What a game! We were 11-10 up at half time, they’d scored tries twice from taking quick penalties which we weren’t ready for, and i’d say we were the stronger team. I came on in the second half at right wing and didn’t have much defensive work to do, the 9 came blindside out a scrum and I tackled him well and threw him into touch before he could pass to their wing. I was pleased with my decision to run a support line when we broke down the other wing, as it came across to the middle and I was able to be part of a nice move that ended with us scoring in the corner. Had a similar situation, our full back ran it on the touchline and popped it inside to me and although I crossed the line I was mauled by 3 guys who stopped me from touching the ball down.
They brought on a stocky winger who hit our 13 with the hardest tackle i’ve seen in my life, which smashed him backwards into the 12 and possibly fractured his cheekbone from hitting the back of 13’s head. It meant I had to move to outside centre while they both went off for treatment and we held on well for the win.
That team were previously undefeated and I was just a bit gutted to find out that our team lost to bottom of the table last week in my absence as we have such a good side that could push for promotion.
Started the bicep curls and arms were having none of it so happy to just have press and pullups. Swapped this with my bench day as shoulders feel like they are fine but chest doesn’t from rugby.
Hex Bar Deadlift 3 x 102.5kg, 3 x 115kg, 3 x 130kg, 6 x 130kg - screwed up grip, rested and did my 3+ again
Pogo Jumps 4 x 25 x 2.5kg
RDL 4 x 10 x 65kg (90 secs)
Abductor/Adductor Raises 2 x 15
Think i’m being impatient with my deadlifts, my PB is 160kg and I should be happy with where I am rather than trying to rush things. Worked on half a dozen technical points and forgot a key one - squeezing the bar - and so my grip gave out on the third rep. I gave it another few minutes rest and repeated my 3+ for a proper number. Pogo jumps are coming along, feel good spring off the ground. I filmed my RDL and was pleasantly surprised to see my back was perfectly straight, feels like i was possibly curving but must be my imagination.
Changed my DL set up and felt better, was putting my feet too far forward so I set up as if the bar went across the middle and I was reaching to my toes rather than ankles. Back squats were fine. Have a hamstring pain but not concerned, RDL makes them feel so tender that the slightest stretch feels like i’ll pull it the day after legs.
Bench Press 3 x 80kg, 3 x 90kg, 3 x 102.5kg
Incline Row 3 x 10 x 22.5kg
Close Grip Bench Press 3 x 10 x 60kg
Rotator Cuff 2 x 12 x 5kg
Front Plank 3 x 40 secs, V Sit 3 x 15
Did upper body as well. Bench was a real struggle, decided that pushing my rows, close grip and curl/crusher combo to failure is fatiguing my arms for the following week even though they feel ok so I cut them back to 3 sets and dropped the bi/tri superset. I think rugby is also more tiring on the arms than I plan for so don’t need to do as much assistance work in-season.
Another undefeated side beaten. They didn’t trouble us at all and it should really have been a bigger win. Our 12 couldn’t catch so had an overlap on several occasions and he couldn’t put it through the hands to me. We realised they had good forwards and poor backs in the second half and tried spreading the ball more. I caught a kick and charged down the middle, breaking a few tackles and setting someone up for a try. Got headbutted in the testicles by a guy who put his head in the wrong position to tackle, was down for a few minutes from that.
Bicep is a bit sore from self myofascial release and balls ache today but apart from that i’m all good.
During the press I felt a strain to the side of my belly button, either ab or deep lying hip flexor. It was enough for me to take out abs and my bicep hadn’t healed from Friday’s SMR work which left a rather bare session.
Power Clean 3 x 6 x 65kg - did the last set as six singles AFAP, pre-loaded the hamstring and worked on pushing hips through to triple extension, felt so much more tiring that way
Hex Bar Deadlift 5 x 110kg, 3 x 122.5kg, 6 x 137.5kg - working with a more upright posture which feels better, grip gave out before legs
Pogo Jumps 4 x 25 x 2.5kg
RDL 4 x 10 x 65kg (90 secs rest)
Adductor/Abductor Raise 2 x 15
Hex Bar Deadlift Hold - 70kg for 62 secs
Excellent session, if only my grip could hold longer. I found keeping my torso more upright felt easier for lifting and I could’ve got an extra few reps there. Finished with grip work, was going to do 20kg plates but why not use my hex bar. I can’t imagine a working set going on beyond 60 secs so will maybe work with 80kg+ for grip work.
A1 Bicep Curls 12.5kg x 12,12,12,12 (1 min)
A2 Skull Crushers 12.5kg x 12,12,12 (2 min)
Rotator Cuff 2 x 12 x 5kg
Front Plank 3 x 40 secs, V Sit 3 x 15
Unhappy with my progress as I feel for all the volume I do it’s not helping me get any stronger. I put 10kg on my close grip and worked off sets of 8, switched rows to 8’s and slowly lowered each rep, and put 2.5kg more on the arm superset and found that too easy (stopped at 3 sets of crushers out of choice not fatigue), so I think it’ll have to be 15’s next time.
I guess i’m only benching once a week so i don’t expect much progress but i’m caught up in comparing to last year when i was doing singles at 112.5 and higher, which I guess i’m not far away from. It still feels awful and 3 x 95kg was so tough, had to really psyche myself up to do 107.5kg which given the previous sets went up quite nicely.
Hex Bar DL 5 x 110kg, 3 x 125kg, 2 x 140kg - grip failed almost immediately!
BBB Squat 5 x 10 x 95kg - FMLegs, that was rough
Wrist Roller (Ab Wheel + Skipping rope) - 3 x 2.5kg both directions up and down (60 secs)
Oh Jesus!! My new predicted 1RM for DL was 160kg so my 60% was just over 95kg, which is how i’m calculating my BBB squats. Did this weight once before but wasn’t as bad as that. Legs are super sickly, as are forearms from the wrist roller, crazy lactic. No abs as i’m dead.
On a lighter note, I realised a) I need a bloody deload week and b) I need short & long term goals. I re-read 5/3/1 and it’s 10lb and 5lb jumps so I adjusted my calculations, which are based on 5kg and 2.5kg, to 4kg and 2kg. That looks like measly increases if you look short term, but if I stick with the program and hit all my targets, allowing to repeat one cycle (basically counting 4 weeks in a month and assuming 12 cycles next year) I could bring in Xmas 2015 with a 90kg OHP, 135kg Bench and 195kg DL. Given my graph (one page back) illustrating how my own predicted 1RM’s fluctuate since 2010 rather than increase I think it would be a nice target to stick with 5/3/1 for a whole year and see how it pans out. I can tick off quarterly goals which are 8kg or 16kg increments and adjust should I feel the need.
Next target would be end of March - 1+ will be OHP - 70kg, Bench Press - 115kg, Deadlift - 157.5kg. If I was fresh I could do all of those now but hopefully there will be more than one rep in some instances.
Obviously not a struggle as it’s a deload. I warmed up fully as if I was lifting heavy, and I set up and executed every rep with all the techniques of proper lifts. I know the warm up helps recovery as i’m getting blood flowing to the muscles, and I know shitty form won’t help the movement pattern so it was nice to do everything properly.
I can feel how much my body needs rest as i’d have done heavy DL today and press tomorrow in a normal week. Will do deadlift & bench in three days time, other than that i’m going to fit in pilates twice to help my core and easy stretches afterwards.
That’s me done for the week. Have about 72 hours before i’m going to do 5/3/1 week 1 again with deadlifts. Still feel sore and my body definitely needs the full week if not more. I’ve been eating normally and not bothering with any peri-workout nutrition. Pilates was good, need a stretching session probably tomorrow as I can feel my calves are pretty tight as are hip flexors.
Edit:
Nov 7
Grip Strength
Single Hand Plate Pinch 10 x 10kg x 10 secs, 1 x 15kg x 10 secs
Did doubles, 10kg per hand, 5-30 secs rest per set. I prefer doing it for time than for reps. I have plates with a small ridge which obviously is cheating but it was still difficult and my forearms kill. Can finish my DL sessions either with a hold or hanging from the bar for time.
Power Clean 2 x 5 x 70kg - performed as singles, probably better doing <5 reps as the 5th wasn’t as explosive
Hex Bar Deadlift - 5 x 97.5kg, 5 x 112.5kg, 11 x 127.5kg
Pogo Jumps 4 x 25 x 2.5kg
RDL 4 x 10 x 65kg - didn’t go as low here but still felt it, made sure lower back was straight
Adductor/Abductor Raise 2 x 15
Grip Strength: Hex Bar Hold 100kg for 34 secs - wow, killer
Good session, happiest with my weight as I feel leaner than a month ago but 1kg heavier. Power cleans are so much stronger by leaning back to pre-load hamstrings with tension, feel like I could do 100kg+.
A1 Curls 15kg x 10, 10, 9
A2 Crushers 15kg x 10, 10, 10
Plank 40 sec, V-Sit 15
Repeated my 5+ week to get everything aligned. Same reps as last time. Upped the superset to 15kg and it felt better, did a mixture of different bicep and tricep exercises to get the best pump.
Moving house at the weekend and new place doesn’t have space for my weights. Have had access to a home gym for the last 12 years so i’m hoping I can maintain my training consistency in a commercial gym. Last session at home will be Thursday
Bench Press 5 x 75kg, 5 x 85kg, 5 x 97.5kg - not confident my last two reps were deep enough
Incline Rows 4 x 8 x 22.5kg
Close Grip Bench Press 4 x 8 x 70kg
Rotator Cuff 2 x 12 x 5kg
An emotional session, my last in a home gym for probably the next 6-12 months. Lifting is a real love of mine and I hope to get set up in a local gym at the weekend.
Selected for rugby match on Saturday, we’re now joint top of the league with 5 wins in 7, need to improve our points difference with some big wins over the smaller teams.
We faced a team with a strong forward pack and not much going on in the backs. I was a bit annoyed to find with only 16 players i was the one to start on the bench, the guy ahead of me was half a foot shorter and about 10kg lighter but he really impressed me with his footwork and tactical awareness in the warm-up so felt bad for judging him on physique.
I came on at 20 mins as the winger got injured, and as I had to leave early I agreed to play 45 mins then come off for the last 15. Had a great chance with an overlap but the 13 was greedy and held onto it, most of the crowd could see the pass was on and he apologised after as it was pretty much a guaranteed try. The second half was much better, our full back is great at running in open play and we passed it out our own 22, I went round someone on the wing and popped it back inside, and about five passes later we finished it with a great try in first phase.
The opposition had a few injuries and went down to 13 so we dropped to 14 men and went to uncontested scrums. The game was wrapped up and I capped my game off with a try, stepping inside the last man and handing him off. I had to leave before the post-game chat but I think they’ll be disappointed at conceding in the final minutes.
Workout in a real gym! Metroflex in South London. Google Maps
KB Swing 2 x 10 x 15kg
Power Clean 3 x 4 x 70kg
Hex Bar Deadlift 3 x 105kg, 3 x 120kg, 7 x 135kg
Pogo Jump 4 x 25 x 2.5kg
RDL 4 x 10 x 65kg
Abductor/Adductor Raise 2 x 15
Hanging Leg Raise 4 x 8
Plate Pinch 3 x 20 secs with 2 x 5kg plates (so 10kg with left hand, then swap hands every 20 secs)
First, the gym: i’ve either used weights at home or the very empty one at my University athletics club since I was 15 (now 27), so the concept of waiting my turn for equipment is relatively new to me. It started shakily as I couldn’t locate a) any floor space or b) anything I needed, and almost turned it into an upper body session. Long story short, if it went like today i’ll be happy but I can see busy times being impossible to get stuff done in a reasonable time. Today I was done in 90 mins.
Session: Good. I spotted a hex bar tucked away in the corner and despite it being so worn the collars slipped off and the plates were sloped it went well. Managed to do everything I had written down and it was nice to do leg raises off a real chin-up bar rather than precariously set my squat rack to it’s highest setting and hang off the bar.
Alternate DB Bench Press 32.5kg x 20, 20, 12, 12 - couldn’t find 30kg which is what I had written down
Alt DB Curls 15kg x 10, 10, 9, 8
Rotator Cuff 2 x 12 x 5kg
Ab Wheel 3 x 15 (60 secs)
There are definitely some machines that I haven’t the scoobiest fucking doo how to use but I watched a guy use the machine row and jumped on after him to save me finding a sturdy bench for incline rows. I was really pleased to squeeze out the third rep on bench as failing in my first week would be embarrassing. I put in DB bench and will move close grip to my OHP day. Also split up biceps and triceps to get a big pump in one each workout. Happy with every aspect of that session.
Hex Bar Deadlift 3 x 105kg, 3 x 120kg, 3 x 135kg - found the deadlift tough but i’ve had a day less recovery than usual
Pogo Jumps 3 x 25 x 2.5kg
Back Squat 3 x 10 x 100kg (60 secs) - had a video to check my depth and it seemed borderline
Adductor/Abductor Raise 2 x 15
Hanging Leg Raise 4 x 8
Quite a short duration, out the door before I felt like i’d done much. I think my squats were deep enough, normally place an upside down bucket behind me for depth check and was trying to gauge in the mirror each rep. Either way the first two sets were easy and I just about managed the third.
OHP 3 x 45kg, 3 x 52.5kg, 5 x 60kg - stretched t-spine prior to this and felt better
Pullups (35 total) 7, 10, 6, 6, 5 + 1
Close Grip Bench Press 8, 8, 8, 6 x 70kg
Single Arm DB Extension 16kg x 10, 7 - abandoned when I realised I could do tricep pushdown on the cable machine
Tricep Pushdown - 4 x 10 x 25kg
Bicep Cable Curl - 1 x 10 x 30kg, 2 x 10 x 35kg
Like a kid in a candy shop! It didn’t cross my mind that I can use the cables for my triceps and i’m really pleased with the pump I got with that compared to normal bi/tri work. This could be a very good year for me, being the smallest guy in the gym is so motivating as even if I don’t want to be their size I can certainly appreciate the volume of work they do and the intensity with which it’s carried out compared to me. Probably f**ked myself over for rugby on Saturday, i’m already thinking of the tricep and upper back doms from a combination of pullups, close grip and pushdowns.
Yeh, so they were a good side. I think we all knew from the first minute they would win, as their forwards drove about 30m with the ball and put it down from kickoff. They scored three converted tried in the first 10 mins to lead 21-0, and one of our front row came off injured with no replacement so we had to go to uncontested scrums. That saved it being a much worse scoreline, but they still dominated in open play and scored a few more before half time. We had a quickly taken penalty ran over the line and changed ends 38-7 down.
I think our backs were evenly matched if not better as they dropped a lot of passes, but missed tackles cost us three or four late tries.
Personally I feel my game was good, although I didn’t get involved as much in the first half. I only had two or three carries, passing it back inside each time before being tackled. I was pleased with my tackling, I took down a forward 1 v 1 on a few occasions and their winger didn’t get passed me all day and eventually stopped trying. They had a line break and I chased their 9 for about 70m and closed the gap but couldn’t get him before he scored, and annoyingly our 9 did the same thing immediately after but needed someone on my wing (i.e. me) to be running a support line and I was breathing out my arse about 20m behind him from the last sprint.
Our 9 was good but had a few wayward passes, and our 10 couldn’t catch and when he did he was shit at passing, which is why I touched the ball three times in 80 minutes despite us trying to play a running game. Our best back was stuck on the other wing and I feel if he and I were in the centres we’d have offered a better attack.
No game next week so will be good to get a full week of weights rather than easing off on Wed/Thurs.
