1 x 8 x 118kg
1 x 8 x 126kg
1 x 7 x 130kg FAILED 8th rep
1 x 8 x 120kg
Eccentric SL Ham Curls
2 x 8 x 23.75kg
Side bridge 1 min per side
Front bridge 1 mins
Yeh…I failed a squat rep. Not done that in over three years. Took a few deep breaths before the last rep, descended too slowly and the second I reached the box my legs went to jelly and I couldn’t move an inch. No cage or anything so had to shout my housemate down to help me rack it. Must’ve sat there a good 45 seconds, so took a slightly longer rest then continued the workout.
Didn’t mean to increase the weight of lunges, turned out to be very hard to get full range on reps. I slid up from wall sit every 20 secs instead of 15, thought the frequency was too much and I didn’t have enough time to suffer.
Finally got my 2 x 20 on the DB bench, pretty much couldn’t have lifted an ounce more.
Sept 30
Pullups
10,9,8,7,6,5,4,3,2,1 (15 secs between sets)
Deadlift
3 x 6 x 114.5kg
SLRDL
2 x 10 x 51kg
Bird Dogs
2 x 20
The SLRDL was filthy, I was soaked through with sweat holding a steady 4 second eccentric. Back sometimes has no strength in the deadlift and buckles as soon as I try to lift, had to really tense my glutes to make sure I didn’t round it. Pleased with my pullups, the six and five reps were a struggle then it was fine. Can go to 14 secs next time.
Got some spring over the hurdles, hope I can translate that to speed on the track. Took a set off squats (and went from 4x8 to 3x6 in DL on thurs) as the track work is picking up a bit more.
Breezing through rows, will stick more weight on that. Increased alternate bench and happy to hit 14 reps both times. Wasn’t thinking and forgot the weight of the bar in curls, so turned out to be 5kg heavier. I lost form on the last two reps of the 2nd set but coped quite well considering.
Lunges were still a struggle. Had very little trouble with the cleans, might drop to two sets of each in future. Wall sit was easy too, will up the weight.
Had enough of rows, wanted something more closely resembling the running action. I enjoyed bench press sit ups, didn’t push it first session as I had sleds the next morning. I could roll out with the ab wheel, but had nothing that could pull me back in.
Reckon my pullups weakened my back last week, felt fine in todays deadlifts. SLRDL was a headache (literally), felt pressure in my temple and had to get some fresh air. Think it might be that I don’t let go of the bar for the minute rest between legs so my head is down. Liking my BP sit ups, lot of negativity on the articles thread about injury doing this but to me it feels all good and no bad.
Lost my rhythm over the hurdles and landed with one leg either side of the hurdle… on my toes I must have an 84cm inside leg because that was very close to being nasty. Everything else was fine, changed one plyo exercise. Happy with back squats, the last set was pretty easy.
An easy week so everything was a little less intense, few reps knocked off here and there. Abs are tight so must remember to stretch them during warm down.
Oct 12
DB Weighted Lunges (1)
2 x 20 x 26kg
Hang Power Cleans (1)
2 x 5 x 73kg
Eccentric SL Ham Curls
2 x 8 x 25kg
Bench Press Sit Ups
3 x 12 x 30kg
Side Bends
3 x 12 x 20kg
Wanted a weighted oblique exercise to go with my weighted situps so did side bends, can go heavier than that. Pleased with hang power cleans, have surpassed my p.b. and i’m not struggling with the weight. Haven’t thought about my program for the next four weeks but it’s likely to include bench press and front squat somewhere.
Obliques were aching so avoided more side bends. Stiff leg deadlift a week early to get used to the movement and form, good burn at the end of the movement.
Pretty comfortable landing on one leg from up to 60cm, thought it would be lower than that. New program with hip thrusts a la contreras with top of torso on a bench and legs on another raised ledge. Front squats were weird as it felt natural to go about 3 or 4 inches lower than I did last year, 85kg felt like a warm up and i’m pretty sure i’ll be straight into three figures next week.
Regular bench press on Wednesday - very much looking forward to it. My upper body feels more conditioned than strong, but once the reps come down the power should come back. Onto the next 4 week cycle at the track and will start doing blocks in November.
Oct 19 - A strong contender for best workout of the year
Bulgarian Split Squats (1)
1 x 8 x 72.5kg
1 x 8 x 75kg
1 x 8 x 80kg
Hang Power Cleans (1)
3 x 4 x 76.5kg
Eccentric SL Ham Curls
2 x 7 x 27.5kg
1 x 7 x 30kg
Bench Press Sit Ups
1 x 12 x 35kg
2 x 12 x 40kg
Side Bends
3 x 12 x 26kg
Had my usual sugar hit from jelly beans and knocked back a caffeine drink too. It’s not just the numbers, all 5 of which were p.b’s, I just felt like I was working at about 80% the whole time. Here’s hoping I don’t have to take any of those weights back down again if I don’t feel as fired up next week.
Had some forearm pain unracking the bench press but it dissipated after 2 reps. Everything else was fine, 85kg for 8 is a good starting point and I feel good.
Oh and doms from yesterday are pretty bad, my glutes feel the worst. Wondering if I can go for a shit from a half-squat position.
Had a sports massage yesterday and she said my traps and lower back were the worst areas.
Pause Squat Jumps
3 x 4
Depth Jumps
3 x 5 x 40cm
Single Leg Shock Jumps
2 x 5 x 65cm
1 x 5 x 70cm
Front Squat
1 x 7 x 90kg
1 x 7 x 97.5kg
1 x 7 x 92.5kg
Hip Thrusts
20 x double leg + 10kg
15 x SL mid-foot + 5kg
15 x SL heel + 5kg
Eccentric SL Ham Curls
1 x 7 x 27.5kg
1 x 7 x 30kg
Side Bridge, 1 min 05
Front Bridge, 2 mins
Pretty comfortable with a higher shock jump, not sure how many BW’s of force I get from 70cm but it’s manageable. Didn’t go for 100kg front squat as I still need to focus on depth. Added weight to hip thrusts to make it more challenging.
Really like how much focus I can draw to push that final rep out in DB bench. Running arms feel good, it feels like they’re in a natural groove so when it comes to running they are automatically technically sound. Will be chopping a few of the supplementary exercises now that the track work is picking up.
Split squats could go a bit heavier, right side is weaker. HS curls were easy so I put an 8th rep down both times, can go 30kg+ from now on. Glutes were wrecked last week so I took a set off the first two exercises in the hope of being fresh for speed on Thursday.