18 Months to States

Training Training Logs
21

Okay, so my trip began with a severe allergic reaction to something and a face that looked like the elephant man haha That meant most of the recent past was in bed.

I’m almost off meds now so today I was itching to do something. I’m in the country side so it looked bleak but after a bit of a wander and surveying my options, this is what happened:

Movement
A1. Natural stone overhead press 5x12-20
A2. Chins off a branch 5x6

B1. Natural stone stiff leg deadlift 5x3
B2. Hip bridge with stone 5x20

C. Biceps curl with gas bottle 2x50

D. Stone carry 3xfield length

Let me first say that training like this in an open field first thing on a warm morning with the sun peaking over mountains in the backdrop was superb. If only I was naked.

I found a flattish about shoulder width stone for pressing and a roundish stone for pulling. The flat stone was a bit light so I kept the pace up in the pressing.

The only issue with the pulling stone was I couldn’t lock out so I went with bridges with the lighter stone to finish off - I dont know what was worse, stone digging into my crotch or cement “step” in my back haha. I want to shoulder that pulling stone by the time I leave.

There was a rusted out gas bottle by the road which did the trick for curls. This actually felt pretty nice to curl haha

The stone carry was absolute hell. Not quite puke worthy but close.

Anyway, my forearms were burning and pumped forever after this. The natural stones are a dog to keep steady/hold and this really exposed the lack of stabilising strength I have. The top of the press got a bit dicey at times - nothing like a heavy rock wobbling above your head haha

The only downside was I couldn’t enjoy the lovely eggs and bacon I had earlier on this trip as a chaser to this training because that may be the allergen.

Anyway, 2 days off now as I need to travel again.

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22

Movement
A1. Natural Stone Squat 5x5
A2. Railway track t-bar row 5x15

B1. Dips 5x10
B2. Railway track t-bar row 5x10-15

C. Stone Lat raise 2x25

D. Lunge (home)

I’m not sure how effective squatting a stone is, the most difficult part was holding the thing. It felt heavy so I’ll take it. I think I have some decent stomach and arm hiccies from it. Here’s the stone squat, this shot is as I’m lapping it (head cropped off because camera setup botch - no calves, love handles… lotsa work to do)

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For however poor the squat was, the tbar row felt excellent haha I found a railway track segment which was perfect. Far heavier than I anticipated.

I did dips in the corner of a hand rail, which had a post in it so these hurt my neck more than anything but better than nothing.

Lunges were from the field home both uphill and down - beyond awful. This was truly a “WTF are you doing man?” self talk exercise - I had to push through about 10 times. Afterwards I curled up and quivered on the couch ahaha

Meals

  • Greek yoghurt (250g), mixed fruit, honey, tea
  • Toast
  • flat bread, hommus, salad and chicken
  • grilled meats, salad, potato
2 Likes
23

Enjoying the log so far man. I’ll be following along!

24

Thanks for dropping in. Really appreciate the support.

Movement
A1. Natural Stone Strict Press 5x10-15
A2. Chins 5x5

B1. Natural Stone Sumo Deadlifts 3x5
B2. Chins 3x5

C. Stone Biceps Curls 1x25

I dont know how much these stones weigh but I am trying to do a few more reps each session.

Part of me wants to weigh the stones, part of me thinks I’ll weigh them and the bastards would come out to 20-30kg haha

My nephew decided he wanted to come along today (I’ve met up with my brother) which meant a later start. Unfortunately it ended up being the middle of the day… and 37 degrees!

Doing the deadlifts sumo meant I could get full lock out but these were complete bastards in the full sun after the pressing. I felt pretty gassed.

I sat down after the first set of the deadlift/pullup superset and said “It’s way too hot to keep doing this” then I turned to my nephew and said “to that, you say: all I hear is excuses” and I started my next set.

I sat down again and I forgot what I said but I got a “Uncle, all I hear is excuses” back haha.

Anyway, the 3rd set was definitely the last one. I did some biceps and walked home.

Meals

  • Greek yoghurt w/fruit and honey
  • tomatoes/capsicum stuffed with rice and vegetables , baked beans and cheese pie
  • lentil soup, ground beef and veggie patties with a yoghurt dip, salad, potatoes

One thing I love about where I am staying is there is no low fat anything and typically everything is delicious.

I feel I have dropped weight eating like this but like the stones, perception and reality may not align hah

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25

Movement
A1. Stone step ups 3x10
A2. t-bar rows 3x15

B1. Dips 3x10
B2. T-bar rows 3x15

C. Seated Stone lat raises 2x25

D. Light stone carries 2x15m

I decided the stone squats weren’t really doing it for me so I carried a lighter stone to a platform and did step ups. Step ups are an awful exercise haha

My railroad track segment was too hot to hold today so I got around that by tearing some leaves off a nearby tree and using them as “gloves”

I feel a bit like MacGyver training like this!

Meals

  • greek yoghurt, fruit and honey plus buttered toast.
  • chicken gyros in pita
  • bread and dips, grilled octopus, salad
  • ice cream

The ice cream was glorious.
That is all.

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26

Back home! First day in the gym in 6 weeks, I planned for a nice light session to work my way back into things but this ended up feeling very crap haha

A. Deadlift 4x6x120kg
B. Front Squat 2x6x72.5kg
C. Box Jumps 4x4
D. Leg Curl 2x12x30kg

The wheels fell off my diet in my last two weeks away (think ice cream plus, beer and more most days). I came back weighing the same as I left. On the bright side, it would seem the food I was eating worked well with me for the first 4 weeks.

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27

For a second there i was thinking you’re lifting career was based on stone workouts, lol then i read you were staying somewhere😂 epic man

28

Haha it would be cool but even stones have their limitations. Thanks for dropping by!

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29

I walked into the gym, turned the corner to get to the power stations to find a guy was sprawled out doing glute bridges.

It took me a while to workout what was going on but by then he had completed two full hip thrusts maintaining full eye contact with me the whole time.

I panicked and scuttled to the racks to do my work. I’m not sure how I’m going to break this to my better half.

Movement
A1. Press 6x30kg, 6x40, 6x45, 6x47.5
A2. Pullups 4x5

B1. Close Grip Bench 12x40, 12x50, 10x60, 8x60
B2. DB Row 4x30

C. Push Press 3x4x50
D. Lat Raise 2x12x5kg

  • I began pressing behind the neck as a warm up. I was surprised with my fairly good mobility. So perhaps something mechanical is up when racking in the front
  • I decided to push press at the end of workout. I’m hoping this helps with force production when fatigued. This is supposed to be speed work but it was MUCH harder than at the start of the workout.
30

A1. Press 10x30kg 10x40 8x45 6x47.5
A2. Chin ups 4x5

B1. Close Grip Spoto Press 12x40 12x40 10x50 8x60
B2. DB Row 4x5x30kg

C. Slamball Throws 4x4x20kg

D. Cable Preacher Curls 4x12xlight

  • Lesson for the day: don’t try catch a 20kg slamball after you’ve thrown it. Write this one down, it’s important. My old coach would say “yeah, don’t do that” when you did something stupid, his words echoed in my head as I realised I was doing something dumb haha

  • The spoto/row SS for volume was pretty horrible combo but I feel spotos will have great carryover to the overhead stuff, better than straight benching anyway

  • Even though I had a grand total of 2 hours sleep, this felt a bunch better than the first two sessions, getting over the jetlag and a bit of a cold

  • Elbow felt a bit hot, so I stuck with chins and finished off with light preachers.

31

Front Squat 5x80kg 2x5x70kg
Paused Deadlift 3x5x100kg
Box Jumps 4x4
Preacher Curls 3x8xwhatever

I got some advice to do paused deadlifts, that advice was great.

I found that I lost tightness in the lats after breaking the floor and I’d let the weight come forward. The focus of this session was just to keep my lats tight right through and 100kg was good enough for that.

Box Jumps felt sluggish until set 3 where they began to feel pretty good. I’m hopeful jumping with fatigued legs will pay off because it feels pretty crap haha

32

A. Front Squat 6x80kg 4x5x70kg
B. Press 5x50kg, 3x5x45kg

Had a bit of a sleep in today so just did bare minimum work.

I found myself some paleo chipolatas which I am about to sit down to. I’m not into the paleo thing but these are beef, carrot, onion in sheep gut lining. Equal parts protein and fat. I’m off eggs for a bit so I’m seeing how these go.

33

Cold morning and my body really did not like it. Elbow was hot from when I woke up, shoulder was0 bothering me and hip was stiff and pinchy.

A. Front Squat 1x5x80kg
B. Push Press 1x5x60kg
C. 2" Block Pull 1x7x120kg

My joints weren’t too upset at me with this.

34

Finished off fighting a bad cold. The goal was to get the work in with a a fair bit left in me.

A. Front Squat 4x12x65kg
B. Leg Press 3x12x no idea
C. Leg Curl 3x12 x 45kg
D. Box Jumps 4x1

The squats were hell and each set finished with a coughing fit :frowning:

I played with the leg press a bit. I’m not sure why this movement has fallen out of favour. Once I found a good foot position it felt really good and that it would carry over to the squat nicely.

Jumps and curls to finish off.

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35

A lot of my aches have disappeared, I think these were related to bad cold/flu than anything else.

A. Push Press 3x8x50kg
B. Close Grip Bench Press 3x10x60kg
C. Hammer Strength Iso Row 4x10x85kg
D. DB Front Raise 3x10x10kg
E. DB Skullcrusher 2x10x10kg
F. Hammer Curl 2x10x10kg

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36

A. Front Squat 5x55kg, 5x65 5x5x72.5
B. Press upto 3x57.5
C. Neutral Grip DB Incline Press 3x8x25kg
D. EZ bar Biceps Curl 3x8x25kg
E. Hanging Leg Raises 3x8

Today felt pretty good.

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37

I was the only sucker who thought training at 4am on a Monday was a good idea. I decided to pretend I was a rich dude in my over-the-top private gym.

A1. Close Grip Bench Press 5x62.5kg 5x72.5 3x5x82.5 2x5x77.5
A2. DB Row 8x25kg 8x30 8x35 8x40

B1. Deadlift upto 3x150kg
B2. KB Swing 3x8x20kg

C. Lat Raises 3x8x10kg

I got a bit excited with the bench. I think I had 5 sets in me but it would have been a bitch. Deadlifts with KB swings and rows beforehand is tough work!

38

A1. Press 5x40kg 5x45 5x5x50
A2. Chins 2x6*

B. Front Squat upto 3x80kg
C. Dips 3x8
D. Lat pulldowns 2x8x"8"*
E. Back Extensions 3x8
F. Jumps 5x2

The front squat really flew up today. I don’t know if it was the fact that I didn’t superset it or the 3 donuts I ate the night before but I’ll take it haha

*My elbow felt really hot so I stopped after the second set of chins and did lat pulldowns later on. Lat pulldowns are a pretty awesome movement IMO and no elbow issues. Still, very slowly edging to 3x10 on the chins.

My goal for the jumps was to land as softly as possible. I’d describe my landing as an elephant slipping over. Oh well, something to work on.

These end of training jumps are feeling more explosive though. So I feel my plan is working - with a bit of luck, it will pay off in a comp.

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39

This felt like crap so no assistance today (well, KB swings only).

A1. Deadlift 5x100kg 5x112.5 5x5x125
A2. KB Swings 3x8x20kg

B. Close Grip Bench Press upto 3x85kg

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40

Doing something is always better than nothing! Keep up the good work!

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