8/12/17
Still feeling the KFC, vodka, weed and lack of sleep from Tuesday and Wednesday but am looking forward to today’s workout as I’ll be having a look at a new gym.
Iron Revolution is a small ways north west of Melbourne and pretty close to my home, a bit of a cringey name but a legit smallish kinda powerlifting and strongman gym with all the cool toys. Reviews online/Facebook seem promising.
Was distracted by lifting (a good thing?) so didn’t get many photos or footage but here’s some off google. The gym has got a black paint job and turf installed since then.
As you guys can see it’s a pretty sexy little establishment with fancy bars and Eleiko plates. I just have to make sure I don’t get distracted by all the strongman stuff because I’ll probably do a @duketheslaya, switch to strongman and turn this into a strongman log with all the strongmen here on the forum chiming in. Actually… doesn’t sound too bad but I’ll stick with powerlifting for now because I haven’t been doing it long.
Don’t know if I’ve mentioned this anywhere before but my goal is to out total one of my best mates, the guy who got me into Powerlifting. He outbenches me by some way, out squats me by 20-30kg in sleeves and out deadlifts me by 5-10kg. Bench I probably have no chance but a couple of months and I reckon I could get close.
So now to the actual training sesh:
Lo Day
Squat
140kg x 5 Rep PR
135kg x 4,4,4
Went in wanting to one up my rep PR at 140kg from last workout. Hit some 4s with 135 to finish off squats. A little bit of Eleiko Power Bar action and I got it. Bit intimidated when a chick beside me was doing max effort stuff: monolift, knee wraps, hype up and the whole shebang.
Bench
95kg x 4,4,3 Rep PR
90kg x 5,4,3
I thought the comp style benches at Derrimut were some good shit but the benches they have here are something else entirely. Perfect balance between cushioning and hardness and plenty of grip.
Now that my squat’s in a better place it’s time to take a look at my bench. So far some thoughts:
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Pause Benching is some good shit. Haven’t tested but I think my short short pause bench is stronger than my touch and go. Is that weird?
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Programming: my training cycle is ending soon so I’m looking to do something else for bench. Probably will take the bench press portion of some powerlifting program and do it for bench. Am looking at PowerLiftingToWin’s stuff and Sheiko. I can only train two days a week currently so not so sure about them. If anyone has suggestions or ideas on a program would greatly appreciate it.
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Technique: Rep to rep consistency sucks and my set is the opposite of tight and also inconsistent. Formcheck thread incoming.
Deadlift
Sumo 180kg x 5?,5,3
For once deadlifts didn’t go so well and felt meh but still got in some work and could’ve got a rep PR if I could fucking count properly. The second set I filmed was 5 so even tho I think I got 6 the first set not so sure now. Prepare for some more bitching:
Form felt off today with sore adductors and hips not opening up well so ended up with some high hip terrible looking sumo deadlifting.
The bar felt really off like not really heavy but really really stiff like it had no give at all dropping my hips and pulling the slack out of the bar produced nothing. The bar was like fuck off mate. It’s not like I haven’t used an Eleiko bar either having done a couple of sets at Doherty’s
So in the end set up was awkward and weight felt a bit heavier.
Competition plates (Ivanko, Eleiko and some weird off brand plates) may have contributed to the heaviness but I don’t think I’m lifting heavy enough to get any whippage with the bumpers as Doherty’s
Distracted by all of the above or maybe just have the smarts of a guinea pig I miscounted reps and instead of two sets of 6 I hit up 5,5 and 3 to add some volume.
Rep PRs next time
Conventional 160kg x 6,6
Got in the work on a low day so it was pretty chillaxed. Hit one more rep per set than last workout and resisted the temptation to go for a lifetime rep PR… next time
Conclusion
Good Lo session overall with rep PRs across the board. So good that forgot to film most of it lol. $10 casual for a sexy gym 10 minutes away is pretty good.
Now… the bad news. What gym/s do I go to now? Between Derrimut Gym, Doherty’s Gym and Iron Revolution I’m a spoiled piggy.