OK, a rant. Unreliable training partners fucking suck. If you can’t make a session for whatever reason, that’s understandable, but have the decency to let guys who might be relying on you a heads-up. If you tell me you’re going to train on Saturday, do NOT wait for me to call on Saturday morning to tell me that you’re working/your dog died/you’re going to spend the day at the park instead. Fuck. /rant.
No spotters or anyone to give me a hand-off for this of all sessions. So set-up for the final AMRAP set was fucking garbage. Ground out a hardish double then missed an attempted third.
I intended to do this session on Tuesday but was sick, so had to postpone for a day. Nothing interesting, just getting the blood pumping around the body. Shoulders didn’t particularly like the dips, so didn’t push it.
I got bored of deloading, so decided to (finally) hit my first 3 plate raw bench and, in the process, set a 10kg PR on the lift. Needless to say, I was pretty chuffed. I was training at my commercial gym today, and went there with the intention of working up in weight until I got something heavy in my hands - partly to make up for last week’s monstrosity of a bench session and partly because, well, y’know… ANYWAY, everything felt good so I figured I may as well break a PR in style, right? Hand-off was good (what a difference that makes), descent was good, paused momentarily, and blasted it up. It was slowish, but I’ve done harder reps. A guy who saw me do it said he had never seen anybody bench that much weight. That’s why I’m very glad I don’t train there very often.
After that, I just coasted through the rest of the session getting some work done. Now I’m going to eat a whole shitload of fajitas!
That gearwhore itch needs to be scratched. From Monday, I will no longer be using the 5/3/1 template. I will be mapping out a plan of attack for the direction of my training tomorrow, but it will probably be Westside-based.
I still need to squat 200kg raw, so that will be happening in the next couple of weeks. Would really like a 240kg raw, conventional deadlift too. But that’s there for the taking.
The BPC/GPCGB UK Open meet is usually held in early September, and that will be my next competition. It gives me a good four months to really get used to the gear and sort out any technique issues. Should be fun.
Quick summary of how I’ll be laying out my training for the coming weeks. I’ve basically looked at some of things that worked extremely well for me whilst doing 5/3/1, and how I can apply that to a programme aimed at getting me in good shape to compete in multi-ply equipment in September.
I’m going to continue dedicating one session each week to the big 3, and my fourth session will be an upper body assistance session (in fact, I might just keep a 5/3/1 day for the press). I’ll mix up heavy triples and singles on the big lifts, cycling between a few variations of the main lifts that I think will work my weak areas hard. I’ll probably wave some speed work in there at some point, but that will be as and when needed.
[quote]Most Major wrote:
Great work in here buddy, it seems the 5/3/1 program got you some good PRs. Looking forward to seeing what the gear and Westside will get ya.[/quote]
Cheers MM. 5/3/1 was one of the most productive programmes I’ve done for a long time. Hopefully I can take forward some of the lessons learnt and use it to keep pace with you in gear!
Deadlifts performed off of a 50kg plate, which was a 2-3’’ block (or 4’’ if we’re talking internet inches). The triple with 210 wasn’t crazy hard, so it was a pretty good session.
200kg bitchez! Previous best was 182.5kg (401lb) so this was a 17.5kg (39lb) PR. I had said at the start of the year that my goal was to squat 200kg in belt and wraps in 2011, so it’s only taken 4 months to do that. Onwards and upwards now - next goal is a 300kg squat (using as much gear as I can handle) by the end of the year.
Suspended Chain Cambered Bar Good Mornings:
70x5
90x5
110x3
130x3
Cable Side Bends:
150lbx6
160lbx6
170lbx6
Reverse Hypers:
100x3x12
This session was good fun. I have a Metal Pro Squatter on the way which I will be using for deadlifting in future, but it was good to see that my gains in my conventional deadlift have also carried over to a raw sumo pull. This was a PR deadlift against bands for me, and it was performed against brand new bands as well. If you haven’t pulled against bands before, that makes a huge difference. So good going there…
I then moved onto some suspended chain good mornings (which I have done before) with the cambered bar (which I haven’t). Thanks to Most Major for the inspiration there btw. These felt pretty good, and I beat my best effort with the straight bar by a rep.
Bench Presses:
20x2x8
60x5
80x3
100x3
120x1
(Subsequent sets performed to a 2-board)
140x1
(Added Metal Ace shirt)
140x2
160x2
180x3
(Following set performed to a 1-board)
190xF
190x1 (PR)
Pull-ups:
BWx50 (spread across 7 sets)
Close Grip Bench Presses:
(All sets performed with 2 sets of chains per side)
60x3x8
Ghetto Chest Supported Barbell Rows:
90x4x10
I’ve been stretching the shirt sleeves of my Ace this week in an effort to get the shirt to fit as well as it did 8 months (and 5 kilos) ago. It worked pretty well, as I felt better in the Ace today than I did a few weeks ago. The plan today was to just feel weight in my hands and work down the boards a little. I peaked with a triple at 180 to a 2-board, each rep better than the last, and then went for 190 to a 1-board. Lost my line completely first time around, so had to take the weight again. This time it was all going well until I was about half an inch away from touching the board, and then I let the bar drift very low on the chest plate to get a touch. I muscled the bar back into the groove and just about locked it out - very unevenly. Satisfied with the work today though.
Laughably high squats:
(Added Metal Ace briefs)
180x2
200x2
220x2
240x2
250x1
SSB Squats:
80x10
90x10
100x8
110x5
Glute/Ham Raises:
BWx15
BW 10x15
BW 15x12
Pikes:
BWx3x8
Summary: briefs are very, very, very, very tight. They were already very, very tight when I was 105kg. I’m now about 110kg, and that’s added at least two verys. I couldn’t get them to fit properly (despite having stretched out the legs and hips of the briefs) until after I’d done a couple of sets with 180 and 200. By the time I got to 220kg, they were sitting comfortably but were too tight for me to get anywhere near depth. No worries, I’ll work on it and soon enough I’ll be able to hit depth.
So you met your raw squat goal, great work! What’s the geared goal(s) then?
Getting into the gear is almost harder than performing the actual lift, eh? How are you liking the gearwhore lifestyle again?
Also, I’m finding myself pulling open the calculator application to convert your kilo numbers to pounds. A page or so back I was looking at your squats thinking, “Pretty sure he can squat over 200 pounds, wonder why he’s doing less. Oh, riiiiiight. Metric.”
[quote]Adam-F wrote:
I see you went to Nottingham too - I lived there for 3 years, although went to Trent Great city!
Is that shed set-up yours? Where did you pick up the specialist bars - worth an investment?
Sorry for all the questions haha[/quote]
Yeah Notts is a great for nightlife with the two unis so close by - I go back every now and then to visit some old friends.
The shed is owned by one of my training partners, Chris (he’s the guy spotting me in the bench video). The bars are definitely helpful to have around for variety, but I don’t think they’re critical. Chris bought the bars and rack from EliteFTS - shipping cost a bomb - and some of the other equipment from Pullum. Pullum are bloody expensive now though.
Great city!