Lunch-Hour Log

[quote]Wimsey wrote:
Geech,

Good stuff! Keep up the hard work. You are probably going to improve just by writing down your plan.
One thing that you might consider is to increase the weight on your deadlifts, but lower the number of reps. You might be amazed at how much more weight you can lift with fewer sets.
[/quote]

The encouragement is appreciated, Winsey.

I have been taking a more conservative, or rather cautious, approach with deadlifting, keeping reps at 4 and above, since I started training again last summer and getting back into the weights – hoping to temper my desire with a longer-term approach. I currently plan on increasing 2.5 to 5 kilos every other week for the ‘heavy’ sessions, but at these rep amounts.

Your suggestion of going to singles and doubles or triples is something I suppose I should seriously consider in my next program cycle. My max test at the end of March pegged my deadlift status at only 77% of my PR, while squat and bench press were at 81% and 96%, respectively, indicating that the DL is comparatively lagging (even apart from the relatively low values of the latter two lift amounts).

[quote]ecogenx wrote:
still looking good. I keep meaning to add the ab wheel, nice addition.[/quote]

I am still learning to use it, but do sense that it is worthwhile: a new trick for an old dog.

Friday, 2 May 2008

Squat:
10 sets x 70 x 2 reps (= speed, 1 minute pause @ 54% current 1 RM)
Lying leg curl:
2 sets x 80 x 6 reps
Weighted chin-up:
BW + 15 x 6 reps, BW + 15 x 5 reps
Hyperextension:
1 set x BW + 10 x 15 reps

While I am gradually getting the hang of the squat speed sets, I still have a ways to go before they are really accelerating up. I introduced these because my squats seemed to be unfolding in slow motion, and had no ‘pop’.

The leg curl machine – which I like – is now on its highest setting. I have gotten some good suggestions on Ecogenx’s log from Skidmark for complements for hamstring work, and wonder in addition what success others might have had with pull-throughs. Any of that would be for the next program cycle, though.

Saturday, 3 May 2008

Close-grip bench press:
60 x 12 reps, 100 x 6 reps, 100 x 6 reps, 100 x 5 reps
Press:
10 sets x 40 x 3 reps (= speed, 1 minute pause @ 55% current 1RM)
Hanging straight leg raise:
BW x 9 reps, BW x 6 reps
Crunch machine:
1 superset descending weight 18 reps total
Bicycle crunch:
1 set x 70 L / R reps
Wrist roller:
3 sets x 12.5
Plate pinch, carry:
3 sets, 25 kg bumper each hand

The extra two days of rest due to the Labor Day holiday on Thursday helped out today: everything felt good. I added a couple of extra sets for the abs since with this (extraordinary) Saturday session I was not pressed for time as usual, and also took on some hand / wrist / forearm work (some of which I would have done at home anyway).

I started doing the plate pinch / carry a few months ago when I got up to 25 kg on the dip station, which is a bit away from the free weights in my gym. Then the light went off in my head that I could get in a bit of supplemental work by pinch-carrying the bumper plate over there with one hand and back with the other when I put the weight away afterwards. Now, when I have a some extra time, like today, I like to add a few sets just of them.

Monday, 5 May 2008

Squat:
70 x 12 reps, 100 x 8 reps, 117.5 x 4 reps, 117.5 x 4 reps
100 (77% current 1RM) x 20 reps
Power clean:
50, 60, 70, 72.5 x 3 reps

Progress came in a small way, but was progress nonetheless, and I will take it: one more rep on the main squat work sets, two more reps reaching the 20 rep goal (at 77% current 1RM). Perhaps more importantly, I seem to be getting back in the squat groove with improved hip drive. So next week I will move both up 2.5 kilos.

Again, with the power cleans, my form was breaking down on the final set. Still, they felt like a good way to unwind from the squatting, and as that is my main focus for this session, I will say ‘satisfied’ for today.

Hey, I am seeing stars – thanks fellows: Judging from the numbers, I guess one for each of my dear readers!

Tuesday, 6 May 2008

Bench press:
10 sets x 70 x 3 reps (= speed, 1 minute pause @ 56% current 1RM)
Weighted dip:
BW + 35 x 6 reps, BW + 35 x 6 reps, BW + 35 x 5 reps
Weighted chin-up:
BW + 15 x 6 reps, BW + 15 x 5 reps
Hanging straight leg raise:
2 sets x BW x 6 reps
Crunch machine:
1 superset descending weight 16 reps total

I think I will do one more session of speed benching at this weight, believing pretty much to have gotten the more explosive movement into muscle memory, and then move the weight up slightly. Feeling strong on the dips, I threw in another set.

This session was longer than usual because due to travel on Friday I am telescoping that day’s training into today, tomorrow and Thursday – hence the weighted chins today. Another advantage of these relatively short sessions is that in such need a missed day can be incorporated elsewhere with only a bit of extra time.

Perhaps it was the extra dipping and chinning that got to my abs, as I had little left in the tank in or for them at the end.

We have finally had a stretch of lovely weather and that makes walking to work and to the gym all the more enjoyable.

Good goin’ Geech! We all do what we can when we can, and you certainly do it with your intense training sessions!

[quote]1Geech wrote:
Hey, I am seeing stars – thanks fellows: Judging from the numbers, I guess one for each of my dear readers!

Tuesday, 6 May 2008

Bench press:
10 sets x 3 reps (= speed, 1 minute pause @ 56% current 1RM)
Weighted dip:
BW + 35 x 6 reps, BW + 35 x 6 reps, BW + 35 x 5 reps
Weighted chin-up:
BW + 15 x 6 reps, BW + 15 x 5 reps
Hanging straight leg raise:
2 sets x BW x 6 reps
Crunch machine:
1 superset descending weight 16 reps total

I think I will do one more session of speed benching at this weight, believing pretty much to have gotten the more explosive movement into muscle memory, and then move the weight up slightly. Feeling strong on the dips, I threw in another set.

This session was longer than usual because due to travel on Friday I am telescoping that day’s training into today, tomorrow and Thursday – hence the weighted chins today. Another advantage of these relatively short sessions is that in such need a missed day can be incorporated elsewhere with only a bit of extra time.

Perhaps it was the extra dipping and chinning that got to my abs, as I had little left in the tank in or for them at the end.

We have finally had a stretch of lovely weather and that makes walking to work and to the gym all the more enjoyable.
[/quote]

I suspect it was yesterday’s power cleans that got to your abs…But leg raises need no excuse for lower reps as far as I’m concerned. They’re just tough!

Nice session and a very neat record you keep, sir!

Thanks, Skidmark. You are probably spot-on about the connection, as usual!

[quote]soldog wrote:
Good goin’ Geech! We all do what we can when we can, and you certainly do it with your intense training sessions![/quote]

I don’t know if I could make it through one of your sessions without running out of gas, Soldog – as you say, doing what we can.

Wednesday, 7 May 2008

Deadlift:
15 sets x 100 x 1 rep (= speed, 30 seconds pause @ 59% current 1RM)
Barbell shrug:
2 sets x 140 x 16 reps (1st rep from floor, straps)
Bent-over row:
97.5 x 6 reps, 97.5 x 5 reps
Lying leg curl:
80 x 5 reps, 80 x 5 reps
Wrist roller:
3 sets x 12.5

Maybe it is related to the snatch grip I am using at this weight, or, more exactly, my not linking that automatically to the same form I use with the alternating grip for ‘regular’ deadlifts, but I sense I am not really attaining what should be explosive single deadlift reps. (Speed benching and squatting are going much better, with 5% less 1RM%.) I will probably give it another session at this weight, with better attention to form, after seeing how the ‘heavy’ session goes next week, before deciding how to carry on, whether to drop the weight, or otherwise.

Again, I took extra time today to bring in the leg curls from their normal Friday session and the forearm work due to upcoming travel over the extended (holiday Whitsuntide) weekend.

Good going Geech, that’s a great weight on the Bent-Over rows.

[quote]Burnesy wrote:
Good going Geech, that’s a great weight on the Bent-Over rows. [/quote]

Thanks for checking in and for the encouragement, Burnesy.

Thursday, 8 May 2008

Squat:
10 x 70 x 2 reps (= speed, 1 minute pause, 54% 1RM)
Close-grip bench press:
70 x 12 reps, 102.5 x 4 reps, 102.5 x 4 reps, 102.5 x 4 reps
Press:
62.5 x 4 reps, 62.5 x 3 reps, 62.5 x 3 reps (1st rep off the floor)
Hanging straight leg raise:
BW x 10 reps
Bicycle crunch:
1 set x 60 L / R reps
Plate pinch / carry:
2 sets x 25 kg bumper each hand
Hyperextension:
1 set x 10 x 14 reps

The speed squats went well. Another week at this weight and then I will see if I can keep up the acceleration at a slightly higher weight. The pressing was satisfactory given that I had fewer days of recovery than usual for this session.

The holiday today – VE Day – allowed me to finish incorporating Friday’s session into training before leaving for the weekend (going to north Germany; looks like the weather will be gorgeous there, too – then back in the gym on Monday). Even the few extra sets and exercises I have packed into my routine in the four days of this week have increased my admiration for the other fellows in the forum who manage more extensive sessions each day.

still looking good.

Great work Geech!

Monday, 12 May 2008

Squat:
70 x 12 reps, 100 x 8 reps, 120 x 4 reps, 120 x 4 reps
Walkout 145 twice, hold 15 secs.
102.5 (79% current 1RM) x 18 reps
Power clean:
50, 60, 70, 72.5, 75 x 3 reps
Neck extension:
2 sets x 20 x 20 reps

The main squat session went well today, surely helped by the extra day’s rest due to the holiday weekend, while the extra squat work is now paying off in my hip drive. I have added the walkout to get ready for my next max attempt at the end of June; at the last max attempt in March the difference in the max weight had surprised me a bit, and I want to mitigate that if possible this time around.

I have only been using proper hand position (thumb on top of the bar) since March, and sometimes still have problems with it, as today in the high-rep set; I kept letting my wrists get jammed, which was distracting. This needs work.

Due to today’s holiday (Whit Monday – the last for a while) I added some extra rest between exercises and a few extra sets overall. Power cleans went well, and I did an extra set at slightly higher weight, with form still not ideal on the final set but better than recently. Then I added the neck extensions.

We had a great long weekend in north Germany, with lots of sun, long walks, shoving and pulling kids around in wagons, and seeing good friends – good for body and soul.

Tuesday, 13 May 2008

Bench press:
70 x 12 reps, 100 x 8 reps, 115 x 3 reps, 115 x 3 reps, 117.5 x 1 rep
Unrack 140, hold 10 secs twice
Weighted dip:
BW + 37.5 x 4 reps, BW + 37.5 x 3 reps
Hanging straight leg raise:
BW x 7 reps
Crunch machine:
1 superset descending weight 22 reps total

Again, bench press results were below the desired 4 reps on the work sets, so I threw in one rep at slightly higher weight for spite. I am not getting the carryover from the speed sets that I had hoped for, but as long as I keep getting three reps while moving up the weight every two weeks I will stick with the present scheme; let’s see what happens next time. The dips were noticeably more challenging today. I could not lock out final attempts on both sets and hence did not count them.

I have added the unrack / hold / rack bench movement to help prep me for the next max attempt at the end of June. It felt heavy, and my arms shook a bit; but then I have never benched more than 130.

Wednesday, 14 May 2008

Deadlift:
70 x 12 reps, 120 x 8 reps, 160 x 4 reps, 160 x 4 reps (alternating grip)
Barbell shrug:
190 x 7 reps, 190 x 7 reps (in rack, straps)
Bent-over barbell row:
97.5 x 6 reps, 97.5 x 6 reps
Plate pinch / hold / carry:
1 set 25 kgs.
Hyperextension:
1 set x 10 x 16 reps

This was one of those days when on waking I thought today’s session would be as dull and stiff as my back and knees but, when I got on the gym floor after warming up and stretching, everything went pretty well.

I think the extra squat work is paying off for my deadlifts. These were also helped, I believe, by my not using snatch grip for the warm-up sets. It seems ridiculous at these weights, but I suspect my snatch-grip deadlift form differs enough from my alternating-grip form (which I have always preferred even for warm-ups) that I have not been making the switch successfully when it came time for the work sets. Anyway I am doing enough for my grip now that using the alternating grip for all sets should not be detrimental.

I also changed to heavier shrugs, out of the rack, to help my deadlift lockout, again looking ahead to improving my current max at the end of next month. At some point I should time and measure the plate-holding work I am doing, like some of the other fellows in the forum, to keep better track of things, but it has been pretty easy to tell so far that my hand strength is improving.

Looking strong Geech!