BEYOND

Training Training Logs
221

26th

Pin Squat (dead start): w/u; 2 x 220kg from hip height, then - 5 x 5 x 250kg from navel height.

Squat: 2 x 5 x 140kg (very explosive + deep)

Stat. Bike: 5 mins high intensity

Good training again today, knee feeling strong! I set the pins too low during the warmup and ended up hitting a tough 220kg x 2 from hip height (~ 3/4 squat) before realizing and setting them at the same height as last session. I felt good from that height, and 25 total reps is pretty good I’d say, so I hope I’ll be able to hit at least 10-12 reps of 250kg from that height before I move to the lower pins.

222

27th

Squat: w/u with 4x70kg, 3x110kg, 2x150kg; 1 x 190kg, 1 x 200kg

Lat. Pulldown: 15 x 68kg, 2 x 10 x 75kg, 12 x 68kg

Treadmill: 10 mins of 40 sec. intervals, walking rest, at 10% incline

Seated Machine Row: 8 x 65kg, 8 x 75kg, 8 x 85kg, 8 x 95kg

Great session again, back to 200kg! Full throttle preparation will begin soon…

223

28th

Bench: w/u with 10x60kg, 6x100kg; 7 x 122.5kg, 5 x 132.5kg, 3 x 142.5kg

Squat: w/u with 4x70kg, 3x110kg, 2x150kg; 1 x 190kg, 1 x 200kg, 3 x 3 x 170kg, 3 x 2 x 180kg, 2 x 190kg

Nice session! Plenty of squat volume at light(er) weights and a strong effort on bench. I should be back over 220kg in two weeks if all goes to plan.

224

29th

Squat: w/u with 3x70kg, 3x110kg, 2x150kg; 1 x 190kg, 1 x 200kg, 3 x 2 x 180kg

Quick, solid session. Tired after yesterday, but squats were fairly easy.

225

30th

Squat: w/u with 3x70kg, 3x110kg, 2x150kg; 1 x 190kg, 1 x 200kg, 1 x 190kg
Seated Machine Row: 15, 12, 12, 10, x 85kg

Rowing Machine: 1000m in 3:38
Stat. Bike: 6 mins

I had planned to do some more volume on squats today, but my left hip was uncomfortable after getting back to full ROM squats so quickly. I hit another single at 190kg to finish and left it at that. Fitness work was ok; I’ll be getting back to rugby soon, and so I’ll be juggling the two while preparing for the squat and bench (deadlift looks pretty unlikely at 300kg!) world records - not an easy task, but I believe I can pull it off.

Overall I’m feeling strong, I just need to get my leg strength and mobility back to 100% and push on from there. Just under 8 weeks to go until the first of my three target meets, with the second a week later and the third in early December.

226

31st

Deadlift: 2 x 3 x 120kg, 2 x 160kg, 1 x 200kg, 2 x 1 x 220kg, 2 x 1 x 210kg

Front Squat: 4 x 60kg, 3 x 80kg, 3 x 100kg, 3 x 105kg, 2 x 110kg, 2 x 1 x 120kg
Cable Row: 3 x 12 x 75kg, 2 x 6 x 95kg
Leg Press: 35 x 3pps

Deadlifts were ok. Front squats felt pathetic, but I wanted to work on my ROM and positioning after the knee injury and didn’t expect much. Still, the top sets were actually quite tough (probably around 85-90% beltless 1RM lol!) which is pretty bad… Who cares as long as my low bar’s good though, right? My all-time best front squat’s only 145kg anyway.

I plan to include the high rep leg pressing frequently for a while, the aim being to bring up my legs for squatting (they are weak compared with my posterior chain). Nothing extreme, just a set or two most days.

227

1st September

Squat: w/u with 5x70kg, 3x110kg, 2x150kg; 1 x 190kg, 1 x 200kg, 1 x 205kg, 5 x 2 x 190kg
Leg Press: 16 x 130kg (in plates), 16 x 170kg
Hamstring Curl: 3 x 11-15 x 65kg

Stat. Bike: 9 mins

Bench: w/u with 10x60kg, 6x100kg; 7 x 122.5kg, 5 x 132.5kg, 3 x 142.5kg

Adding weight slowly, hoping to be back over 220kg on squat very soon. Bench was decent despite a bent bar increasing the ROM and decreasing stability. Good session.

228

2nd

Pin Squat (from pelvis height, 3/4 squat): 4 x 150kg, 3 x 180kg, 3 x 220kg, 1 x 230kg

Squat: 2 x 150kg, 1 x 190kg, 1 x 200kg, 1 x 205kg, 3 x 3 x 180kg

Stat. Bike: 8 mins

I didn’t feel very good during any of this to be honest, but looking back it wasn’t terrible. The pin squats were in a different rack and so were much deeper than last time, hence the relative lack of weight on the bar. The heavy sets were from the top down.
I moved on to standard squats after the 230kg because I was struggling and wanted a productive session. All lifts felt difficult, but the weights kept going up so I hit 205kg to have reached my minimum standard for the day. Sets with 180kg were easy enough despite slight technique / stance inconsistencies, so overall it was a reasonable day of squatting.
I’m moving at the moment so might not be able to update for a couple of days, but I should be training as usual.

229

[quote]halcj wrote:
I plan to include the high rep leg pressing frequently for a while, the aim being to bring up my legs for squatting (they are weak compared with my posterior chain). Nothing extreme, just a set or two most days.[/quote]
Damn, squatting everyday and leg press on top of that. Brutal.

From my experience, maybe consider doing it less ultra-frequently with more volume - just to make sure that your bench doesn’t suffer. Serious lifts directly after leg day seem depressing.

I’m waiting for the return of the true Bulgarian, good luck man!

230

[quote]squats and milk wrote:

[quote]halcj wrote:
I plan to include the high rep leg pressing frequently for a while, the aim being to bring up my legs for squatting (they are weak compared with my posterior chain). Nothing extreme, just a set or two most days.[/quote]
Damn, squatting everyday and leg press on top of that. Brutal.

From my experience, maybe consider doing it less ultra-frequently with more volume - just to make sure that your bench doesn’t suffer. Serious lifts directly after leg day seem depressing.

I’m waiting for the return of the true Bulgarian, good luck man!
[/quote]

Good point. The reason I’m not too concerned about that is that the leg presses are more knee rehab and pump work than serious strength training, but as usual I’ll adjust as I go and cut something if it seems too much.
As for bench, my idea is to have a 20 min or so break between squats and pressing, and that seems to have worked in the past. I think getting used to going into bench fatigued can also help on meet day, as I’ve never suffered too badly in competition vs training like some people do (cramp, general fatigue, soreness etc. after squats). Again, I’ll see how it goes. I’ll have to adjust for rugby soon anyway, depending on how much I play.
Thanks for stopping by!

231

Training going well, but no internet connection till Tuesday so I won`t copy out my training until then (too difficult on phone). Squats have gone up to 215kg+ again, feeling good.

232

I’ll return now…

3rd

Bench: w/u with 10x60kg, 6x100kg; 8 x 120kg, 3 x 140kg, 1 x 150kg, 8 x 120kg

  • 10 Pullups

Then light rugby practice for ~40 mins

4th

Rugby training, ~1hr

Squat: w/u with 6x70kg, 5x110kg, 3x150kg; 2 x 180kg, 1 x 200kg, 1 x 205kg, 2 x 3 x 190kg, 2 x 3 x 180kg

5th

Squat: w/u with 5x70kg, 4x110kg, 3x150kg; 1 x 190kg, 1 x 200kg, 1 x 210kg, 1 x 215kg, 3 x 190kg

6th

Squat: w/u with 5x70kg, 4x110kg, 3x150kg; 1 x 190kg, 1 x 210kg, 1 x 215kg, 2 x 195kg

Bench: w/u with 12x60kg, 6x100kg; 6 x 120kg, 5 x 130kg, 4 x 120kg

DB OHP: 8, 8, 7, x 22.5kg DBs

DB Pinch-Grip Raises w/ 7.5kg DBs

Seated Rows: 8 x 75kg, 2 x 8, 3 x 10, x 85kg

7th

Rugby Practice, then:

Squat: w/u with 5x70kg, 5x110kg, 3x160kg; 1 x 190kg, 1 x 210kg, 1 x 215kg, 2 x 200kg

Incline Bench DB Curls: 4 x 8-12 with moderate weight

8th

Rugby Match (I played around 50 mins)

Feeling good in general; very strong on squat reps yesterday, 160kg for 3 beltless felt more like 100kg, always a good sign! I’ll be playing a decent bit of rugby this season, but it doesn’t seem to be hurting my lifts so it’s all good. Plenty more progress to come…

233

9th

Rugby Practice (light, 60 mins or so)

Then:

Squat: w/u with 5x70kg, 4x110kg, 3x160kg; 1 x 200kg, 1 x 210kg, 1 x 215kg, 3 x 2 x 200kg, 3 x 190kg

Pulldowns: 12 x 75kg, 2 x 10 x 85kg, 7 x 95kg, 10 x 70kg

Good session again. Neck sore from scrums but ok in general.

234

10th

Squat: w/u with 5x70kg, 4x110kg, 3x150kg; 1 x 190kg, 1 x 210kg, 1 x 215kg, 3, 2, x 200kg

Rugby Practice (scrum technique session)

Squats felt really easy, but I didn’t have much time and was using a different rack so decided not to go heavier. I’ll be training again later, getting some bench done. I’ll update then.

235

10th Later…

Bench: w/u with 10x70kg, 4x110kg; 7 x 125kg, 5 x 135kg, 3 x 145kg, 10, 12, x 110kg

Felt strong on bench.

Very sadly, our family cat has been killed by the neighbour’s greyhound… Fucking irresponsible ownership, they kept it for “working” and didn’t let it in the house then released it to go for a walk outside our property without a muzzle or leash. I think the man was pretty intimidated when I came running out shouting at him, but he seemed a bit smug about it all and his wife was very rude, so they’re lucky my aggression was limited to words. Not worth it. They have young children, they should know better than to let a disobedient dog run free like that, they couldn’t even control it afterwards!

Anyway, sorry for the rant, I wouldn’t have been so angry if they had apologized properly and been sympathetic, but quite frankly I was disgusted not only with the incident but their lack of respect and decency. That’s life I guess. Training and progress continue…

236

11th

Rugby Training (fitness and skills), 1hr 15mins

Then:

Squat: w/u with 5x70kg, 4x120kg, 3x160kg; 1 x 200kg, 1 x 210kg, 1 x 220kg, 2 x 2 x 200kg

OHP: 5 x 70kg, 3 x 80kg, 3 x 90kg, 5 x 70kg

(EDIT: + Machine Rows: ~4 sets of 10 up to 98kg)

I’m very pleased with my squatting today, and everything else is looking decent too. I have a few minor pains but otherwise I’m fine, coping well with this training volume (rugby on top of the usual lifting). We continue…

237

12th

Squat: w/u with 5x70kg, 4x120kg, 3x160kg; 1 x 200kg, 1 x 220kg, 2 x 205kg, 2 x 200kg

Hamstring Curls: 3 sets

  • Core Work

Solid squatting again today. I have a bad throat and I’m not feeling very good in general, but I got it done. Lifts were all explosive.

238

13th

Squat: w/u with 5x70kg, 4x120kg, 3x160kg; 1 x 200kg, 1 x 220kg, 1 x 225kg (PR!)

Just squats for now, but a very strong session! First all-time PR since knee sprain, and a great lift. Also, I’ll add that I weighed 101kg this morning, so I have plenty of room to bulk into the Commonwealths in December and push for the final kilos I’ll need to hit WRs. I might train bench later, but that will depend on how I feel etc., if not it will be tomorrow. Bring on the squat gains!

239

13th (later)

Bench: w/u with 8x70kg, 5x110kg; 7 x 125kg, 5 x 135kg, 3 x 145kg

DB Curls: 5 x 8 x 15kg DBs, 3 x 8 x 10kg DBs (e/a)

Nice evening bench session, reps were ok. Still using the 7/5/3 pattern for now, building a good base of strength and confidence without too much effort so I can focus my mental energy on squat progress. Working well.

240

Good job!
I hope your knee is all right now, seems like those pin squats were quite helpful.