Cheers man! Check out the video:
01/03/10
Recovery
Lots of soft tissue and mobility work…
Ab Pulldowns:
3 sets
External Rotations:
2 sets
Dumbbell Hammer Curls:
2 sets
Serious shit.
03/03/10
ME Bench Presses
Bench Presses (Paused):
20x2x8
(Added 2 sets of chains per side)
20x5
40x5
60x3
(All subsequent sets performed with a 2-board)
80x3
90x2
95x1
100x1
105x1
110x1
115xF
Pull-ups:
BWx8
BW+10x6
BW+12.5x5
BWx8
Face Pulls:
90lbx1x12
100lbx2x10
Triceps Pushdowns w/Straight Bar Attachment:
70lbx3x10
The road to gearwhoredom has begun. This will mean lots of bands, chains, boards and box squats in future… The single with 110 plus chains was about 150kg at the top - my best 2-board press with straight weight is 140.
I didn’t go crazy with the volume of my assistance work, because I’m just getting back into proper training after having a mini-break around the competition.
05/03/10
DE Squats/Deadlifts
Speed Box Squats:
20x2x5
(Added green bands)
20x3
60x2
80x2
100x8x2
Glute/Ham Raises:
BWx10
BW+5x8
BW+10x8
Roman Chair Sit-ups:
BWx1x15
BW+10x2x10
Reverse Hypers:
60x12
65x12
70x12
Nothing spectacular about this session. The real work will begin again next week!
[quote]Element_26 wrote:
Cheers man! Check out the video:
Your squats were super fast and deeeeeep.
Really good arch on the BP.
You made all the deadlifts look like cake, looks like you had another 50lbs in you.
Good form on everything, gettin strong, man!
Thanks man! I was surprised how easy my opening two squats were… My depth on these, and my arch on the bench, both seemed to be a source of amusement and wonderment for the other lifters.
As for the deadlifts, I felt like I could pull anything on the day. 215kg was a 10kg PR, but even that was pretty comfortable. 5 plates is just around the corner now!
07/03/10
DE Bench Presses
Speed Bench Presses:
20x2x8
(Added 2 sets of chains per side)
20x5
40x3
60x3x3
65x2x3
70x2x3
75x3
Neutral Grip Dumbbell Floor Presses:
70lbx1x10
75lbx2x10
One-Arm Dumbbell Rows:
100lbx2x12
50kgx12
60kgx10
Fat Bar Curls:
35x3x10
Band Pull-aparts:
3x12 w/light band
The last set of bench presses was the only one I got on video, so was of course the worst. I lost my tightness a little and each rep was a little different. Still, good chaos training I guess, and the set looks faster and smoother than it felt.
I jacked up the volume a little on some of the assistance stuff, and have found a new favourite exercise: dumbbell floor presses. Do them.
08/03/10
ME Squats/Deadlifts
Cambered Bar Box Squats:
30x2x5
70x3
90x3
110x3
130x3
150x1
160x1
170x1 (PR)
Sumo Deadlifts:
60x5
80x5
100x3
120x3
140x1
160x1
180x1
190x1 (PR)
Hanging Leg Raises:
3 sets
Reverse Hypers:
70x2x12
75x1x10
Two PRs - can’t be bad. I think sumo deadlifts may turn out to be my stronger pulling style in future, but I wasn’t expecting to go breaking records today. This was 25kg below my conventional deadlift PR, but I was quite satisfied with tonight’s work.
10/03/10
ME Bench Presses
Floor Presses (Paused):
20x2x8
(Added 2 sets of chains per side)
20x2x5
40x5
60x3
70x3
80x2
90x1
100x1
105xF
105xF
Close Grip Bench Presses:
80x5
90x5
100x5 (PR)
Pull-ups:
BWx8
BW+10x6
BW+10x6
BW+15x4
Seated Cable Rows:
70lbx10
90lbx10
110lbx10
140lbx10
Triceps Pushdowns w/Straight Bar Attachment:
70lbx3x12
Tonight was very productive - lots of volume and a fast pace made for an intense session! I like floor presses, but this was the first time I had performed the exercise with chains. 100kg was hard, but I thought I had 105 in me. I would have, but ended up losing my line (twice) and having to attempt a JM press off of the floor. That wasn’t happening!
12/03/10
DE Squats/Deadlifts
Speed Box Squats:
20x2x5
(Added green bands)
20x3
60x2
80x2
100x8x2
Speed Deadlifts:
70x3
(Added doubled mini bands)
70x1
90x1
110x3x1
120x3x1
Glute/Ham Raises:
BWx10
BW+5x10
BW+10x8
BWx12
Ab Pulldowns:
110lbx1x12
120lbx2x8
110lbx1x10
Those deadlifts were a lot harder than they should have been.
13/03/10
DE Bench Presses
Speed Bench Presses:
20x2x8
(Added doubled mini bands)
20x2x5
40x5
60x3
65x3x3
70x3x3
75x2x3
Neutral Grip Dumbbell Floor Presses:
32x1x10
34x2x10
36x1x8
HS Row Machine:
2 platesx1x12
2.5 platesx2x12
3 platesx1x13
Seated Dumbbell ‘Power Cleans’:
12x2x15
Barbell Curls:
45x2x8
Today’s session was pretty decent. My bench pressing felt fast and smooth, and the assistance stuff went well. Nothing else to say really!
15/03/10
ME Squats/Deadlifts
Reverse Band Squats:
20x2x5
60x5
80x3
(Added green bands)
100x3
120x3
140x3
160x3
180x1
200x1
210x1 (PR)
Rack Pulls (from 5th pins):
60x5
100x3
140x3
(Switched to sumo stance)
160x3
180x3
200x3
220x2
240x1
Roman Chair Sit-ups:
BWx1x15
BW+10x2x12
BW+15x1x8
Reverse Hypers:
70x12
75x12
80x12
Absolutely delighted with tonight’s session. I smashed my previous PR for reverse band squats by 10kg, and felt that there was more in the tank, and then went and did a few (relatively) heavy rack pulls. I suck at rack pulls. Really badly. So I’ll be doing more in the next few weeks, in the hope that this will help my deadlift really take off.
17/03/10
ME Bench Presses
Fat Bar Close Grip Bench Presses:
15x2x8
(Added 2 sets of chains per side)
15x5
35x5
55x3
75x3
85x1
95x1
100xF
EDIT: Here’s a belated video of the single with 95kg + chains:
Seated Overhead Press Lockouts:
60x5
70x5
80x3
Pull-ups:
BWx8
BW+10x6
BW+10x6
BW+15x4
Seated Cable Rows:
110lbx12
130lbx12
150lbx12
160lbx12
Triceps Pushdowns w/Straight Bar Attachment:
75lbx3x10
The overhead press lockouts were fun. The rest of the session wasn’t particularly.
18/03/10
DE Squats/Deadlifts
Speed Box Squats:
20x2x5
(Added green bands)
20x3
60x2
80x2
100x2x2
110x2x2
120x2
130x2
140x2
Speed Deadlifts:
60x2x3
100x2x1
120x2x1
140x2x1
160x2x1
Glute/Ham Raises:
BWx1x10
BW+5x2x10
Ab Pulldowns:
110lbx12
115lbx10
120lbx8
That last double with 140 was seriously ugly, but it was a 10kg PR against bands, so I’m not complaining. Everything else was pretty standard - after working up to heavy doubles when squatting I didn’t feel the need to go crazy on any assistance work.
20/03/10
DE Bench Presses
Speed Bench Presses:
20x2x8
(Added doubled mini bands)
20x2x5
40x3
60x3
65x3
70x3
75x3
80x3
85x3
90x3
95x3
Neutral Grip Dumbbell Floor Presses:
32x10
34x10
36x10
HS Row Machine:
2 platesx12
2.5 platesx12
3 platesx10
3.5 platesx6
Seated Dumbbell ‘Power Cleans’:
12x15
14x12
Far Bar Curls:
45x2x8
Given that I went out last night and woke up with hangover this morning, I wasn’t expecting much from today’s session. However, the first few sets of bench presses felt good and fast, and the rest of the session got better and better from there. I got weight or rep PRs on every exercise I performed. I think I’ve earned a deload week next week!
22/03/10
Deload - Squats/Deadlifts
Glute/Ham Raises:
BWx2x10
BW+5x1x10
BW+10x1x8
Roman Chair Sit-ups:
BWx1x15
BW+10x2x12
BW+15x1x8
Reverse Hypers:
80x12
85x12
Deload weeks: serious shit.
24/03/10
Deload - Bench Presses:
Neutral Grip Dumbbell Bench Presses:
20x2x10
26x8
34x15
34x13
34x11
Pull-ups:
BWx3x8
Triceps Pushdowns w/Straight Bar Attachment:
40x2x10
Face Pulls:
50x2x12
26/03/10
Deload - Squats/Deadlifts
Speed Box Squats:
20x2x5
60x2
80x2
100x2
115x8x2
Ab Pulldowns:
60x3x10
Cable Rows:
40x12
50x12
60x12
28/03/10
Deload - Bench Presses
Speed Bench Presses:
20x2x8
40x5
60x3
80x3x3
85x3x3
HS Row Machine:
2.5 plates2xx12
3 platesx1x12
Dumbbell Lateral Raises:
14x2x10
Band Resisted Push-ups:
2x15
Seated Dumbbell ‘Power Cleans’:
14x2x12
29/03/10
ME Squats/Deadlifts
SSB Box Squats:
30x2x5
70x3
(Added 1 monster chain per side)
70x3
(Added 2 sets of chains per side)
70x3
90x1
100x1
110x1
115x1
Reverse Band Deadlifts:
(With green bands)
100x5
140x3
160x3
180x3
200x2
220x1
240x1
260xF
Glute/Ham Rasises:
BWx10
BW+5x10
BW+10x9
Ab Pulldowns:
110lbx12
115lbx10
120lbx8
Squatting was great today. Typically, I didn’t get any of my attempts on camera, but you can see from the video that my training partner is recovering spectacularly well from recent shoulder surgery! The heavy chain weight made squatting with the safety squat bar even more awkward than usual - but 115kg plus 90kg of chain can’t be bad.
Reverse band deadlifts were less enjoyable. All of my warm-ups felt light and fast, until I got to 240kg. That was a lot tougher than I had expected. 260 didn’t budge, and I then proceeded to miss 255 as well! This just means I’ll have to get 260 the next time I give these a go!