Superset Tricep push downs: 3 sets Face pulls: 3 sets
Machine rows: 4 sets
Capped my top set at 12 to save myself a bit for the back off sets. The friend who beat me at deadlifting a couple of days ago did an AMRAP with 60 and got 11 so I had to get one more to show him he hasn’t got me on bench yet. Back off sets moved very, very fast but there was a faint bit of discomfort in my shoulders.
Gonna start recording RPE for my top sets. I’m not sure how well I can judge it yet but it’s particularly useful when recording and comparing PRs.
Also had a lapse in discipline and skipped some conditioning. The gym was stupidly busy and I had to wait about 10 minutes for each bit of equipment I wanted so by the end of the rows I was ready to go.
Annoyingly short on time again so had to skip barbell rows and core work but I’ll do those tomorrow. Not much else to note about this workout, all felt pretty average.
Good workout and got a lot done including what I skipped yesterday. By keeping the barbell rows light I felt them in my lats a lot more than before and got a nice stretch in my hamstrings. I’ve a bit of a cold and it’s zapped a lot of my energy so I didn’t push the top set quite as far as usual but it’s still a PR. I’m going to give athletics a miss tomorrow to help myself recover and catch up on some work.
Note to self that i need to sort my diet out. It’s more official if I write it down in public. This week especially has been pretty terrible and while I’m getting stronger I don’t want to add lots of fat at the same time. No idea on weight, my scales have stopped working and I keep forgetting to figure out why, probably just the battery.
I want to do a decent job with this T-ransformation and we’re already basically a quarter of the way through.
Leg press machine:
Worked up to drop set of 4x140-6x100-10x60
Another solid deadlift workout and a PR. I noticed last week that I was letting the bar drift out in front of me when things got difficult. This week I set up with hips higher and shoulders back more which seemed to make things better. I’m looking forward to seeing how it feels next time. Assistance was pushed pretty hard, mostly because I was with friends again. I couldn’t get a rack for front squats.
Superset Face pulls: 3x10 Tricep pushdowns: 38x12.5, 30x10
Cable rows: 5x10x30
Good workout again, I’ve had a string of them recently. Went with friends again too so didn’t stick to 531 weights exactly but similar enough. PR with 70kg is 10 reps but that’s using a wider grip which was about 7.5kg stronger than the close one I’m using right now- seems to have nearly caught up. I was convinced to go for a single with 80kg and expected a struggle but it went up very very smoothly for another close grip PR.
Tried incline bench because my friends were doing it but my shoulder felt iffy so I did tricep extensions. Both those sets were probably more like rest pause sets and I felt like my triceps were gonna tear when I straightened my arms by the end. Also got a good MMC and pump with the rows but they destroyed my arms too.
Had a little bit of irritation in my SI after squats but they felt very fast. I put a lot more force into them today and moved the bar as fast as I could which was exhausting. The set with 70kg felt just as fast as 60kg. I’ll lower the volume and increase intensity slightly starting next week, still focusing on perfect reps.
Missed athletics again today due to bad weather and having a decent amount of work to do. I don’t like that I’m missing conditioning so I plan to make up for it by doing something fairly difficult on Friday, I just aren’t sure what yet.
Complex: 3x5x40 kg (60s rest)
RDLs
Barbell rows
Front squats
Treadmill: Max incline walk for 3 mins
Didn’t feel great today so this was a big effort and I’m glad with the outcome. Shocking how easy dumbell rows have suddenly gotten. I remember struggling with 30kg for about 5 reps when I was home just over a month ago and now I’m almost throwing the dumbell and it has a thicker handle. Grip seems to be the limiting factor; not so much that I’m going to drop the dumbell but it’s hurting my hand a lot- probably just need to toughen up.
Did this at 9pm after a pretty tough day and didn’t have much to put into it. Basically hit the top set hard then left- seems good that I can set a PR in these conditions.
Maybe a tough day yesterday caught up with me because I was moving slow today. PR with 65kg is 12 reps and after 9x70 last week I expected to be getting 11-13 reps today. Nevermind I’ll do something good next week.
Warmed up with a moderate 400m jog then did a lot of discus. The coach seemed really impressed with my throws and mentioned it a couple of times so perhaps I’ve found something I’m OK at. Didn’t feel like I’d done anything too strenuous so did a 300m run sprinting probably the last 80m. It’s the first time in a long time where I’ve sprinted completely full out.
On a slightly related note I’ve kind of decided not to do sprints with the actual athletics people and coach for a while. I’m just so bad at it it’s embarrassing for me- everyone says just to focus on yourself but I feel stupid running 50m behind even the slowest girls sometimes. For now I’ll just do throws which I enjoy and focus more on my running when I do my other conditioning. Annoying thing is I’m actually pretty fast but I can only keep it up for about 50m.
I’d like to be able to run a half decent 400m and 1500m without wiping myself out. If anyone has any advice I’m all ears. @IronOne I’ve been following your log and see you have a lot of success with your running. Would you be be able to offer any advice?
First off, don’t shy away from running with a group or anyone that’s faster than you. It’ll help you progress quicker. Just accept the fact you’re not fast…yet. It’s not a problem unless you make it one! With that being said, running by yourself is fine too. Make sure you’re tracking your times to assure you’re getting faster if that’s your goal.
Running gains come quick, as long as you’re truly pushing yourself. You need to be somewhat pain tolerant. Honestly, that’s the gist of running. Pain tolerance.
Low volume running, 1-2x/week, rotating 1 mile, 2 mile and 400/800 intervals got me to some decent times (for me) at 190lbs. Sub 6min mile, sub 14min 2 mile, 60s 400.
I was diligent with timing everything I did. I made sure I was progressing. Keep in mind if you’re progressing your times, you’re probably working pretty hard, which means it will take a toll on your recovery. I think my hips got beat up bc i was pushing running hard, and still lifting to progress. It’s very difficult to do both, and will eventually probably catch up with you. Im focusing on my lifting now, but still walking 2-3x per week. I’ll pick running back up in the spring.
In summary, if you want to get better at running, get used to being in pain (not injury pain, im talking hard working pain). Low volume works fine all the way to and beyond the #'s I accomplished above. Make sure you’re tracking your times and improving. Pick 3-4 standard distances, and work on improving your times. It’s really that simple!
Thanks mate. Really useful post, it’ll help me a lot. Good to know I don’t have to push the volume or frequency too much. For now I’ll probably do a lot of my running on the treadmill which should help with tracking time.
