Awesome session. I’m hesitant to get carried away as I was using a pair of 20’s I have which I know to be a little lighter than that so it was probably 98-99kg but it felt so easy. I’ve been squeezing the bar as I unrack it and that’s making it seem really light and if nothing else it’s a little less intimidating to start lowering to your chest. Curls were hard, the whole session was under 45 minutes and i’m really pleased with my lifting the last few days.
I did broad jumps on carpet to reduce the impact on my joints. Found using my arms got me a noticeably greater distance, with the last four jumps peppering the 8ft mark.
Then followed an unimpressive series of runs that felt very difficult. Although I can take positives from the fact that i’ve run a slower series on a real track I did increase the recovery as I was giving a greater effort than I normally do in this workout due to the fact the times were so poor.
My first mistake is probably doing this within 48 hours of a deadlift and hamstring conditioning workout, in future i’ll move this to the Wednesday and probably not attend rugby training very often.
My second mistake is assuming that the times I ran last year in sprint spikes on one of the best outdoor tracks in the UK are equal to the ones I run on cinder. It’s hard to not draw a direct comparison when i’m used to associating X time with being good/bad but next time out i’ll focus on the effort i’m giving and aim for a consistent series of times.
Routine session, all done in about 25 minutes. I feel like my progress can only improve by benching twice a week as it’s in no way impeding my recovery for the next session.
I cut out a set of deadlift as my form wasn’t going to hold up. I think my back rounded slightly on the final rep on Sunday and it’s been a little sore the last few days. OH Squats were solid once again, final set was more than a little shaky including several half reps (i didn’t count those) where I felt the weight toppling and had to stand up. By the 9th rep I couldn’t feel my hands which I didn’t consider safe with a weight overhead and so I stopped it there.
I can definitely feel the effects of the last six consecutive days of training and if I can hold out tomorrow then Saturday I can rest up and get some stretching done.
I took it easy today and cut out the t-bar stuff, upped my 1+ on shoulder press slightly since I wasn’t doing the extra exercises. I had my camera over in the gym taking pics of my new lifting platform (DIY 2’ x 2’ wooden squares) and decided to video my final set of press to make sure my form was good.
Hamstrings still weren’t able to do the first set of curls without cramping slightly. I think I need a warm-up set of these next time. Broad jump was good, really attacking it after the first set. Deadlift off my platform, takes my bar from 5 inches off the ground to 9 which feels much better, I also switched to flat shoes from trainers. I found my shoulders were hunching forward in sumo deadlift and when I pulled them back my back felt in a safer position.
Going to take out dragon flags as I could feel my back during those and they also work my triceps too much for a lower body day. We shall see the return of the dreaded 14 minute P90X Ab Workout, probably tomorrow if my abs are ok. That also means i’ll scrap the oblique twist on whatever day I do that.
Struggling to type this, got a really good arm pump in that session. I was pleased with how easy 91kg feels, can’t believe it was only a short while ago that I had to grind out a double at that weight. Curls are getting HARDER, though i’m being very strict with my form and not allowing any torso contortionism to assist me. Close grip was increased 5kg out of laziness, I had no desire to take apart my DB’s for the necessary weight so I stuck on what was on it. Ended up being too much but i’m happy to fail to hit the target reps for a change.
I’m taking out DL’s on Thursday (those were short lived) and putting back step ups, I need to address the imbalance in my workouts that’s affecting my lower back and hamstrings.
The 200m runs were more evenly run, averaging around 29.0 seconds. I can tell the tightness in my lower back and upper glutes is limiting my RoM and I don’t feel at all fluid in my movements, it’s quite forced and jerky running. Now that DL’s are once a week and I have a unilateral replacement in step ups and an extra day for mobility work it should loosen up. Really pushed it today more out of frustration than desire.
Had a rest before benching, it’s starting to become difficult so i’ll keep that weight for next week. Final set of curls were going to be a struggle and with OH squats tomorrow I didn’t want to push it.
No more 10 rep stuff, was definitely working endurance rather than getting a foundation of strength first. Today I did some extra pre-workout stretching of pecs, lats, deltoids to allow my upper body the range so I can squat to proper depth. I was very happy with my depth today and will strive to match that in future sessions.
Good to have my step ups back, i’ve missed them. I can probably go a bit heavier and I would’ve done if I didn’t have rugby at the weekend.
I also spent a good 5-10 mins per glute finding knots with a golf ball yesterday. I watched a youtube video and the guy did it methodically whereas i’ve always just sat on it and wiggled until I find one. This identified a few extra knots right at the edge of my glute that I must miss with my old approach. Feels like I need to do it a few times a week to keep on top of it but definitely contributed to my freedom of movement today.
Rugby was cancelled as the other team pulled out, I don’t mind as it means I can sit and watch sports on tv all day and get my workout done early. Shoulder press was increased a little more than usual and it shows by the fact I only just got the 5 reps out. I still have muscle/tendon tightness in my right forearm around the elbow as I go to full extension on chin ups and so they were 3/4 chins today. I’ll roll my forearm with a tennis ball and hope it eases.
I’ve just remembered I missed out T-Bar press which should really be included on the days I miss rugby.
Changed my DL, my grip was narrower than shoulder width apart which was causing problems and I also used the cue to drive my hips forward and that helped me out. I reduced leg curls to sets of eight as that’s roughly where they start cramping, worked them hard in GHR by going nice and slow. I got stuck in traffic to and from work so didn’t have time to eat lunch until 6pm which was a bit shit.
Good bench, risked a 7th and it was slow to get there but locked it out nicely. I switched between sets of curls and close grip and that made both of them easier. Finished with Ab Ripper X, man I hate the guy in the video, didn’t make it beyond the first difficult exercise, will fit that in again on Thursday I think as I don’t see me improving too much doing it once a week.
My arms are filling out slightly and I think if I level off around 78-80kg I will have a decent physique. I’m around 74kg now and have stalled slightly as I ran out of porridge, PB and tuna and was eating shoddy alternatives like chocolate spread and sugary cereals.
That was a much easier session than last week, my bench is really coming along and I think i’m stronger than ever. I read the glute article and was just trying out the split squat variation with constant max. glute contraction throughout as that was the first one I couldn’t do easily. I’ve been doing the single leg glute bridge activation one the last few weeks as well as x-band sideways walking. I know something is making my hamstrings work too hard and I will find it eventually.
Oh man that is just a world of pain for my weak ass hip flexors. Ab ripper routine really highlights which ab movements you are poorer at and kills you off mid-set. I was determined to get beyond the worst one but it took so much out of me I couldn’t do the next one.
Overhead squats were good, tensing my glutes throughout the movement and could feel them being used at the bottom of the squat. Step ups were increased, thought it was too heavy the first rep but I got into it straight away and avoided using the free leg to push off the ground as that defeats the point.
Resting up tomorrow and hopefully rugby won’t be cancelled for a change.
Had a hard time with my pressing, bit of a headache and not really up for it. Yes, rugby was cancelled again. I enjoyed T-Bar press, moved it forward in my session and it was much more explosive.
I’m off creatine now and will probably stay off until the New Year, also thinking i’ve built up enough of a training effect to deserve an easy week which could be in the next week or so as my main lifts get to the end of the mini 5/3/1 cycle.
I changed my warm-up and did short stretches between the 3 sets of runs. I basically wanted to get the blood flowing which I felt broad jumps weren’t doing as well as another exercise could, and I hate the staionary bike and treadmill so improvised.
Deadlift was ok, first rep was no trouble but the second was considerably harder. Hamstring cramped agaiiinnn during leg curls, I did an aggressive set of 5-10 second stretches on quad, hams and calves before the next set and that helped a lot. I figured there was some tightness which is compounded by doing deadlifts before it and will probably keep this protocol in future.
It got me thinking that I don’t do any static hamstring strengthening, perhaps I should include single leg RDL’s after step ups…
Pretty psyched up for bench, I think my bench was too far forward because it was an extra reach to rack it each time. 102kg felt pretty heavy but once I start lowering it I can tell it’s under control. I’m going to increase the weight on curls as the first 6-7 are easy and I think it’s more endurance that makes it harder than the amount of weight.
Ab Ripper was carnage, I almost gave up twice and I couldn’t catch my breath for the last 15 seconds and just held on for the final few reps. He does a bonus 10 reps at the end which I would normally consider necessary to call it ‘complete’ but I worked damn hard so i’m calling it where it is. Pleased not only with the fact I went further each time but knowing it’s because i’m improving and not just trying harder as I can feel the first few sets become easier each time.
Ridiculous wind. At least it wasn’t raining and I could actually do the session, but the wind was around 20mph directly against me down the back straight, and the home straight is always flooded so I don’t have a choice to run with it. The most i’ve run into in a race is -2.4 m/s, this was probably around -8.0 m/s and I was verging on stationary jogging on the final rep.
Plusses I can take; how I actually felt running the bend as my legs were fresh and loose, also my strength at the end of the run that goes beyond the time I would actually be running in a race, and finally my recovery seemed to improve and I wasn’t too out of breath starting any of the reps.
I still have doms from Monday’s ab work and it’s really tender. I don’t know if reducing the workload for a whole week is necessary but i’m going to miss out tomorrow’s bench/curls.