’s about 24m long by my calcs. Actual length doesn’t really matter cos it is the same hill I’m running up and down after all!!

Last time I was on that hill 2 weeks ago I did 400m either way with 12 sprints in the middle. Total time was 15.43 so +8 sprints, -200m and +1mins 5seconds today so happy enough with that.

Almost feels like I’m not going enough now. Might try to get back down the hill a bit quicker in future!!

104.8kg this morning after a day of salt and chocolate yesterday so reasonably happy that I’m on target to get under 100kg by my birthday!!

8

21/6

Still deloading…

Squat (beltless):
60kg x5
100kg x5
120kg x5
142.5kg x10

Bench:
60kg x5
80kg x5
102.5kg x10

Deadlift (beltless):
60kg x5
100kg x5
140kg x5
182.5kg x5

Super light, super easy deload workout today. I should be back training hard from Monday onwards, but I’ve exams Tuesday til Friday so I won’t really have time.

Everything was nice and handy today. Squatted in my asics, bit squidgy but they do the job. My IT bands felt a little tight today. Probably due to the running and lack of squatting. I’ll make an effort to stretch and role them over the next week so I come back to squatting in top form!

9

23/6

Some ghey cardio with Kev today…

Hill runs - this bad boy; http://image38.webshots.com/38/8/3/1...3fXHtra_ph.jpg

20 up and downs

The Papal Fran (yes, I did):
21/15/9
Burpees and air squats
Time: 5 mins 46 seconds

Nice outdoor-in-the-sun workout today. The hill sprints were ok. They were done on the basis that Kev would run up and walk down, then I’d go up, walk down, Kev would go etc etc… In retrospect the rest periods may have been a little long…

The Papal Fran (it might be an actual Crossfit workout but that’s what I’M calling it) was brutal. One of the things I’m beginning to like about CF style workouts is that they let you maintain a relatively high intensity for sustained periods of time (I know 6 mins isn’t that long, but it’s more than I could run for at that intensity level).

Audit went well today… Strategic Finance and Management Accounting tomorrow, keep your fingers and toes crossed!!

10

26/6

Before I say anything I’m qualifying it… Just finished my CAP 2 chartered accounting exams today. They’re each 3.5 hours long, and you’re working for the entire time. And could probably do with at least another half an hour minimum on them all to lay them out well.

Anyway they’ve been at 9.30am Tues - Fri, and I’ve pretty much been coming home, napping for an hour, eating and studying. As a result I’ve done fcuk all training for the last 2 weeks.

I’ve averaged about 4 hours sleep a night for the last week, and got less than 3 last night. Needless to say I’m enormously drained at this stage. I won’t be in a fit state to train til at least Sunday at least by the time I’m finished celebrating, so I figured I had to get SOMETHING done today.

So now that my excuses are made;

5/3/1 - Wave 3 - “5” Day

Diesel Crew Shoulder Warm Up:
5kg 'bells - 3 reps

Pull Ups:
bodyweight 2x9

Deadlifts:
70kg x5
100kg x5
140kg x3
162.kg x5
182.5kg x5
belt
202.5kg x6 - Vooooooooooom

Absolutely disgusting attempt at deadlifting today. I’m expecting this wave to be really tough, but I’ll put the head down and keep on pushing.

11

28/6

5/3/1 - Wave 3 - “5” Day

Bench:
60kg x5
80kg x5
100kg x5
110kg x5
117.5kg x5
125kg x4 - grrrrrrrrrrr

Lucy Press:
87.5kg 3x10 - wtf??

Pull ups:
bodyweight 2x11, 1x10

Pulldown Abs:
plates 5, 7, 9 x10
plate 11 2x10

Today was never gonna be good… i’ve been out on pretty heavy nights on Friday and Saturday, and had only finished up about 8 hours before going into the gym this morning.

The lucy presses were actually good, and my pull ups werent bad considering they were done on box section steal (off a monolift) and not on a normal bar.

I’m actually making excuses left right and centre, but whatever. I’m keeping the progression as planned nad hoping once I’ve settled back into my normal routine again I’ll be fine!

12

1/7

5/3/1 - Wave 3 - “5” Day

Diesel Crew Shoulder Warm Up:
5kg 'bells - 3 reps

Pull Ups:
bodyweight 2x9

Squats:
60kg x5
100kg x5
135kg x5
155kg x5
belt
175kg x8
belt off
140kg x15
130kg x15

Step Ups:
30kg barbell 2x8

1 Leg RDL’s:
20kg bar 2x10

Lying Leg Curls:
Stack minus 2 plates 2x12

super setted with

Machine Preacher Curls:
Stack minus 2 plates 2x12

Pulldown Abs:
Stack +15kg plate 2x12, 1x9

All things considered, I’m pretty happy with that. The heat was an absolute killer today. Seriously. I’ve NEVER sweated as much in the gym. My t-shirt couldn’t have been wetter if it just came out of the washing machine. Apologies to anyone who was near me!

The squats were grand… thought it was gonna be another impossible day but I struggled thru fairly well. My perfect day plan was always gonna be 175 x8, below PR levels, but realistic and still and big push on the day. Was a bit worried coming thru the warm ups but I gritted my teeth and powered thru.

I’ve never tried really high rep squats without a belt before so I figured I may as well give it a lash today. Had 20 in the back of my head (ie Kev) but I knew it wasn’t realistic. My abs were cramping up by rep 12, and by rep 15 I just couldn;t keep my chest up anymore so I aborted. Obviously I’ll be gunning for 20 next time, and then onto max reps the week after. Think it’s just a matter of pain tolerance too. The 130x15 was equally horrible cos I was already shagged.

Step ups were nasty… don’t like single leg work. Same story with the 1 leg RDL’s tbh. Never done something that makes your whole leg feel as sh!t…

Been having a big of pain in the hammies with all the running and stuff I’ve been doing, and thought about it and realised I hadn’t trained anything knee flexion related in about 5-6 months, it’s all been hip dominant so I added some back in today and could really feel my hams working hard.

Abs are coming back. It’s amazing how they’re the things that are going now when I’m squatting, so obvs I need to push a bit harder there. Gonna run with Kev tomorrow, and get ripped to fcuking shreds over the next few weeks (well, maybe not to shreds, but less fat!!)

13

2/7

Kev’s Stations of The Cross

First set: 25 up and downs

break

Second set: 20 up and downs

Killer.

14

3/7

5/3/1 - Wave 3 - “5” Day

Diesel Crew Shoulder Warm Up:
5kg 'bells - 3 reps

Barbell Curls:
20kg x8
40kg x8
50kg 2x8

Military Press:
40kg x5
50kg x5
57.5kg x5
65kg x8

Standing One Arm Dumbbell Press:
25kg 'bell 2x10, 2x8

Close Grip Bench:
60kg x8
75kg x8
90kg 3x8

Chins:
bodyweight +10kg 3x8

Pure Navy Seals session today… get in, get the job done, don’t fcuk about and get out.

Happy with my pressing. It’s 2.5kg up and a rep extra from the last wave. Almost got a 9th too but couldnt get past the sticking point.

Still LOVING the one arm press. Just such a bad ass exercise. Can really feel it working too which is nice…

CG bench was decent… I’ll do 4 sets next week.

Same story with the chins. I’ve developed a weird arc-y pulling motion… dunno what the story is there tbh!!

Gun show at the start cos I’ve FINALLY decided to actually train my arms. Gonna have something bicep orientated at the start of every session from now until I’m happy with em!

15

6/7

5/3/1 - Wave 3 - “3” Day

Pull Ups:
bodyweight 2x10

Deadlifts:
70kg x5
100kg x3
140kg x3
170kg x3
190kg x3
belt
210kg x6

SLDL off a plate:
115kg 4x10

Good Mornings:
75kg 3x15

Pulldown Abs:
warm ups
stack +20kg 2x10 - fcuking FINALLY

Hanging Leg Raises:
x7, x5

Seated Dumbbell Curls:
15kg 'bells 3x15

Decided I badly needed to take the finger out today and do some decent deadlifting. Got a big aggressive and pulled the 210kg x6 pretty handily. After ANOTHER hard week end (they have to stop soon!!!) and about 12-14 hours cumulative sleep since Friday morning I’m happy enough with the performance.

SLDL’s were nice and nasty again…

High rep GM’s hurt like notthing else on my abs and low back (that’s a good thing!!)

Pushing my ab training hard again in preparation for competition season next year, happy to bust out 20kg for 2 sets of 10 again finally. And the hanging leg raises were nice to finish.

After 5-6 weeks of just going thru the motions the fire is back burning strong again. Watch out.

16

7/7

Stations off the Cross with Kevpants and Wifepants:
30 up and downs

Evil Papal Fran:
21 burpees, 2 hill sprints
21 squats, 2 hill sprints
15 burpees, 2 hill sprints
15 squats, 2 hill springs
9 burpees, 2 hill sprints
9 squats, 2 hill sprints

Time Taken: 11mins 16 seconds

Real lung buster today. Cardio’s improving tho.

17

8/7

5/3/1 - Wave 3 - “3” Day

Diesel Crew Shoulder Warm Up:
5kg 'bells - 4 reps

Bench:
60kg x5
80kg x3
100kg x3
115kg x3
130kg x4 - ugh
100kg 5x8

Dips:
bodyweight +10kg 4x10, 1x9 - grrrr!!

Pull Ups:
bodyweight +10kg x8, 6, 5, 5, 4

learning how to kip x50-60 (well… trying to learn)

Face Pulls:
plate 75 4x12

supersetted with

One Arm Barbell Curls:
22.5kg x8, 6, 5, 5

Not happy with my benching. My technique’s gone to absolute sh!t. I’m 100% sure it’s cos I’m benching so infrequently. Like even keeping tight and getting a proper bar path’s hard.

The 5x8 with 100kg got better as the sets went on, which reinforces my opinion.

Haven’t dipped in a few weeks and my bench hasn’t moved, so I’m saying not dipping is bad for my bench at the moment. Once again got a ****ty 9 on the final set, but I leaned in more and could feel it hitting my chest better this time.

Pull ups were grand… just said 5 sets of as many as possible!!

The kipping attempts were absolutely hilarious. Myself and Kev made an absolute DISGRACE of ourselves. Gonna have to keep working on them cos they were crap.

18

9/7

Stations of the cross - satan style:

Sprint up, run down x5

Repeated 4x!!

Times were;

Set 1 - 1min 21 seconds
Set 2 - 1 min 14 seconds
Set 3 - 1 min 13 seconds
Set 4 - 1 min 16 seconds

A total of 5 minutes and 4 seconds of work, but it was HORRIBLE. Literally getting up and down as fast as possible. Much more of a ball breaker, and a totally different kind of pain to 30 up and downs with walks.

19

10/7

5/3/1 - Wave 3 - “3” Day

Squats:
60kg 2x5
90kg x3
120kg x3
145kg x3
165kg x3
belt
185kg x5
belt off
140kg x16
130kg x20

Step Ups:
30kg 2x10

One Leg RDL’s:
30kg 2x10

Lying Leg Curls:
Stack minus 1 plate 3x10

supersetted with

Machine Preacher Curls:
Stack minus 3 plates 3x12

Hanging Leg Raises:
1x10, 1x8

Good stuff!

20

13/7

5/3/1 - Wave 3 - “3” Day

Barbell Curls:
40kg x8
50kg 2x10

Military Press:
40kg x3
55kg x3
62.5kg x3
70kg x6

Standing One Arm Dumbbell Press:
25kg 'bells 4x10

3 Board Press:
60kg x5
90kg x3
add in board
110kg x3
130kg 5x5

Pendlay Row:
60kg x6
80kg x6
100kg 5x6

Chins:
bodyweight +10kg x10, 8, 7(ish)

Weighted Decline Sit Ups:
10kg plate over face 5x10

supersetted with

Face Pulls:
plate 75 5x12

Stepping it up - training with a purpose again.