27/08/09
Accessory Stuff
Pallof Presses:
22.5x3x10
Ab Pulldowns:
50x3x8
Needed to work the abz today - got to work on the six pack, right? I was going to do several sets of crunches to failure supersetted with some broomstick twists. Then I decided to do something productive instead.
Oh yeah - did plenty of foam rolling and mobility stuff too.
28/08/09
DE Squats/Deadlifts
Speed Box Squats:
20x2x5
(Added green bands)
20x5
60x3
80x4x2
90x2x2
100x2x2
Speed Deadlifts:
70x2
90x1
(Added doubled mini bands)
90x6x1
Reverse Hypers:
50x4x12
Great session today - my box squats and deadlifts were all faster than last week, and felt a lot more solid.
One funny story to tell though… On my second set of box squats, I came out of the hole and drove my hips through to lock out the lift as quickly as possible. I overcooked it a bit though, and I found out about the dangers of bands the hard way! Hips were too far forward; the bar was pulled back and downwards - with me still attached - and myself and the bar both went crashing backwards onto the pins. I wish I had got it on video.
30/08/09
DE Bench Presses
Speed Bench Presses:
20x2x8
(Added 2 sets of chains per side)
20x5
40x5
60x4x3
70x3
80x3
90x2
80x3
Neutral Grip Dumbbell Bench Presses:
70lbx3x12
Face Pulls:
90lbx5x12
One-Arm Kettlebell Push Presses:
25x3x5
Bench pressing went very well today - the sets with 60kg + chains were all very fast so I decided to work up to a heavier weight. 70 and 80 went well, but I didn’t have the speed off of my chest on the set with 90, and only managed a hard double. I dropped the weight back down to 80kg for a final easy triple.
Not much to say about the rest of the session, except that I tried to perform the kettlebell push presses with a better ROM today - hence the lower reps than Wednesday.
I’ve never lifted with kettle bells but like to try, and a lot of people seem to utilize them. Have you found them to be very effective in your training?
I’ve only just started using them, so it’s a bit early to say yet. They’re good fun to use - and being a slightly more awkward shape (at least for presses) I’m hoping that the extra co-ordination required to lift them will do good things for me! I’ll keep you updated…
Max effort squats/deadlifts tomorrow - I’m hoping to get some more videos.
31/08/09
ME Squats/Deadlifts
Cambered Bar Squats:
30x2x5
70x3
90x3
110x2
130x1
140x1
150x1
160x1
31/08/09 Squats - YouTube (This is the 150kg set)
Deficit Deadlifts:
60x5
100x3
120x3
140x3
150x3
140x3
Glute/Ham Raises:
BWx3x8
Hanging Leg Raises:
2x3x8
‘Nick’s running late, so we can use the cambered bar today!’
Oh fuck. We had planned on using the heart-warmingly familiar straight bar for our ME squatting today, as our training partner is still doing 5/3/1, and changing barbells around between sets is rather a lot of effort. However, due to his unpunctuality, I would be subjected to the horrors of squatting with a ‘speciality’ bar for the second week in a row. Since the safety squat bar thoroughly kicked my arse last week, I can’t say I was overwhelmed with excitement as the session began.
The warm-ups went well though, and the unfamiliar bar didn’t send me tumbling forward in the hole as I had expected. I kept chucking on more weight, and kept squatting it. Maybe it was the mid-afternoon nap in my sunny garden, maybe it was the music blasting through the garage, or maybe it was my DIY caffeine supplementation (add a generous serving of instant coffee beans to the pre-workout shake) - but for some reason everything felt great. After an easy single with 150, I ground out one more with 160 (alas - the camera was dead by then) and called it there.
Then onto deficit deadlifts. I performed these whilst standing on a 50kg (110lb) plate, and boy did it make a difference! Still, 150 for an easy triple isn’t at all bad, given that my max triple from the floor is just 15kg higher (and with much more ugly form). I’m hoping that these will solve my pulling problems.
I finished off with some GHRs and leg raises to complete the session. Good stuff… More of the same on Wednesday please!
[quote]Element_26 wrote:
23/08/09
DE Bench Presses
Speed Bench Presses:
20x8
(Added 1 set of chains per side)
20x5
40x3
60x4x3
70x4x3
Neutral Grip Dumbbell Bench Presses:
65lbx3x12
Pull-ups:
BWx2x8
BWx2x6
Face Pulls:
80lbx3x10
One-Arm Kettlebell Push Presses:
25x2x5
Fun.[/quote]
You did 2 chains per side you plonka:)
Also don’t you know anything about online training logs? You’re meant to over state your lifts not give accurate figures, and definately not on the light side!
I loved the sideways vid -not even Tony would do that:)
You’re gonna be a beast!
Chris
[quote]Youch wrote:
Element_26 wrote:
23/08/09
DE Bench Presses
Speed Bench Presses:
20x8
(Added 1 set of chains per side)
20x5
40x3
60x4x3
70x4x3
Neutral Grip Dumbbell Bench Presses:
65lbx3x12
Pull-ups:
BWx2x8
BWx2x6
Face Pulls:
80lbx3x10
One-Arm Kettlebell Push Presses:
25x2x5
Fun.
You did 2 chains per side you plonka:)
Also don’t you know anything about online training logs? You’re meant to over state your lifts not give accurate figures, and definately not on the light side!
I loved the sideways vid -not even Tony would do that:)
You’re gonna be a beast!
Chris[/quote]
Really?! I was sure it was only 1 chain per side. Oh well, I’m not going to complain if I’m lifting more than I thought. I must be the only poster on the interwebz with lower e-numbers than actual numbers!
[quote]Element_26 wrote:
Youch wrote:
Element_26 wrote:
23/08/09
DE Bench Presses
Speed Bench Presses:
20x8
(Added 1 set of chains per side)
20x5
40x3
60x4x3
70x4x3
Neutral Grip Dumbbell Bench Presses:
65lbx3x12
Pull-ups:
BWx2x8
BWx2x6
Face Pulls:
80lbx3x10
One-Arm Kettlebell Push Presses:
25x2x5
Fun.
You did 2 chains per side you plonka:)
Also don’t you know anything about online training logs? You’re meant to over state your lifts not give accurate figures, and definately not on the light side!
I loved the sideways vid -not even Tony would do that:)
You’re gonna be a beast!
Chris
Really?! I was sure it was only 1 chain per side. Oh well, I’m not going to complain if I’m lifting more than I thought. I must be the only poster on the interwebz with lower e-numbers than actual numbers![/quote]
Yeah Buddy,
2 per side, we also have those monster chains that we only for squats which are 25kg each! The small chains are 10kg each.
Nice lifting:) Sorry for the hijack!
Chris
02/09/09
ME Bench Presses
Bench Presses (Paused):
20x2x8
60x2x5
(All subsequent sets performed with a 1-board)
80x3
100x2
110x1
120x1
125xF
115x1
Neutral Grip Dumbbell Bench Presses (Paused):
80lbx4x6
Pull-ups:
BWx2x8 (overhand grip)
BWx2x5 (neutral grip)
Face Pulls:
100lbx3x8
04/09/09
DE Squats/Deadlifts
Speed Box Squats:
20x2x5
(Added green bands)
20x5
60x3
80x8x2
Speed Deadlifts:
70x3
(Added doubled mini bands)
70x1
90x6x1
Reverse Hypers:
60x4x12
We took it pretty easy tonight and didn’t work up to heavier lifting on the squats and deadlifts. Instead we kept the weight the same (roughly 50% + bands) for all sets, and really focused on speed.
06/09/09
DE Bench Presses
Speed Bench Presses:
20x2x8
(Added doubled mini bands)
20x5
40x2x3
60x3x3
65x3x3
70x3x3
Neutral Grip Dumbbell Bench Presses:
75lbx3x12
One-Arm Dumbbell Rows:
90lbx3x10
55kgx1x12
Band Pull-aparts:
3x12 w/green band
This was my first session using bands for the bench, and it went pretty smoothly. I used three different grips for all of my working sets, all of which were quite fast.
Oh, and rep PRs for dumbbell bench presses and rows were a cool way to end the session.
07/09/09
ME Squats/Deadlifts
Squats:
20x2x8
60x5
80x3
100x2
120x1
140x1
160xF
160x1 (PR)
140x1
140x1
Deficit Deadlifts:
60x5
100x3
120x3
140x3
150x3
140x3
Glute/Ham Raises:
BWx3x9
Hanging Leg Raises:
9.5x3x6
Standing Barbell Curls:
40x2x10
40x1x8
Rarely has breaking a 3-month old squat PR by 5kg been received with such apathy. After last Monday’s heroics with the cambered bar, I was quietly confident of squatting at least 170 today, and was ready to take 180 (4 plates) for a ride too. Warm-ups went well, and then I walked up to the bar to squat 160. Easy, huh?
I wasn’t ready to strain this hard this early, and got buried unceremoniously. Second time around I composed myself and just managed a ball-busting single with the three and a half plates. Not a bad milestone to reach, but far below what I had expected from today.
Not much to say about the rest of the session. In case you were wondering, I threw the curlz in there mainly to relieve some of the slight elbow pain I had felt after benching with bands yesterday (it worked) but also because the bar was there loaded and begging to be lifted 
Congrats on the 160 PR today! Wish I could have seen it! 
-Nick
Thanks man, I would have taken a video but wasn’t expecting 160 to be anything exciting, and forgot to do it for the second attempt!
I’m sore today.
Hey Buddy,
You did really well coming back after you got squashed the first time -I reckon 200kg before the end of the year.
What’s with Nick’s avatar; he’s about as soldier like as Graham Norton -at least I look like my avatar:)
[quote]Youch wrote:
Hey Buddy,
You did really well coming back after you got squashed the first time -I reckon 200kg before the end of the year.
What’s with Nick’s avatar; he’s about as soldier like as Graham Norton -at least I look like my avatar:)
[/quote]
He turned up late for the war, because his special ops watch was an hour slow. So everyone else had got the job done, and Nick got to stand around with his gun looking badass and posing for pictures. True story.
And thanks for the encouraging words dude. 200 will come; 4 plates is the immediate goal…
[quote]Element_26 wrote:
He turned up late for the war, because his special ops watch was an hour slow. So everyone else had got the job done, and Nick got to stand around with his gun looking badass and posing for pictures. True story.
And thanks for the encouraging words dude. 200 will come; 4 plates is the immediate goal… [/quote]
Ha! So true.
He’s fighting his own war so he can turn up when he wants- typical Yank! I think he’s still doing the longest deload ever, will he ever sweat again?
It just so happens that was the only photo of myself that I had available back when I first signed-up for T-Nation – I met 2 random guys, went with them to shoot air rifles at each other, and the place sent me an e-mail with the photos. True story. I suppose I could give it an update sometime eh?
See you at 5… hopefully… just switched my spec ops watch over to binary and I’m not too good at reading it yet!
It just so happens that was the only photo of myself that I had available back when I first signed-up for T-Nation – I met 2 random guys, went with them to shoot air rifles at each other, and the place sent me an e-mail with the photos. True story. I suppose I could give it an update sometime eh?
See you at 5… hopefully… just switched my spec ops watch over to binary and I’m not too good at reading it yet!