I forgot to update on Wed 18th, so here’s the workout:
Squat
60kg x3
80kg 2x1
90kg x1
100kg 2x1
Just wanted to keep the groove before the meet so a light squat session did the trick.
I’m lying in bed ready to sleep, for my meet tomorrow morning. Next update will be the results.
MEET RESULTS - 22nd April 2012
Arrived at just after 9am, and weighed in at 81.9kg. I could have been lighter, but I had a particularly stubborn dump that refused to move until after I’d weighed in lol. This is 1kg lighter than my last meet in November. This was an unequipped meet.
Warmed up for squats at about 11:30-12:00.
40kg x5
60kg x3
80kg x2
100kg x1
1st attempt: 120kg - fast and easy, 3 whites. In the meet.
2nd attempt: 132.5kg - another fast and easy one, 3 whites. Opened up a new bottle of Nose Tork which was obnoxiously strong.
3rd attempt: 145kg - actually decent, 3 whites. 5kg raw PR, 12.5kg meet PR. Very happy with this, moved quick without stalling. Had at least 5kg more in me.
Bench
50kg x5
50kg x3
60kg x2
80kg x1
The ref was giving extra long pauses, unfortunately.
1st attempt: 90kg - miss, 2 red/1 white. I lifted my head off the bench, but the weight itself was easy. Just a technicality. Actually this is the first time I’ve ever missed an opener.
2nd attempt: 97.5kg - fast, 3 whites. In the meet.
3rd attempt: 105kg - good, 2 whites/1 red. Head just came off the bench but went straight back down, and luckily only one judge saw it. Weight itself moved great, no stalling. 2.5kg PR. Had about 3-4kg more in me. Shoulder work has paid off.
Deadlift
70kg x3
90kg x2
110kg x1
130kg x1
1st attempt: 150kg - good, 3 whites. No problems here.
2nd attempt: 160kg - again, great. 3 whites.
3rd attempt: 170kg - after liberal use of Nose Tork, ripped it up quickly without stalling for 3 more white lights. 5kg conventional PR, matched all-time PR. I had at least 5kg more in me.
Total: 420kg (20kg raw PR, 17.5kg all-time PR).
I’m buzzing with my performance today, went 8/9 with all good 3rd attempts. Unfortunately no-one was taking videos, so no videos to put up here.
I had a caffeine + other stims shake in between each lift, so my energy levels remained sky high throughout.
I’m going to have an easier week, then right back into heavy training.
Wow, great job at the meet! Looks like everything went almost perfectly!
Thanks!
Yep It pretty much went off without a hitch! My training cycle was much better this time around, and it clearly paid off on the platform.
I can take a few lessons away from this last training cycle:
High frequency, high intensity squatting is working well for me at the moment. Programming this over the next few months will be a lot more difficult though, due to lack of access to a bar through the week. At least I know what works now.
Olympic squatting has improved my strength out of the hole and general leg strength and size.
Heavy overhead work is da bomb.
I need to train my hamstrings harder and heavier, and plan out a decent deadlift cycle based on my strengths and weaknesses.
I also need more ab work - Especially with pulling, I notice a big strength increase when I put on my belt.
Finally I will incorporate more rowing movements in my next cycle, to put a bit of mass on the upper back.
Tues 24th
Just a quick light session to do something with my afternoon.
BW Dips
enough x enough
Face Pulls
enough x enough
Really not much to report here.
Thursday 26th
Leg Press
190kg some x some
Ham curl machine
worked up to 50kg, 3 sets to failure. This is a good ol’ fashioned hamstring raping machine.
Ab wheel
25 slow, tight reps in total
Sunday 29th April
Widowmaker Squat session.
I had this idea for a week now - just go into the gym, chuck bodyweight on the bar (I used 80kg) and rep it out. I’d set a goal of 50 reps, which did turn out to be a bit far-fetched for one go.
80kg x50.
Here’s how it broke down:
I did the first 25 reps in one go, and racked it because I was not physically capable of doing any more without a rest. So after about a minute I got back under the bar and got to 32 reps. I failed on the 33rd, so I stripped the bar, lifted it back onto the rack, loaded it up again and got up to 40 reps, and had to rack it again. After a few seconds, I did five more, then another couple moments, and then the last five to complete the 50 reps.
I’d set the goal of 50 reps and I wasn’t leaving that gym until I’d made all 50.
Needless to say I currently feel like I’ve been hit by a train.
Videos to follow shortly.
Oh wow… my legs have been on fire since the squatting. 4 days later and I still have appreciable DOMS.
pic related
Anyway:
Thurs 3rd May
Dips
lots x 15
1 arm snatch
26kg, 3x5
1 arm tricep pushdown
some x some
Face pulls
3 x some
Curlz
3 x some
Friday 4th May
Starting my new deadlift cycle, planned it out myself. Focuses on progressing pulls standing on blocks, and rack pulls. Also incorporates speed pulls and occasional heavy pulls from floor.
Speed pulls
50% 10 x 1 - 85kg. Fast and decent, short rest periods (<30 secs)
Pulls standing on 3 inch block - work up to 8RM
85kg x5
100kg x5
110kg x5
120kg x8 - probably had 1 more in me.
130kg x2
140kg x2 - Because I love doubles.
1-arm Barbell Snatch. God damn these were fun. All these were done on each arm.
30kg x3
35kg x3
40kg 2x1
45kg x0 - didn’t quite lock it out
40kg x1
45kg x1 - nailed it.
Behind the neck push press
30kg x3
40kg x3
50kg 2x2
60kg 3x1 - Didn’t want to go too heavy on these, just feeling the movement so far. I think it feels great, no complaint from my shoulder. Though I did manage to drop the last rep on the bony bit on the neck, haha. I think these are great.
Had a kick-ass session today - I think the DL cycle will work well, and I have faith in it. And I’m keeping the 1-arm snatches and the BTN push presses as well, they’re fun as hell.
Sunday 6th May
Another awesome Chaos & Pain-esqe session today.
Squat - varying depth. Lighter sets were pretty much rock bottom, heaviest sets were a a bit below parallel.
60kg x5
80kg x3
100kg x2
120kg 2 or 3 x 1 or 2
130kg 2 or 3 x 1
140kg x1
130kg 2x2
130kg x1
140kg x1
120kg x3
130kg 3x1
As you can see, this was a monster squatting session, and heavy as fuck because I felt like it.
Behind the neck Push press, short rest periods
40kg x5
50kg x3
60kg 3x1
65kg 10x1 - still not maxing out on this, getting used to the movement. I really do like it though.
BW Back extensions - 20, 30.
Aww yeah.
Tues 8th May
Strict 1-arm Military press - I really do mean strict. Feet touching, glutes tight (inb4 gay jokes) and arm straight out in front, no sideways lean at all. Fucking tough.
26kg lots x 3
As my left arm fatigued, I allowed myself some lean to press it up.
Cable rows
90kg 4-5 x 5-10
Last couple were towel rows, and fried my grip.
Wed 9th May
I tried to do a bit of neck work on the cable machine today, so I put together a contraption out of a couple of straps and tried it out. It didn’t really work though.
15 pull ups
Hamstring curls
35kg x10
45kg x10
55kg 2 or 3 x failure
Hammer curlz
22kg 4x8-10
Ab wheel
A few sets of 5-10 on the knees
About 10-12 reps of negatives, from standing.
Lots of stair jumps -
Some 5 step jumps
some 5 + 3 jumps
some 4 + 4 jumps
Nothing too serious today, just getting a bit more weekly volume in. I’m going to start jumping more regularly, see if it help anything.
Thursday 10th May
I was playing around with a light barbell today, one of those bodypump pieces of wank. Anyway I could load them up to 40kg.
Did ‘The Bear’ a few times round with 30kg (Clean > front squat > press > back squat > press > front squat > down to floor for one rep. Sets of 5 reps).
A few snatches, though not really worth mentioning.
1-arm barbell snatch - worked up to 40kg with each hand for a single.
Overhead walks - 40kg 2 x 4 length of hall.
And some other random shit we made up.
Friday 11th May
Speed pulls
92.5kg 8 or 9 x 1
Rack Pulls - work to 5RM
100kg x5
120kg x5
140kg x5
150kg x5
160kg x5
165kg x5 - tough but called this my 5RM
BTN Push press
40kg 3x3
50kg x3
60kg 2x3
60kg x5
Shrugs w/ straps
140kg x5
180kg 2x5
160kg x5
140kg x10
120kg x15
100kg x20
Decent session today.
Saturday 12th May
Earlier in the day:
Weighted hill walk - just over an hour. Carrying about 50lbs up 12 seriously fucking steep hills, was murder.
Later, after a monster rampage cheat meal consisting of an entire 15-inch meat feast Papa John’s pizza, and a couple of beers:
Close-grip bench
60kg x5
70kg x3
80kg x1
90kg x1
95kg 20x1 - Yep, you read that right. Twenty singles. I just decided to sack up and get in some heavy reps. FTR this is probably about 95% of my close-grip bench. Fairly short rest periods as well.
Chins
5x10
Knackered and just want to sleep. I’ve had five straight days of hard training and pretty much everything apart from my quads is sore. That can only mean one thing - squats tomorrow!
[quote]Dave-P wrote:
a couple of beers[/quote]
Wait, can you drink legally in the UK when you’re 18?
Hahaha, I knew someone would pick up on that.
Legal drinking age in the UK is 18, but at home you can drink at any age AFAIK.
The only reason I didn’t drink more was because the pizza was taking up too much space in my stomach, and I wouldn’t be able to fit it in haha.
Sunday 13th May
Squat Day!
ATG squats, no belt:
60kg x5
80kg x2
100kg x2
110kg 5x2
115kg 5x2. Initially I intended to hit 110kg for 10x2, but halfway through I though ‘fuck it’ and added another 5kg.
Botton-up squats from sticking point
120kg x2 - These were fucking hard. I’m going to do them as a main exercise another day, when I’m fresh and ready to kick ass.
Squat lock outs:
140kg x5
160kg x3
180kg x3
200kg x3
217.5kg 2x5
Jumps onto a wall (essentially box jumps)
Around 20 jumps, working up to three jumps onto the highest part of the wall, which was 41 inches. I dunno if this is a good height, but I’ve seen Youtube videos of 50 inch box jumps and people jizzing their pants over it haha.
Tues 15th May
1-arm barbell push press
30kg AMAP x 5 - I was getting in as many sets as possible before I got kicked out. Probably 6-7 sets.
A few DB snatches & presses
Face pulls, 20kg
Race to 50 reps.
Wed 16th May
Squat w/ belt, short-ish rest periods, not over 1 minute
60kg x5
80kg x1
100kg x1
120kg x1
130kg 20x1 - twenty singles, about 90% of 1RM. This was fun. I found this was tough on my shoulders in a good way, not painful.
That’s it.