Videos from last night:
This is my first set with 120kg plus 90kg of chains. The monster chain on the left hand side got caught underneath the rack, so I only got a single.
And here is a second set with the same weight. Much better!
This is a video of my arse. And a deadlift. And an OTT reaction.
Finally, here are some landmines…
12/09/10
DE Bench Presses
Speed Bench Presses:
20x2x8
(Added 2 sets of chains per side)
20x5
40x3
60x3
70x3x3
80x3x3
90x2x3
95x2
Presses:
50x6
55x6
60x6
65x6 (PR)
One-Arm Dumbbell Rows:
45x12
50x10
55x10
60x10
65x8
TRX Rear Delt Flyes:
2x10
Fat Bar Curls:
40x2x10
Triceps Pushdowns w/Rope attachment:
70lbx2x15
This was my final session of this (prolonged) training cycle; I’ll be off to Germany for some R&R (and work) next week. I was delighted with a modest PR on the presses, so it was a good way to sign off.
13/09/10
Deload - Squats/Deadlifts
Glute/Ham Raises:
BWx4x15
Reverse Hypers:
95x3x12
Ab Pulldowns:
120lbx3x12
18/09/10
Deload - Bench Presses
Speed Bench Presses:
20x2x8
40x5
60x3
80x3x3
85x3x3
Pull-ups:
BW 10x5x5
Barbell Curls:
2 sets
Scarecrows:
2 sets
Triceps Pushdowns w/Rope attachment:
2 sets
It’s good to be back from a week of eating significant amounts of rubbish, and sitting on my backside all day in Deutschland. Nice easy session to ease myself back into it, and Monday will see the hard work begin again.
20/09/10
ME Squats/Deadlifts
Cambered Bar Box Squats:
30x2x5
70x5
90x3
110x3
130x1
150x1
160x1
170x1
Deficit Deadlifts:
60x5
100x3
140x3
160x3
180x3
160x5
Glute/Ham Raises:
BWx8
BW 5x10
BW 5x10
BW 10x10
Hanging Leg Raises:
BWx4x8
Today was a day for equalling PRs on the main movements: my best cambered bar box squat up until this point was 170kg (08/03/10) and my previous best deficit deadlift (standing on a 50kg plate) was 180kg for a triple (24/05/10). Given that this comes two months after tearing knee ligaments, and after a week of being lazy in Germany, I’m pretty satisfied with that! Videos to follow.
Videos from last night:
Squatting 170kg with the cambered bar:
Deadlifting 180kg for a triple from a deficit…
…And then 160kg for 5:
22/09/10
ME Bench Presses
Reverse Band Bench Presses:
20x2x8
60x5
(Added green bands)
80x3
100x3
120x3
140x1
150x1
Chin-ups:
BW 11.25x5x5
2-board Presses:
110x5
120x3
130x2
Triceps Pushdowns w/Straight Bar Attachment:
85lbx2x8
Face Pulls:
120lbx2x10
Pretty underwhelming. We choked the bands over the pins set in the highest position in the rack, rather than over the top of the rack, and I didn’t get as much out of this as I had hoped. Oh well.
24/09/10
DE Squats/Deadlifts
Speed Box Squats:
20x2x5
(Added green bands)
20x3
60x3
80x2
100x8x2
Here’s one of the sets with 100kg:
For some unknown reason, I wasn’t able to post a write-up of this session above. So, here goes:
Speed Sumo Deadlifts:
70x3
(Added doubled mini bands)
70x1
90x1
110x4x1
130x4x1
Landmines:
20x8
25x6
30x5
Reverse Hypers:
100x3x10
It was fun to use bands again for my squats, and I managed to generate some good zip today.
26/09/10
DE Bench Presses
Speed Bench Presses:
20x2x8
(Added doubled mini bands)
20x5
40x5
60x3
70x8x3
One-Arm Dumbbell Rows:
50x10
55x10
60x10
65x9
Neutral Grip Dumbbell Floor Presses:
85lbx10
90lbx10
95lbx9
100lbx6
Fat Bar Curls:
40x10
40x12
TRX Rear Delt Flyes:
2x10
Triceps Pushdowns:
2x25 w/choked light bands
27/09/10
ME Squats/Deadlifts
Squats:
20x2x5
60x5
80x3
100x3
120x3
140x1
160xF
160xF
160x1
170x1
182.5x1 (PR)
Stiff-legged Good Mornings:
60x8
80x5
100x5
120x3
Glute/Ham Raises:
BWx10
BW 5x10
BW 10x8
Pikes:
BWx3x12
Well, this was quite the eventful training session. I turned up feeling exhausted, and was mentally prepping myself for a relatively below-par session. As no one was feeling particularly motivated (the dark evenings must be ruining our mojo already) we decided to do something crazy: use a standard straight bar, no accommodating resistance, no cheater gear (OK, not much) and no box. It turned out to be something of a revelation.
All was going well until I went for 160kg (sans knee wraps) and felt a slight twitch as my right knee buckled inwards barely perceptibly as I came out of the hole. This is a familiar feeling with about 90% of your max on your back, but given my recent injury I reflexively dumped the bar straight away. I was pissed off with myself, threw on some knee wraps, and took it again. This time, the bar slipped down my back as I descended, and I dumped it a second time. Now I was tired, very angry with myself, and ready to piss off home. Fortunately, I train with very strong people whose efforts on their squats motivated me to stop being a self-indulgent arsehole and go again. This time 160 was picture perfect. As it should be. Same with 170 - easiest 95% rep you’ll ever see. Now: decision time - equal my max with 180 or take 182.5kg for a ride to break my PR and hit my first 400lb raw squat? The latter, obviously. As you’ll see in the video (to be posted later) I very nearly missed - getting stuck just out of the hole - but struggled through and got a pretty clean rep! I was elated.
Unfortunately, I’d wasted a whole lot of time missing weights and loading for my training partners, so I rushed through the assistance stuff pretty quickly, which left me utterly wiped out.
Here is the story of Monday’s session in videos…
Firstly, pathetic miss with 160kg where the bar began to slip down my back:
And then we have a very nice looking 170kg:
Finally - 182.5kg (401lb) for a PR!
And after all that, I did a few Good Mornings. This is the final set, with 120kg:
29/09/10
ME Bench Presses
Bench Presses:
20x2x8
(Added 2 sets of chains per side)
20x5
40x3
60x3
80x3
90x2
100x1
105x1
110xF
Pull-ups:
BW 10x8x5
Close Grip Bench Presses:
80x5
90x5
100x5
117.5x2
Face Pulls:
120lbx3x10
I think I was so tired from Monday’s heroics that I just sucked tonight.
01/10/10
DE Squats/Deadlifts
Speed Box Squats:
20x2x5
(Added green bands)
20x3
60x2
80x2
100x4x2
110x4x2
Speed Deadlifts:
60x3
100x1
120x2x1
140x2x1
160x2x1
Reverse Hypers:
100x2x12
Landmines:
25x6
25x6
30x6
02/10/10
DE Bench Presses
Speed Bench Presses:
20x2x8
(Added doubled mini bands)
20x5
40x3
60x3
70x3x3
80x3x3
90x2x3
HS Row Machine:
2 platesx12
2.5 platesx10
3 platesx10
3 platesx10
3.5 platesx10
Neutral Grip Dumbbell Floor Presses:
38x10
38x10
40x10
Barbell Curls:
45x3x10
Triceps Pushdowns w/Rope attachment:
3x15
04/10/10
ME Squats/Deadlifts
Rack Pulls (from 1st pins):
60x5
100x3
100x3
140x3
(Added quadded light bands)
20x2x1
40x1
60x1
Rack Pulls (from 3rd pins):
160x3
Glute/Ham Raises:
BWx15
BW 5x10
BW 10x3x10
Ab Pulldowns:
125lbx4x12
Eventful, if ultimately slightly crap session last night. The power (and hence lighting) in my training partner’s garage was intermittent, which is fine in June, but not ideal when you are training on an October evening. This also meant no music. Not great conditions.
We decided to start with something crazy - rack pulls against ridiculous amounts of band tension. I’m not sure how much the empty bar weighed at the top of the pull, but it was well over 200kg. So after raping my CNS by working up to one whole plate per side for a single, I dropped to something a little less ridiculous. This was a terrible idea: 160kg felt awful and I decided to forget the heavy stuff for the evening and just do some assistance before heading off home with my tail between my legs.
06/10/10
ME Bench Presses
Bench Presses (Paused):
20x2x8
(Added doubled mini bands)
20x5
40x3
60x3
(All subsequent sets performed with a 2-board)
80x3
90x3
100x1
110x1
120x1
125x1
Presses:
50x6
55x6
60x6
65x6
Chin-ups:
BW+11.25x6x5
BWx2x5
Triceps Pushdowns w/Straight Bar Attachment:
45x3x10
Face Pulls:
50x3x12
07/10/10
DE Squats/Deadlifts
Box Squats:
20x2x5
(Added blue bands)
20x3
60x2
80x2
100x2
(Added Metal Ace briefs)
120x2
140x2
160x2
170x1
Sumo Deadlifts:
(Added Metal Viking IPF Squatter)
60x3
100x3
120x2
140x1
160x1
180x1
200x1
220x3x1
Reverse Hypers:
100x3x8
Landmines:
25x6
30x6
30x6
Tonight was the first time in almost three months that I have been able to wear my briefs, and was the first time ever that I had paired them with bands for squatting. It was quite an experience - there was a huge amount of tension at the top of the lift during my later sets. Given that I didn’t do a lot volume here, I decided to do a few heavy singles when I moved onto the deadlifts. Enjoyable session.
10/10/10
DE Bench Presses
Speed Bench Presses:
20x2x8
(Added doubled mini bands)
20x5
40x3
60x3
70x3x3
80x3x3
90x3
95x3
100x3
One-Arm Dumbbell Rows:
50x10
55x10
60x10
65x10
Neutral Grip Dumbbell Floor Presses:
85lbx10
90lbx10
95lbx8
100lbx7
TRX Rear Delt Flyes:
3x10
Fat Bar Curls:
45x3x8
11/10/10
Deload - Squats/Deadlifts
Glute/Ham Raises:
BWx15
BW 5x10
BW 10x4x10
Reverse Hypers:
100x3x12
Ab Pulldowns:
130lbx3x8
18/09/10
Deload - Bench Presses
Neutral Grip Dumbbell Bench Presses:
20x2x10
28x8
36x13
36x12
36x12
Pull-ups:
BW 11.25x5x5
Curls:
3 sets
Scarecrows:
3 sets
Triceps Pushdowns w/Rope attachment:
3 sets
On Thursday I left for Amsterdam, and returned yesterday afternoon, so I have only just updated my log from the early part of last week. Nothing interesting to see here (the same cannot be said for Amsterdam, where there are LOTS of interesting things to see and do) but I will be back into proper lifting later today.