Lovely work!
1 Like
Thanks @heretolog and @hillbillyk
They felt nice a strict but sometimes when I watch back I see a little knee wobble, these looked as good as they felt. Really liking the axle for overhead work right now.
4 Likes
Thursday 29h June - gym conditioning
Concept 2 rower - 15 mins - 3300m
Worked up a good sweat on these.
Echo bike - 1 min warm up then tabata 4 mins
These are soooo bad. Legs shaking and felt sick after.
Stretch
Dumbell Curls - 12.5kg x 3 sets - 15, 15, 15
Good little session. Luckily for me my gym is very close to where my son goes for drum lessons. I can drop him go to the gym, do 40 mins and then pick him up.
13 Likes
Friday 30 June - week 5
Front squat
Bar x 8
60 x 3
80 x 2
100 x 2 - felt total crap,
80 x 3 just horrible
80 x 3 meh
80 x 1 - Fk this shit. Wrist felt like it would explode.
100 was terrible so went light and just did some reps. Quad and knee was cactus. Still not getting comfortable in anyway with front rack. Weight is easy to squat but I Spend so much focus trying not to be in pain holding the bar it makes the squat crap. I really hate this movement. Sad
Bench
Bar x 10
60 x 5
80 x 3
100 x 2
110 x 4 (242 lbs) - RPE 9,
110 x 4 - RPE 9
110 x 4 - RPE 9
110 x 4 - RPE 9.5
110 x 4 - RPE 10 last rep was a long grind.
Rescued what could have been a crap workout. Good volume for me at that weight. Happy again.
Not sure if this is a volume PR but it would be close. Long time since I did that many reps at 110.
Pull ups
BW x 3 sets
14, 8, 8
Dumbell curls
12.5 x 3 sets - 20, 20,
I do this both hands together, quick reps no pause at the bottom but pause at the top. The pump is intense.
This was the good the bad and the pumped tonight. Front squats were bad, bench and pull ups were good and curls were a trip to pump city.
11 Likes
Why are you doing front squats? They seem detrimental the way your approaching this
1 Like
Collect some pros and cons for yourself and see if the misery is worse it. Not saying it isnāt but the grindset of making things as tough as possible isnāt necessarily the way to go about everything in the realm of training
3 Likes
Just because 
I have never really done before and decided it would be a good challenge to do for a couple of training blocks. They are only a squat accessory for me as I am already doing back squat and Bulgarians for my legs. It doesnāt really matter what weight I use or how I progress.
I like the challenge of trying to do them, I just wish I could find a way to stop the bar sitting directly on the middle of my collar bone.
3 Likes
Over the last year, Iāve really improved on front squats because I had to when I began doing CF. I used to do cross-armed FSQās because I didnāt have the mobility to hold the front rack position, but that wasnāt an option any longer. Some tips that worked for me:
- Learn to keep more upright throughout the entire left. Prying goblet squats really help with mobility of the ankles and lower knees.
- For wrist mobility, I practice elbow punch throughs, cat-cow with reverse wrists, and just holding the front rack position without squatting. I like to place my hands relatively closer grip when grabbing the bar, which helps me position it better. I also use wrist wraps.
- Lifting shoes do help if youāve got them. I bought some for OLY lifts, but they work equally well for squatting for the same reason and allow better depth and upright posture.
All that said, my max is triple at 225 lbs which was really, really hard and nothing compared to what some others on here move.
5 Likes
The upright thing is something Iām learning automatically with this current block Iām doing. What are we, day 4 of week 5ā¦front squatting 5x per week and Im definitely getting somewhere. One thing Iāve noticed in my videos is the more upright Iām becoming. So yeah.
Good tips I think!
4 Likes
Strongman Saturday session.
Working on sandbag pick ups today.
1 min work , two mins rest for 10 rounds
Got 5 picks per round for the first 5, then reduced it to 3 per round for the next 4 and then got 6 in the last round.
All up 43 pick ups with the 80kg bag.
This was proper hard work. Lower back was really feeling it and arms were jacked.
10 Likes
Todays sandbag work took most of the skin off the inside of my elbows, that made showering really fun.
6 Likes
Decided to do very little on Sunday. Arms had cabbed over where the sandbag removed the skin, back is still feeling jacked up and knee was all sorts of grumpy. Deload this week and I have to say I am looking forward to doing a little less. I will still train daily and get some work done but it will just be pumping some blood around to help with recovery.
9 Likes
RIP Gains
4 Likes
No funeral planned yet mate. Just a little re-set before the next push forward.
3 Likes
Monday 3 July - deload
Front Squat
Bar x 5
60 - bar holds x 2
60 x 3
60 x 3
60 x 3
trying straps now
60 x 3
60 x 3
60 x 3
60 x 5
Deff better with straps.
Lying leg curl
3 sets of 12
Dumbell bench
40 x 4
45 x 4
50 x 4 (110 lbs)
50 x 5 (110 lbs)
SS
One arm Dumbell row
40 x 4
45 x 4
50 x 4
50 x 5
Dumbell curl
15 x 10 x 3 sets
Good Deload session. Front squat practice went well. Felt a litter better today, just have to really work on keeping the elbows up which lifts the shoulders and gets the bar off my clavicle.
16 Likes
Howās your mobility overall mate?
When I was hitting olympic lifts in earnest a few years back, these kinds of movements definately helped over time to open up the chest, lat stretching, etc etc. @FlatsFarmer more highly qualified to add to this discussion too.
First search found this, but stacks of other similar goodies online:
2 Likes
Honestly no idea how to answer this question. No idea of what would be considered good or bad. What I will say is I am nearly 50 and therefore have all the symptoms of a middle aged man that routinely beats his body up and has done for years.
I really think that it is mostly just a case of repetition and doing them more and more until the position becomes more natural.
2 Likes
Hunched over shoulders, tight lats from desk job too? Lat stretches can help there iirc.
Youāre far from the typical middle aged man chief!
A little extra mobility work here and there wouldnāt hurt though.
2 Likes
Wednesday 5th July - deload
Axle deadlift
Bar x 10
60 x 5
100 x 3
140 x 3
140 x 3
140 x 3
Upper back is seriously jacked up. Absolutely no power and super sore just bending down to the bar. Quads really sore too.
Axle OH press (clean first rep)
60 x 3
70 x 3
75 x 4 (165 lbs) - Rep PR
Happy with 75 x 4, first rep had a little knee wobble but the first then 3 were strict.
Lat Pull downs
50 x 10 x 3 sets
Really slow reps with full control and full contraction every rep. Lats were burning.
Band curls
Feeling really beat up this week. Hopefully I will come good next week.
9 Likes
Strict Overhead press PR - ignore that little knee twitch on the first rep. LOL
7 Likes