My road to 1500

7-8-16
Military Press

Band pullaparts between warmups, 15 reps

2x8 @ 20k
1x5 @ 30kg
1x5 @ 40kg
1x3 @ 47.5kg

1x3 @ 55kg
1x3 @ 62.5kg
1x3 @ 70kg
1x1 @ 77.5kg **
2x1 @ 72.5kg **

Side laterals / front raises SS 4x12 @ 12.5kg / 10kg DBs
Reverse Grip Bench 3x8 @ 90kg
Skullcrushers / Hammer Curls SS 3x12 @ 40kg Z Bar / 17.5kg DBs

** One thing I learnt today, I don’t like singles on OHP!! I’m going to reset my TM on OHP, and do it as 5s Pro with FSL to get some volume in, the big 3 will be staying as 3/5/1 with singles!

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Good call. I think of all the lifts, the press has the best correspondence between reps and limit strength.

8-8-16
Deadlift

Band Pullaparts between warmups x15

1x8 @ 60kg
2x5 @ 100kg
1x5 @ 120kg
1x3 @ 140kg

1x3 @ 157.5kg
1x3 @ 180kg
1x6 @ 202.5kg
3x1 @ 222.5kg

Single Leg Hamstring Curl 3x12 @ 40kg
Front Squats 3x8 @ 90kg
Back Raises 5x12 @ BW + 20kg BB
Wide Pulldowns 8x12 @ 9 plates (Supersetted between Front Squats and Back Raises)

Tried something new with upper back work, my lats were toasted after doing Pulldowns between Front Squats and Back Raises, and the extra work sets on back wont hurt anything.

Still struggling along with my Deadlift, last week I tripled 220kg and it felt like I had another couple in the tank, today 222.5kg felt heavy as hell… I just don’t get it!

I think it’s the frequency of rep PRs. I’ve had similar issues after five cycles, which is why I’m switching my DL to 351. It seems like getting better at repping on DL doesn’t translate as well to increasing heavy singles compared to the other three lifts.

That sounds like it could be part of the problem. I’m still not fully comfortable with my setup or stance either though, I’m thinking I may hit the gym tomorrow night just to do a bit of light form work.

I moved my stance in a while ago, but after watching a few form videos tonight (Layne Norton, Juggernaut Strength, Rippetoe) it looks like my stance is a good couple of inches narrower than they’re teaching, I’m going to move it out slightly for a few weeks and see how it feels, and then go from there.

I don’t really feel the lift in my Hamstrings or Glutes either, it feels like my lower back does all the work… So maybe a slightly wider stance and turning my toes slightly out instead of being straight forward with allow my glutes to fire properly and get my hips a little higher to start the lift so I’m not just pushing it off the floor with my Quads and lower back?

@andypee the deadlift more so than the bench or squat I feel is prone to a bad day here and there. I can usually tell pretty early on in my warmups if I’m about to have one of those bad days. Not sure why it happens but it does sometimes I just can’t pull for shit. I wouldn’t overthink it if you’ve been getting stronger over the past few months…

Haha I do have a bad habbit of over analyzing things sometimes, especially training!

Now I’ve got my meet coming up too I really want to smash it!

You’re probably right, just a crappy day, thats following on from an awful weekend (from a diet PoV, too much BBQ food yesterday lol!)

We can start a club.

The technique issue you’re talking about sounds more about your hip height and back angle - exactly what I used to have. What fixed it for me was dropping my hips and actively dragging the bar up my shins. That stopped my hips shooting up.

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10-8-16
Bench

Band Pullaparts between warmups x15 reps

1x8 @ 60kg
2x5 @ 60kg
1x5 @ 70kg
1x3 @ 80kg

1x3 @ 87.5kg
1x3 @ 100kg
1x5 @ 112.5kg
3x1 @ 125kg

Inc DB Bench 12, 12, 10 @ 40kg DBs / 1x5 @ 50kg DBs
Machine Flys 4x12 @ 50kg
CG Row Machine SS with above assisstances, 4x12 @ 40kg per arm / 4x12 @ 50kg per arm

Another good session, didn’t feel as powerful as last week but still felt good. My shoulders / tris are still a bit torn up from OHP on sunday, the singles really hit me hard.

Really looking forward to Squatting on Friday, its definately my favourite session of the week.

12-8-16
Squats

Band pullaparts between warmups
10 mins stretching

2x5 @ 60kg
2x5 @ 100kg
1x5 @ 120kg
1x3 @ 130kg

1x3 @ 142.5kg
1x3 @ 162.5kg
1x5 @ 182.5kg
3x1 @ 202.5kg

Deadlifts, 3inch deficit 4x5 @ 150kg + chains
Leg Press 3x10 @ 260kg
Back Raise 4x12, 1x10 @ 25kg + BW
Hang Leg Raise 3x8 @ BW

2mins rest between singles, all felt good! They felt heavier than usual today, but thats probably because I jumped straight into 3/5/1 after my 531 week of the last cycle, didn’t deload! Happy with this weeks training though, hit all my reps and then some!

Deficit Deadlifts felt good today, very quick off the floor… After much debate I did decideto widen my stance a little. I watched a video by Dave Tate where he said the best way to determine Deadlift stance width was to hang from the pullup bar, and just drop… Where the feet land is the stance width, so thats what I went with!

Spent a good hour today foam rolling and stretching, I think this is something I need to do more often on my rest days! I found some pretty painful knots in my legs / ass!

Going to pick up a hard Tennis ball / Lacrosse ball to work into my chest / shoulders / traps!

Give Agile 8 a go, and try soaking in a hot bath with Epsom salts once or twice a week.

I do both of those things already mate, although not as much as I should do!

When I rolled my glutes I got really bad pain transfer to my knees and calves, which I also get while Im driving (just not as bad) so I need to keep on top of that.

Yes, probably a good call. That doesn’t sound good at all.

Its not terrible, its managable… Its more a burning sensation when Im driving (slowly kicks in after about a half hour) rather than an all out pain!

My glutes are a big knotty mess it seems, I’ll keep hitting then and get it worked out

14-8-16
Military Press

Band pullaparts

2x8 @ 20kg
2x5 @ 30kg
1x3 @ 40kg

1x5 @ 47.5kg
1x5 @ 55kg
1x10 @ 62.5kg
3x5 @ 47.5kg FSL

Side Laterals / Front Raises SS 10, 10, 8 @ 15kg DBs / 12.5kg DBs
WideGrip Bench 3x8, 1x12 @ 90kg
Z Bar Skulls / Curls SS 15, 15, 12 / 3x10 @ 40kg
Rear Fly Machine 15, 15, 13, 12 @ 40kg

Great session today, my delts were completely fried by the time I’d finished! 5s Pro on Military Press definately seems to be the way to go!

Yep, I reckon press is one of those awesome lifts that moves up as long as you chuck volume at it. Obviously, the more sensibly you chuck the volume the better, but still.

I love pressing.

I’m enjoying it a lot more than I used to! I’ve always been a big fan of Squat / Deadlift, but recently I’m shifting more towards Squat / Bench! Probably because my deadlift isn’t increasing at the same rate lol.

Press and squat for me at the minute, because they’re the ones moving best - and I like how press isn’t a comp lift so it’s purely for fun. I’ve still got a lot of love for DL but of all my lifts it’s the most advanced so it’s moving very, very slowly.

Do you wear your wallet in your back pocket on the glute thats giving you trouble? Sometimes that shit will getchu