Thursday 2 February - Bench (3)
Stretching (shoulders, upper back, chest + lats)
Bench
bar x few
40 x 5
40 x 5
60 x 3
70 x 3
80 x 3
90 x 3
100 x 11 PR
85 x 10 x 5 sets (2 sets normal grip, 2 wide, 1 close)
Kroc Rows 5 sets 10 - didn’t see what weight we were using. It was something >50 >70
Pullups 5 sets 10
Wanted to do some extra arm and yoke work but ran out of time.
Really pleased with the PR, maybe I’ll be able to get my Squat to follow the way of my bench and pull.
Monday 6th February - Squat (3) + Press (5)
Mobility work
Squat
60 x 3
60 x 3
80 x 3
100 x 5
110 x 3
120 x 3
140 x 14 PR
Press
30 x 10
40 x 5
50 x 5
55 x 5
60 x 5
Pull Ups 5 sets 10
Tuesday 7th February - Deadlift
Deadlift
60 x 5
100 x 5
120 x 3
140 x 3
165 x 5
185 x 5
205 x 5
Squat
5 sets 10 @ 110
Abs
5 sets 12
[extra work]
Pushdowns (green band + mini band) 5 sets 20
I’ve decided to do a bench only meet at the end of March. So I’ll start changing stuff up a little on the Bench days.
Goal for the meet: 140
Weighed in at 99.5kg today - this is so much lighter than I should be and have been recently. Time to eat a fuck ton, ideally I’d weigh in at 110 on meet day.
Thursday 9th February - Bench (5)
shoulder mobility + stretching for traps, lats + chest
Bench
bar x 10
40 x 5
40 x 5
60 x 3
75 x 5
85 x 5
95 x 3 (lazy)
110 x 1
[added slingshot]
120 x 1
140 x 1 (PR) very easy
160 x 0 just not strong enough yet.
then a few sets at a plate for assistance.
5 sets chins
Hit my goal for today which was the single at 3 plates, so to my mind everything is on track for the meet.
Saturday 11th February - Squat (5)
4 x double Cheeseburgers + 2 x large fries
Mobility work
Squat
60 x 3
60 x 3
80 x 3
80 x 3
100 x 3
105 x 5
120 x 5
135 x 5 (easy)
110 x 10
110 x 10
110 x 3
at this point i was so close to throwing up that anything else i did would make me sick.
N.B. finishing off a pretraining meal whilst warming up is probably not a good idea.
Band pushdowns (green + mini)
5 or 6 sets
Band facepulls
5 or 6 sets
Monday 13th February - Deadlift and Press
Mobility stuff
Deadlift
60 x 3
60 x 3
100 x 3
120 x 3
140 x 1
165 x 5
185 x 3
205 x 7 PR
Press
20 x 10
30 x 5
30 x 5
40 x 5
40 x 5
45 x 5
55 x 3
65 x 8 PR
Pullups
6 sets
Curls
4 sets 6 @ 50kg
weight today: 108.5kg BLOATED OUT OF MY HEAD
Thursday 16th February - Bench (5/3/1 + singles)
Hip stretching
Bench
bar x 5
40 x 5
40 x 5
50 x 5
65 x 3
75 x 3
85 x 5
95 x 3
110 x 1
120 x 1 (PR)
135 x 1 PR
80 x 5 sets singles
(working with very long pauses, commands and head on the bench)
Pullups 5 sets
DB Rows 3 sets
Band pullaparts 5 sets
Bodyweight: 110 kg
Very pleased with today, bloated up hugely in the knowledge that I had to hit 135 today. Very pleased with the 135 as everything felt better than it ever has. Used my flat soled shoes today and as a consequence my arse didn’t come off the bench.
For the bloat:
breakfast - scrambled eggs w/ cheese + fried ham, 2 toaster waffles and a shake w/ waxy maize
Lunch - “fish balls” + fish fingers + salad + cake + another shake w/ maxy maize.
Pre training - big circle sammich you get from costco
drank about a gallon of 50/50 lucozade:water mix with some salt thrown in there.
Can’t remember the last squat session on the 5/3/1 week.
Deloaded last week - nothing interesting.
Today: 27/2/12 - Press - (3)
Warm up - Pullups - 5 sets + shoulder stretching, band pullaparts, shoulder dislocates + PVC rolling
Press
30 x 5
30 x 5
40 x 5
40 x 5
50 x 3
60 x 3
65 x 6 (easy but my left arm was all over the shop, locking out a lot slower than Mr. Righty so I shut it down there)
55 x 10 x 3 sets (easy + even lockout every time)
Pullups 5 x 8 sets - weighted, weighted + bands & a few sets all natty.
Face Pulls 20 x 5 sets
10 min SQ test (MWOD #1)
Got a “health MOT” done today after training. Results were on the whole pretty shite. Cholesterol, blood pressure, resting heart rate and pretty much everything else were all a shambles. Will work on this after th bench meet.
Tuesday 28 February - Deadlift (3)
stretching for hips, calves; PVC and hockey ball on glutes, back, IT band and adductors.
Deadlift
60 x 5
60 x 5
100 x 3
100 x 3
120 x 3
145 x 3
165 x 3
185 x 3
205 x 8 PR
Squat 5 sets 10 @ 120kg * actually got 8 on frst set by miscounting, so got 12 on 2nd set
Hanging leg raises 5 sets or so
Thursday 1 March - Bench (3 + Single)
Mobility work
Bench
bar x 10
40 x 10
40 x 10
50 x 5
65 x 3
75 x 3
85 x 3
95 x 3
105 x 3
120 x 1 IPF Commands (easy)
80 x 1 IPF Commands
80 x 1 IPF Commands
90 x 1 IPF Commands
95 x 1 IPF Commands
DB Rows - 5 sets
Pullups - 8 sets
BB Curls - 4 sets 6
Saturday 3rd March - Squat (3)
Mobility work
Squat
60 x 3
60 x 3
80 x 3
100 x 1
100 x 3
110 x 3
115 x 3
130 x 3
145 x 18 PR
Abs - 5 sets
DONE.
Update.
Fuck, didn’t realise I’d missed a whole week of writing training down.
Press: 55 x 5
Deadlift: 200 x 5
Bench: 100 x 5
Squat: 140 x 5
All easy.
Missed monday’s press workout due to illness.
Tonight: Deadlift (5/3/1)
Mobility work
Deadlift
60 x 5
60 x 5
100 x 5
140 x 3
170 x 5
190 x 3
210 x 3 PR
Squat
60 x 10
100 x 10
120 x 10
stopped the squat there because something has becomed fucked up in my low back/lat/oblique area (tried wrapping my whole midsection up in knee wraps to compress it some and give some support but had no luck.
Hamstrings
5 sets 10
Abs
5 sets 10
This injury: sharp, stabbing pains on my back at the bottom of my ribs on the right side.
Hurts when: walking out squats, sitting down, standing, walking, arching on bench.
Doesn’t hurt when: squatting, deadlifting (actually any lifting)
Bench from last week:
went up to 110 for a single
Monday 19 March: Squat (5/3/1)
60 x 5
80 x 5
100 x 3
120 x 5
135 x 3
150 x 1 (easy)
Tuesday 20 March: Deadlift Deload
60 x 5
100 x 5
140 x 5
Pullups x 5 sets
Wednesday 21 March
stretching and some light pulls (showing some people at school how to deadlift)
Saturday 24th March - Bench (last heavy day before meet)
Bench
bar x 10
40 x 5
60 x 5
70 x 3
80 x 3
90 x 3
100 x 1
110 x 1
120 x 1 (IPF commands) - easy
130 x 1 (IPF commands) - easy
Pullups x a bunch
Curls 4 sets 6
Band pull aparts 100 total reps
Videos:
Bodyweight = 111kg
Bloated up a little for training, but nothing major, should be able to weigh in at about 115kg on meet day. Very pleased with how everything went in the lead up so far, time to rest, eat, ice and bloat up.
31-03-2011 - East Midlands Bench Meet Writeup
weighed in at 107kg - which I’m not happy with, I spent all of friday attempting to bloat up, to end up coming in lighter and feeling sick. felt like shit when I woke up, but by the time i had to lift I felt fine. Will address this issue for my next meet.
All warm ups went really well. Was a bit rushed towards the end so my last warm up was a bit rushed and harder than it should have been. By the time my name was called to go out, i was ready and felt good.
Opened at 120 - smoked it. (meet PR)
2nd attempt was 130 - smoked it, felt easier than the 120. (meet PR)
3rd attempt was 140 - missed it. Didn’t feel like I managed to get tight enough in setting up, but apart from that I just wasn’t strong enough. Don’t think a better set up would have let me get the lift.
ended up coming second (out of 2) the winner benched 210. There’s some definite work to be done, but I’m still happy with how the meet went.
Some things to work on:
-Very out of shape at the moment, time to get conditioning again. My goal is still to put on weight and get stronger, so my conditioning won’t be anything too crazy and will only be 2 days a week. Stretch, lift, sprint. In upping my conditioning, I’ll need to have some parameters for training: Weight won’t drop below 100kg, only 2 x week, Run Hills x 1 and weight vest walk x 1.
-Everyone at the meet who was stronger than me had far bigger arms. Big arm = strong arm. Strong arm = big bench. After my boring but big work I’ll do arm and yoke work.
-Need a new singlet, mine is getting too stretched in the legs and is transparent in areas.
-Will test my max on squat this Saturday.
-Will start mobility work aggressively. Not as good at this as I should be.
Training (of sorts)
pullups + band pull aparts x a bunch
not too many, stopping way before I feel I’m working hard, just something to do while everyone else is training and I’m not loading the bar or filming.
Tomorrow I’ll start training again properly.
Tuesday 3 April - Deadlift (5)
Sretching
Deadlift
60 x 5
100 x 5
140 x 3
165 x 5
185 x 5
205 x 5
Squat
worked up to 130 for 4 sets (10/10/5/8) absolute grinders, every last one of them.
Hill Sprints
8 x small hill
Not pleased with pussyfooting about on the assistance. Will catch up on the squats tomorrow.
Thursday 5 April - Bench (5)
Bench Press
bar x 10
40 x 10
60 x 5
75 x 5
85 x 5
95 x 5
105 x 5 (easy)
90 x 10 x 4 sets (2 sets close grip, 2 wide)
95 x 10 (wide)
Pullups x 10 sets (8 sets weighted, 2 x not weighted)
Band Pushdowns 5 sets 20
Band Pullaparts 5 sets
Curls 4 sets 6 @ 50kg
Facepulls 4 sets
Kroc Rows 1 warm up set, 1 all out set (60kg x 15)*
*meant to do these after the pull ups but forgot.
Weight today: 111kg
Really good workout today. Completely fucked up by the end of it. Good to be training hard again.
Saturday 7 April - Squat (test)
Squat
60 x 5 (intense hamstring pain on right leg. Think I pulled something)*
100 x 3
120 x 1
140 x 1
160 x 1
180 x 1 (w/ wraps)
200 x 1 (w/ wraps) GRINDER (PR)
completely fucked up, got thrown all over the place on the 200, had the bar too high and it was an absolute grinder. It wasn’t difficult, but I called it a day there Because by that point my hamstring was screaming - I’m lifting for something bigger than today. Pissed off that I didn’t get my goal for the day (220). I’ve got excuses but what does it matter? Should have been stronger than I was. Time to get aggressive with my squat.
*all sets were done with a knee wrap round my hamstring to help it out some.
Not a good one.