snatches up to 30kg. working on trying to jump back a bit for the catch. also working on catching the bounce smoothly out of the hole from a tight bottom position. need to work this more, i used to have it down, i think.
AMT 30 minutes.
feet feeling pretty good today. my work shoes are starting to feel comfortable (did have some trouble with blisters).
discovered i’m able to squat pretty good in them so long as i have the weight on the ball of my foot and my heels can come up off the ground. in the sense that i can move relatively heavy (for work) loads of dinner plates etc safely like that. other (non injured) people at work seem to avoid those kinds of tasks because they can’t move them without feeling it in their backs. so happy that i have some uncommon functionality out of my training!
Hi Lex! I just read back through your log. Congrats on all the strength progress since last December. It’s good to look at that when you are feeling like things aren’t moving. Obviously you are coming along nicely!
How’s the protein intake coming? I have to think as you get more protein in, you are going to get both stronger and leaner. I’ll second Mashy on fitday. The online free version is great.
AND I’m glad you discovered the BENCH PRESS! It’s so much fun. YAY!
warm-up
20kg 1x5
25kg 1x5
30kg 1x5
supersetted with hip thrusts
3x5@33.5kg (1kg increase)
sweet. need to work on glute activation out of the hole (especially left glute ha!)
got the hang of sitting back! forget about breaking from the knees just sit your arse back back back back back then GLUTES!!! and shove the knees out hard. this is starting to feel nice
Bench:
warm-up
20kg 1x5
25kg 1x5
3x5@32kg (1kg increase)
sweet. didn’t need a hand-off or a spot (but was grateful for the presence of others in case i got stuck). need to work on pushing my legs into the ground to help me drive up i think.
Deadlift.
Saw a you-tube clip (maybe Wendler? i forget). anyway, got the idea to pull the bar back rather than trying to pull the bar up. tried using my new oly shoes (normal oly heel) instead of my higher oly heels. got it!!!
all of a sudden weights were too light (would need to stagger backwards with them after lockout).
80kg flew up!!! PB and the most weight i’ve ever lifted!! stood with it for a while and did a couple shrugs because i simply couldn’t believe it. stood on one leg for a while etc. heh.
then of course it simply wouldn’t go up again because i started overthinking. not pulling fast enough then freaking that my back was starting to feel pulled out once it was an inch from the floor.
AMT 30 minutes. not going too hard.
facepull. set of 15 and set of 10. aiming to feel the burn.
That just sounds like an awesome session, I love those. I’m feeling the same way about squats with SS, we do them so often they’re feeling really natural. Any you my dear, may call me whatever you’d like
bird - the plank starts from about 34 seconds. i’m trying to keep my hips down a bit more and push my upper body up from my shoulders. that was 25kg though
how far up i get the plate depends on how far up it seems to catch when i chuck it. i think higher up by your shoulders works your upper body a bit more and lower down works your abs a bit more. not sure.
sbmart - thanks! very happy about the dead.
pch - i’m used to squatting 3x per week but endless difficulties with front squats because of my lack of ankle mobility
minimal - yeah. love those zone sessions where everything seems to go well. didn’t do the 1x5 dead i was supposed to but wanted to try pulling back and also try the shoes with a lower heel.
taminator - thanks. working really hard on my form because of ankle injuries. i don’t think i’ll ever get to move decent weights oly lifting
puff - protein is going well. will start using that website once the protein is fairly automatic and i’m onto the next step of tracking calories
ironcross - thanks. not too down about the pressing.
AMT…
this is the best vid of it i’ve seen.
you can’t stride your leg forwards very much or the machine bottoms out, but you can stride back as hard as you can (big lunge). i do sprint substitutes / jogging substitutes on them. set the resistance to about 7 depending on which machine in particular (they vary) which is a good setting for my weight and you can alter your stride without altering any machine settings.
i don’t know why those people don’t stand up straight. i just rest my right arm lightly on the handle in case i lose my balance but try and use my core to hold me upright. try and engage glutes hammies with my stride, too.
Thanks for that.
That is some heavy ass planking!! I started planking yesterday. Im planning on doing it twice weekly. Once I get decent at it Ill start to add some weights like yourself.
AMT machine looks interesting, although I prefer sprinting on land for my cardio. Could your ankles cope with sprinting on grass?
We have those at my gym. I just call it the cross trainer (or Precor). I would rather run outdoors but my foot’s busted and the Precor is low impact. Good for people with injuries.
bird - i got my plank time to 3x 2 minutes. then when that seemed do-able i dropped the time to 60 seconds and started out with 2.5kg. it was much easier than i thought since unweighted planks only seemed to burn in the last 60 seconds. was surprised how quickly i was able to add 15kg anyway. anything more than that is a bit brutal, though (especially now since i’m trying much harder to keep my hips down and push up with my upper body and kind of crunch my abs just a little bit). only working 15kg and the occasional 20kg now - otherwise my form gets a bit too cheaty, i think.
i can’t even jog and i have trouble with walking. don’t think running or sprinting will be on the cards anytime soon, but will see how my foot rehab goes.
cal - yeah, i think it is good for people with injuries, in particular. very limited in what i can do… bit wary of rowing and cycling because lower back fatigue… also i feel kinda like i am running or flying or something on the machines, which is kinda liberating.
MOM - thanks. not doing them with 25kg anymore! think it is partly because i’m holding myself a bit better. also partly because they seem to detrain quick if you don’t keep at 'em.
wonderful stretch for my toes / arches. also feels like it will help with strengthening them. need to think of my ankles as a bit more 3-d than ‘dorsiflex’ i think. sometimes the body limits movement in one plane when other planes are lacking. have discovered little muscles / tendons in my feet / lower leg that i never knew i had!! optimistic this will help with dorsiflexion eventually.
nadia - thanks i’ll look into 5/3/1 for when things stall… will need to do the dreaded front squats again one day too, of course. and i need something a bit more deloady with them i think. for now: the main aim is to see how long i can keep up the 1kg increase (3kg per week) on my low bar back squat. really really hoping it will take me beyond a bodyweight squat. eventually. lolz.
