Those Zerchers are hell but I have the impression both front squats and zerchers come with a bonus for the arms. note I upped some of the lifts.
Thought: I really must focus on getting the push press form correct. Sets 1 and 2 were poor but 3, 4, and 5 are much better. perhaps if I’d used proper technique I might even have done 80kg for the whole lot.
(actually I thought the 95kg bench felt heavy but that was because it was a 105kg bench.)
and today’s:
that concludes week 2. week 3 begins! that’s going to be the same days 1 and 2 with 6 sets of 3 and maybe some more weight, then a 321, 321 pattern on day 3, presumably with the three heaviest weight targets for each lift. followed, of course, by conditioning day.
Week 4 is meant to be a bodybuilding week but I am thinking about maybe pulling conditioning workouts from the whole plan into a conditioning week. In other news, I took ballet class today and got a double turn from second.
So far this week: two classes and this. for some reason I sucked and this took ages. I wanted to up the weight on the incline bench press but it wasn’t happening.
so I got vaccinated! she was cute and appreciative of delts! obviously of course I’m taken and in any case I’d have taken the shot on a concrete cock through my ear.
Today:
…and no, probably don’t do this the day after your bug shot. lifts up, but everything took a week, and by the time I walked home I was dead in the legs and just wanted to lie down. Weird aches popping up all over, one area or muscle group after another.
Day 3 Wk 3
Squat 6x3 - 1x3x180kg, 5x3x175kg // didn’t like the way my arms were twitching here
Bench 6x3 - 6x3x85kg
Trap Bar Deadlift - 6x3x155kg // hah. I wanted to do this with 145kg but miscounted. Missed the first. Manned up and tried again. Got first set more like 3x1x. Old Cypriot guy suggested changing my grip. Cranked out two sets. Realized it was 10kg over target. Thought I’d do the whole lot. Skipped rows.
and today was ballet class. dammit. I am beginning to get sporadic double turns. next week the studios are going to open and I am faced with a question: lockdown meant I could take a really excellent zoom class every weekday lunchtime, but I can’t realistically take the time away from work to trek over to Covent Garden like that. hmm.
Did conditioning day as above on Saturday. Now, here’s the interesting bit - as you’ve possibly noticed I’ve frankenstein’d Thibs’ Jacked Athlete 3-1 to make the fourth day in each week a conditioning day rather than either a conditioning or a mass day, and having done the first three weeks, on the same basis I’ve pulled the conditioning days together into a conditioning week:
Could do more of this. obviously there’s the usual “deload fun” of throwing the weights about as if you were as good as that. but also a great workout high that left me breathing through my arse.
Did workout 4, week 1, block 2 repeating the conditioning with the speed work, jumps, and throws but had to sack off the squats and push presses because I ran out of time queuing for the rack.
Friday ballet class.
Today, day 1, week 2, block 2 plus catching up the missed stuff as warmups.
Back squat: 120kg 4x5 for speed
Back squat 180kg 6x1 pause 6x1
Push press 60kg 4x5 for speed
Bench press 90kg 6x2
Trap bar deadlift 155kg 6x1 pause 6x1
Chin up 2x6
Also, I noticed people doing Jefferson squats - that weird one where you lift the bar between your legs
Back squat 4x3 185kg // still not quite ok with 190kg which I used to do regularly pre pandemic
Bench press 4x3 95kg // fine
Trap bar deadlift 3x3 155kg 1x3 165kg // I texted the gf to say good luck for some meeting and promised her a giant deadlift, so added 10kg for the last set and got it. very pleased with this as I have always hated deadlifts and 165kg was my 1RM PR
Chin up 4x3