It was very muddy where we went and although a few km were on road the majority of it was rough terrain and annoyingly was so bad in places my tyres were slipping and I had to walk the bike. Between us my mate and I fell over about 40 times and gaining any fitness out of it wasn’t really possible. Good fun though.
Dec 27
Pause Squats
5 x 78.5kg
5 x 83.5kg
5 x 88.5kg
RLESS
3 x 8 x 68.5kg
SLRDL
3 x 8 x 29kg
Single Leg Calf Lowers
2 x 25
Bare Foot Treadmill Walk
37 mins, 3 degree incline, 5.8kph
Immediately improving on pause squats and started at the heaviest weight I did last week. RLESS were better, didn’t lose my balance but my thighs felt like they were going to explode on several occasions. Finished with light cardio, using a template from an article on T-Nation (on week 2 of it now) this is the first one i’ve done post-workout and not carb-fasted early morning, hoping it doubles up as a nice long warm down. My trainers are a bit worn and unsupportive so I figured i’d strengthen my feet and do it bare foot.
Did the upper body exercises as a circuit with 2 mins rest, enjoyed that format. Cable lift was probably too easy, standing ab wheel was most certainly not and I could only manage 5 reps per set.
Good session!! Been a bit worked up today and needed to vent in the gym. I did agile 8 as I think my warm up needs work and there’s no point having the ability to lift more but not tapping into it purely because you can’t be arsed to run through 10 mins of prep work. Sliding leg curls are getting much easier now, will read up on how to progress without jumping straight into the single leg variation.
No problems with that, did both DB’s at once for curls and that made a difference to how it felt. No time for abs as I had places to be. Work is going to be hectic for the first week of 2013, i’ll find time for weights and will do my best to fit in a track session.
Three sets of SLRDL, three lots of throwing up. It must be a combination of the effort and the back and forth movement but I was straight out the window after the set. Squats were fine again, I think I only struggle with the fatigue and the weight itself isn’t a problem. Calf lowers can go up in reps.
Missed all cardio this week, need to fit it in on specific days rather than doing it when I remember to. Cable lifts were very hard, a little jerky to get the final reps out. All else good.
Had to take a few days off as I was helping a mate take apart an old shed at the weekend and ended up stepping on a plank of wood with a nail in it, hurts to put pressure on and arms are probably fine but with the tetanus shot I figured i’d just rest two days and pick up my workouts then.
Don’t want to say I can or can’t do 4 reps at this weight, I just wasn’t in a groove and did the bare minimum reps. Thinking about it 3 x 144kg is pretty good and the most i’ve ever done for reps. Might put sliding curls to 10 and GHR to 6.
Never doubted that I could get the 5th rep out but it was a long time going up. I don’t have time for ab ripper x so I did a token few ab wheel rolls to do something. Need to get on top of my core work, I know compound lifts work the core but i’d like a little routine 3x/wk to do.
Was genuinely bare foot last time and got a blister from the heat/friction of the belt, so this morning was in socks and with the help of the radio I was able to zone out and didn’t clock watch until the final 6 mins.
Jan 11
Pause Squats
5 x 98.5kg
5 x 103.5kg
Regular Squats
8 x 108.5kg
RLESS
3 x 8 x 68.5kg
SLRDL
3 x 8 x 29kg
Single Leg Calf Lowers
2 x 40
I couldn’t have done all five pauses at 108kg and I thought about dropping it from a 5 sec to a 3 sec pause, but decided on a quick set of 8 normal reps. Don’t know where that exercise will go from there, might have to repeat sets around 103kg or do 5,4,3. RLESS and SLRDL were both intense but manageable. Love the burn from calf lowers, could do silly number of reps if I wanted to push myself as I found out a few years ago when I did something like 400 consecutive double leg ones in the off-season.
Had another weekend in my mates garden clearing various things, a lot of heavy lifting and digging. Still ached from that on Monday so had a rest day. That meant coming back to deadlift wasn’t ideal and it was a struggle at 152kg and it probably wasn’t the best form. I’m going to repeat this cycle until I feel happier lifting 140+kg. Read Ben Bruno’s core stuff and I was going to do bodysaw already but added the pallof thing and once I found the right angle I really felt it working.
Also decided that my squats being static but light might not help the heavier deadlifts, so i’m switching round and doing a static deadlift hold just above the ground and squats will be a regular 3 x 6-8.
Great workout, only just managed the last rep of close grip. Have attached video of my 4 x 107kg benching, with the previous sets it looked like my right arm was slightly slower to come up than my left, not sure if the camera’s at an angle or if that’s the case.
Legs were feeling jaded so I missed out RLESS. I did a lot of lower back mobility work and it didn’t feel stable during squats. Enjoyed body saw and calf lowers, although I thought my soleus was doing the majority of the work and I couldn’t feel it in the body of my gastroc.
Have ordered a powerlifting belt online, should arrive early next week and i’m hoping it will mean I can progress in my lifts without worrying about strains or tweaks.
I very much enjoyed doing my first ever lifts in a belt. I was more aware of the position of my back and found it easier on my core, most noticeably when I took it off. Today I used it for all three sets to check the tightness was right but in future I think i’ll save it for 135kg+ squats & deadlifts and probably 50kg pressing as I tend to hyperextend a lot in that.
My static hold was too easy, should’ve done 110kg rather than 100kg again for longer. Hamstring stuff was fine.
Keep forgetting rotator cuff!! Expected another rep on bench but I did shoulder press recently and still have doms from that so probably not at my best. Close grip was very hard, only just squeezed the final rep but I like it that way. Bodysaw was tough too.
I’m very pleased to be returning to 5/3/1 for back squats, with a combination of the weight belt and my friend being about 6 weeks away from having a squat cage in his home gym meaning I don’t have to worry about a lack of spotter or safety. I used the belt to see what it’s like, in future it’ll be the hardest set I use it on and after today that’ll only be 120kg+. I increased the weight of split squats and took a set off, with my balance being an issue again but not as much as before. Also took a set off calf lowers, could feel the effects for 3-4 days after the last time and don’t want to work them that hard.
I did myofascial stretching yesterday for the first time this year, I hope to make a regular slot for it in my weekly schedule as it’s only a quick 20 minutes and made all the difference to the ease at which I got 10 reps out today on the squats.
Did 5 hours of digging on Sunday, was quite intense and I had no energy for shoulder press in the evening. Weekly routine is still disrupted but by March the shed construction should be almost complete and it will also be warm enough to do some track work. I’m moving into a new flat in the next few weeks so gym schedule will be further disrupted but I will be closer to the track (5 miles instead of 14).
Todays workout was fine, didn’t have my stopwatch so guessed recovery and how long the static hold was.
Bare minimum today, if it isn’t shitting it down with rain tomorrow i’m going to do a track session and didn’t want upper body tightness to stop me running well.
Was ill for several days and missed a workout or two. My track session was so poor last Thursday i’m not writing anything down. Have missed creatine for at least a week and will be more strict with my diet, supplementation and stretching from now on. That aside, bench press was good and I did an easy double at my current 1RM PB.