Nice workout!! I love the evil DLs and all the cleans…so much fun! And what a way to torch those mince pies right off your body. Love it!
I plateau on upper body lifts pretty much immediately. I’ll be interested to see what you do. Also maybe do your MPs fresh?
Great work, Cal!
I usually do but someone was in the rack (actually, the same guy as last time. He’s an Oxford student - he’s usually only around during the holidays).
Fractional plates are the only thing keeping me from stalling PERMANENTLY on upper body lifts. Great idea!
I’m glad you survived Christmas. Your 2012 goals of working around bodily limitations that pop up from time to time seem quite reasonable. I like the idea of saying “if my body cooperates, then I would like to do X”.
Another unsatisfactory leg workout today. What with my squat issues, my lower back/groin tweak and achilles tendonitis, I was on to a loser the minute I started. I have been feeling a bit off since getting back from my parents - not virusy, but just not right.
Warm-up: hypers, reverse hypers, clams, step-overs
Bar x 10
30kg x 5
40kg x 5
45kg x 2
This just didn’t feel good at a all. My hurty bits all hurt and I didn’t feel safe even with the low reps. So left it there.
Bar x 5
30kg x 5
35kg x 5
40kg x 5
45kg x 3 < back wasn’t enjoying this.
I notice with these, to start out under the bar I have to put my feet really wide - like, touching the sides of the squat rack. I don’t squat quite that wide normally.
Still not sure about these - I don’t really think I have the mobility for them.
Overhead split squats (4kg body bar) x 10 (per leg)
Regular split squats (10kg dumbells) x 8 (per leg)
I caught a glimpse of myself in the side mirror when I was doing the dumbell split squats and my back was horribly round and slumped forward. I think I need to do more of these with less weight and better posture! Or maybe just stick with the overhead ones for now.
80kg x 10
120kg x 10
160kg x 10
Groin wasn’t happy but I did them. I also did some calf presses in between sets, focussing on the negative. Achilles was still sore anyway.
And to finish I also did 10 swiss ball hamstring curls. Yeah.
Bit of handstand work, some god awful non-cartwheels, a headstand and then home.
Seems like quite a lot, written down, but it didn’t feel good.
I think I must have some inflammation going on so I need to clean my diet right up and address that.
Glad to see you made it through the Holidays alright. Your training is really picking up!! my my my.
Oh yeah, interesting on the inflammation. That’s definitely how I feel a lot of the time when my diets been shit. Maybe you should try a detox and see if that helps?
Have you tried the bulgarians using a clean grip? or holding a DB goblet style? That always helps me when I feel like I’m falling forward…
Anyways, I feel ya on the unsatisfactory training - it happens sometimes! Especially when you’re dealing with aches and things. Fucking sucks. But hey, that’s how it goes. You got in and you did what you could. That’s a win in my book!
My lower body training is always unsatisfactory now because I’ve mysteriously lost the ability to squat. Still, I did have some bum DOMS this morning - I think it must have been the Bulgarians.
Anyway, on to today’s training.
Feeling particularly blubbery today which wasn’t helped by the fact my only clean yoga pants were a pair of very unflattering marl grey ones I bought from Walmart last time I was in the US. Decided not to go easy on myself.
30 hyperextensions
Only rest between sets was to take a swig of water and reset the distance on the rower. Didn’t time it this time but the rows were 2:00, 2:04 and 2:06 (approximately).
20 x KB Swings (one of the PTs left it out - I think it was a 20kg)
20 x Overhead Squats (4kg body bar)
55kg Close Grip Pulldown x 8
Bosu Ball push-ups x 8
(Feet were on the lat pull-down stool; hands on the bosu ball, round side down)
25kg Straight Arm Pulldowns x 10
55kg Scap Pulldowns x 10
This was nasty!
30kg > 20kg > 10kg (8, 8, 8)
I don’t like the cable row at this gym - it’s very heavy. As in 30kg feels far heavier than it should.
8kg x 10
10kg x 6
Lot of difference between 8 and 10kgs. I think there’s a 9kg Reebok dumbell around - maybe I’ll try that next time.
26kg x 10
28kg x 6
That was enough. I did some handstand practise and called it a day.
I braved the scales for the first time in ages, too. Starting my diet tomorrow - want to know how much I have to lose. The bad news is 11 st 5 (159lbs or 72kg), 25.7% fat. Yuck yuck. nb weight was taken wearing yoga pants, t-shirt, crop top and VFFs.
Well, I know how much I have to do now.
Have a happy new year, everyone. I don’t think I’ll party tonight. I’ve got friends going to watch the fireworks at the London Eye but standing around in the freezing cold for hours in order to watch some sparkly lights doesn’t really appeal to me. Three things are guaranteed to turn me from my normally well-humoured self into a complete bitch: cold, tiredness and crowds. This has all three.
Ha! I’m with you and avoiding the cold and crowds. I’ll be cozied up at home tonight for sure!
Oh, and Bulgarians are brutal, but they work so well! Happy New Year, Cal!
Cal: I hope you figure out the source of your squatting weirdness soon. That totally sucks. Any theories? Any other comparable episodes?
Happy new year!
BUMDOMS! Yay. Sumthing is working if youve got a sore ass LOL.
Work has been complete heinosity and I fell off in here 
meeesed youuuuuu!
Jumping back in for 2012. Lets kill it!
You did well by hitting the gym hard. That last workout sounds brutal.
Happy New Year! I’ll really look forward to keeping you company through another year.
Thank you, ladies. I imagine you’re all in bed now (I’ve just woken up) or on the way. As it turned out, two of my good friends who were planning to see the fireworks did not feel like going because Colin got sick (as in vomiting sick) after some meal they had the other night, so they came to mine instead with a bottle of wine and we watched the fireworks on the telly. So not an awful new year - I didn’t spend it alone. (It wouldn’t have been awful anyway, as I’d have been playing Skyrim, but it’s nice to have company and a bottle of something to welcome it in).
Diet starts NOW. Nursing a mug of green tea as I type this.
Happy New Year, everyone.
Happy New Year to you!! sounds like your night turned out all right afterall.
I hear ya on the diet…
I’m doing the 21 day primal challenge! 
I figure it will be good to ‘detox,’ as I adjust to my new meds as well.
Happy New Year, Cal!!
I like that you’ve been hard on yourself. Sometimes you need to kick your own freaking ass! HAH! I approve. And that training you did clearly did just the trick. Looks torturous! Well done!
And I’m happy you had a nice new year with friends and wine - what a lovely way to wrap up 2011.
Here’s to 2012!
New years sounds just perfect! I’m with you, leave the cold and the crowds to the crazy folk…enjoy the warmth of your own home.
happy new year!
happy new year cal!
you certainly have my sympathy about how sometimes the body simply will not squat without pain. i get that quite a lot. find it hard to figure what to do for my legs since bringing them up (size and strength) needs to be a priority but i need to be careful of my back and my hips get cranky etc bloody etc…
pt guy got me doing these the other day:
works the hammies and glutes pretty good. kinda mimics the ‘sitting back’ style powerlifting squat and feel a stretch reflex thing going on in the hammies / glutes. trains hip drive pretty good, apparently, and people typically use more weight for them than for back squats. might be worth a go maybe?? i found them surprisingly comfortable on my hips, anyway. dunno.
Spent New Year’s Day playing Skyrim, surprise surprise.
Gym today, though.
Warm-up: hypers, reverse hypers, clams, body bar mobility stuff etc.
Was going to do deadlift burpees but someone was in the area so I’ll do 'em tomorrow.
Band assisted pull-ups: 5, 5, 5
Push-ups: 10, 10, 10
Bar x 10
30kg x 5
32.5kg x 5
35kg x 5 (rep PR I think)
37.5kg x 2 (might also be a rep PR - I usually only do 1)
40kg x 1
42.5kg x No. Still no joy, but it went as high as my eyebrows this time. Progress? Heh.
Decided then to do some push press to see if it can help me break through.
40kg x 3
42.5kg x 1
45kg x 0, 1
Failed the first time on 45 which didn’t please me. Got it right the second time.
Two circuits of the (very small) free weight room with 20kg (per arm).
Bar x 5
30kg x 5
35kg x 3
40kg x 3
42.5kg x 1
45kg x 1
47.5kg x 1 (PR - which sounds good on paper but I don’t usually do cleans)
50kg - No.
Tricep Pushdown: 15kg x 15, 17.5kg x 12, 20kg x 10
Standing DB Curl: 8kg x 15, 10kg x 10, 12kg x 8
And that’s it.
Pleased to report I stuck to my diet yesterday and kept carbs nice and low. I’ll try and get a more metabolic workout in tomorrow to help torch that Christmas flab.
You made me google “Skyrim”.
I think getting that last MP higher than last time is progress. Short of fractional plates, how else to measure it?
I went to the gym late today - it was about 2.45 by the time I started. That’s waaaay late but I woke up later than normal (7.30), played a bit of Skyrim, then it was 10am and I realised I was STARVING and had to eat. After which the heavens opened and it lashed down. I almost didn’t go to the gym at all but I told myself I wouldn’t be very happy with myself if I did nothing but play Skyrim all day, fun as that might be.
Decided to deadlift but found two other people using the area, which is around 6 foot by 9 foot. It was a bit of a squeeze but I thought fuck it, that’s what I came to do so Ima doin it.
Warm-up: hypers, reverse hypers, clams, body bar mobility shizzle.
Bar x 10
60kg x 5
70kg x 5
80kg x 5
90kg x 3
3 x 100kg x 2
I had two attempts at the third set with 100kg - first time I picked the bar up I lost my balance and dropped it. So had to take some breaths and go again. I’d be mortified if I did that in a competition. Good job I don’t powerlift eh?
I also reset and took a couple of breaths between the doubles - I’d probably pass out if I didn’t, heh.
Burpee Deadlifts: 60kg x 10
Then I had a go at Maschy’s kneeling squats. Interesting, actually.
Bar x 10
30kg x 5 (I stopped because it was too light, to be honest)
40kg x 10
50kg x 10
60kg x 10
70kg x 10
80kg x 10 (This was more of a challenge, finally).
The ROM is pretty short on these but it does use the glutes a lot and helps with that hip drive. I’d think this would be a good exercise for people with a lower leg injury who couldn’t do regular squats.
Didn’t do much after this - it was 4pm and starting to get dark. I’m like a reverse vampire - I hate being out after dusk. I’m such a morning person. Perhaps I’ll get my lazy arse out of the door a bit earlier tomorrow.
[quote]Cal Jones wrote:
The ROM is pretty short on these but it does use the glutes a lot and helps with that hip drive. I’d think this would be a good exercise for people with a lower leg injury who couldn’t do regular squats.
[/quote]
yes. you like??
apparently louie simmons thought them up to help with sitting back / hip drive