Some Revisions

Thursday, 11 September 2008

Squat
12 x 80 x 2 reps (speed, 1 min pause)
Deadlift
70 x 20, 100 x 16, 120 x 12, 145 x 5 reps
Hanging straight leg raise
1 x BW x 6 reps
Standing cable crunch
1 x 14 reps

A rearranged session due to various obligations and no gym time foreseen over the next days.

On review it has seemed to me that I do better DLing when I get in a lot of reps. So my goal on days like this is to hit the same number of reps in the final set as I got the last week with fewer reps in the lead-up sets. In any event I am feeling very comfortable under the bar now.

Not much left for abs afterwards.

Houseguest cancelled due to illness so I could get a brief session after work.

12 September 2008

Close-grip bench press
70 x 15, 90 x 8, 7, 6 reps
Lunge
BW x 20, BW + 12 x 16, BW + 20 x 10
Standing cable crunch
3 x various x 13-20 reps

Gym packed tonight, lots of primping for Friday night. Learned that ‘couvre-feu’ is the origin of our ‘curfew’, used by a fellow whose better half expected him home by 8.

Legs felt tired, lunges a bit sloppy. Maybe because I was not wearing my Chuck Taylors as usual. Did the ab work because yesterday’s session had seemed poor-quality.

[quote]1Geech wrote:
Houseguest cancelled due to illness so I could get a brief session after work.

12 September 2008

Close-grip bench press
70 x 15, 90 x 8, 7, 6 reps
Lunge
BW x 20, BW + 12 x 16, BW + 20 x 10
Standing cable crunch
3 x various x 13-20 reps

Gym packed tonight, lots of primping for Friday night. Learned that ‘couvre-feu’ is the origin of our ‘curfew’, used by a fellow whose better half expected him home by 8.

Legs felt tired, lunges a bit sloppy. Maybe because I was not wearing my Chuck Taylors as usual. Did the ab work because yesterday’s session had seemed poor-quality. [/quote]

Yes, there’s special juju on the chucks, performed at the factory, that makes you a conduit for the spirits of all the great sports stars of the past who have worn chucks.

Knowing this, I’m working on channeling Chuck VogelPohl into my lifts. No luck so far, but I’m not a good receiver…

Be careful of making this mistake again.

Did he make your shoes?

Saturday, 13 September 2008

Pinch block pick-up
12 x 10, 18 x 9, 23 x 1 L / 2 R, 22 x 3 L / 5 R, 22 x 2 L / 5 R, 20 x 6 L / 9 R reps
Wrist roll
4 sets x 17 pronated, 12 supinated
Weighted neck harness
3 sets x 20 x 20 reps

Did left (non-dominant) hand first on the pinch block lifts, with no pause when switching. Definite strength imbalance, though probably CNS and technique factoring in (don’t have the same feel on the grip as with the right hand; hmm, simple explanation: that is why it is dominant?). Interesting to see at these low weights how a variation of a kilo or less makes such a difference.

Monday, 15 September 2008

Squat
70 x 12, 100 x 8, 3 x 120 x 5 reps
Leg curl
2 x 75 x 7, 6 reps
Ab wheel
2 sets (standing) x 10, 8 reps
Weighted incline crunch
2 x BW + 10 x 8, 6 reps

It was what it was, no less and no more. Got told I was going ‘too deep’ in my squats, but did not follow why. Will try to tape next week to check I am not rounding my back at the bottom.

[quote]1Geech wrote:
Monday, 15 September 2008

Squat
70 x 12, 100 x 8, 3 x 120 x 5 reps
Leg curl
2 x 75 x 7, 6 reps
Ab wheel
2 sets (standing) x 10, 8 reps
Weighted incline crunch
2 x BW + 10 x 8, 6 reps

It was what it was, no less and no more. Got told I was going ‘too deep’ in my squats, but did not follow why. Will try to tape next week to check I am not rounding my back at the bottom.[/quote]

Seems to me that rounding would be the only criteria unless one was competing…

You are really hitting those abs these days. What a great core workout squats and the ab wheel must be.

[quote]1Geech wrote:
It was what it was, no less and no more. Got told I was going ‘too deep’ in my squats, but did not follow why. Will try to tape next week to check I am not rounding my back at the bottom.[/quote]

Unless you are ‘tucking’ your lower back/hips in, I don’t know what ‘too deep’ would be.

On retrospect, I think that is what the fellow meant, but whether as a reality or a possibility was unclear. Need to check for myself on tape.

Tuesday, 16 September 2008

Bench press
70 x 15, 100 x 7, 3 x 105 x 5,4,3 reps
Wide dip
2 x BW x 14,13 reps
Pull-up
4 x BW x 8,7,6,6 reps

Measured the bench width today: just under 9.5 inches: yeah, that’s the problem! Will add some weight to the wide dips next time.

Past a certain point, “too deep” is something you can’t get back up from.

Wednesday, 17 September 2008

Stair jump
3 steps x 18 (+ various 1 and 2 steps), 2 x 4 steps x 10 reps (+ various 1, 2 and 3 steps), 5 steps x 5 (+ a few 1 and 2 steps)
Cable seated row
4 x various x 7-20 reps
Press
50 x 6, 2 x 60 x 4 reps
Face-pull
3 sets x various x 15-20 reps

3 steps = 21 inches high, 30 inches distance, 4 steps = 28 inches high, 40 inches distance, 5 steps = 35 inches high, 50 inches distance

Decided to give the 5 step jump a try, got it, and did some more to the top of the staircase. No misses, teeth still there. Doubt that further improvement in technique or leg tuck, whatever, will make the 6 steps possible, as I guess it did this today, so will have to just jump higher.

Boy, have I lost strength on the overhead pressing, not just in triceps but in trunk stabilization. Think I will drop the light-weight shrugs and keep a few sets of pressing each week instead.

The session went fast today, as doing cable stuff means no weights and bars to set up and put back.

[quote]1Geech wrote:
Wednesday, 17 September 2008

Stair jump

3 steps = 21 inches high, 30 inches distance, 4 steps = 28 inches high, 40 inches distance, 5 steps = 35 inches high, 50 inches distance

Decided to give the 5 step jump a try, got it, and did some more to the top of the staircase. No misses, teeth still there. Doubt that further improvement in technique or leg tuck, whatever, will make the 6 steps possible, as I guess it did this today, so will have to just jump higher.

[/quote]

I’ve never seen someone doing stair jumps before. Glad you’ve still got all your teeth. What do you need besides a building with stairs and how does it work your legs?

I’m impressed with it and it just looks like something that ought to be a pretty solid exercise.

This is pretty much how I am doing them:

except that on the 4 and 5 step jumps I am still usually taking time to reset carefully before the next jump (if it is another 4 or 5 step jump) to be sure I can make the next jump safely. The width of the stairs does not leave much room to clear the face of the immediately succeeding step on the way up.

I really feel it in my glutes. Be prepared: Depending on your gym, people will look at you like you are nuts and girls may laugh out loud (at least I think that was because of the jumping).

[quote]1Geech wrote:

Doubt that further improvement in technique or leg tuck, whatever, will make the 6 steps possible,

[/quote]

You could always manage the 6 steps by jumping down the steps instead of up them…

[quote]1Geech wrote:
This is pretty much how I am doing them:

except that on the 4 and 5 step jumps I am still usually taking time to reset carefully before the next jump (if it is another 4 or 5 step jump) to be sure I can make the next jump safely. The width of the stairs does not leave much room to clear the face of the immediately succeeding step on the way up.

I really feel it in my glutes. Be prepared: Depending on your gym, people will look at you like you are nuts and girls may laugh out loud (at least I think that was because of the jumping).[/quote]

Thanks, I hadn’t thought of doing the bleachers. That is an amazing exercise. Does it help with explosive power?

A few posts above (where he is not being unaccustomedly snide) Mday – otherwise my inspiration for jumps – talks about two different approaches; I am aiming at the explosive power, or rather, in my case, shuffling somewhat faster than normal.

Thursday, 18 September 2008

Squat
12 x 80 x 2 reps (speed, 1 min pause)
Lunge
BW x 20, 2 x BW + 12 x 15 reps
Hanging straight leg raise
2 x BW x 7,5 reps
Standing cable crunch
2 x 17,12 reps

Good session today: tired but not beat afterwards.

I think I need to increase my protein intake further. I am increasingly hungry in the afternoon after training even after my meal. Present weekday diet (a lot of liquid protein, maybe need more real food) is:

8:00

Fruit juice (250ml)
Whey Shake (22g protein) plus 250ml milk (8g protein) incl. some creatine
3 eggs (18g protein)
Glucosamine 1500mg
Fish oil 1000mg
Multivitamin

11:30
Meat 100g (20g protein)
Cheese 50g (10g protein)
Pear

13:00
BCAAs 3g

Lunch-hour training

14:30
BCAAs 3g

Whey Shake (22g protein) plus 200ml milk (6g protein) incl. some creatine
1 Egg (6g protein)
Apple
Fish oil 1000mg

16:00
Whey Shake (22g protein) plus 200ml milk (6g protein)

18:30 (typical)
Meat / Fish (250g) (50g protein)
Pasta / Potatoes / Rice / Bulgur (a heaping)
Vegetables or salad with olive oil
Glucosamine 1500mg
Fish oil 1000mg

22:00
Casein-Whey Shake (22g protein) plus 250ml milk (8g protein) incl. some creatine

Friday, 19 September 2008

Deadlift
70 x 12, 100 x 10, 125 x 8, 150 x 5
Closer grip bench press
70 x 15, 100 x 5, 100 x 4 reps, 70 x 15 reps (last set fast as possible)

I am taking a bit of a page from Eco and changing my bench assistance session (close-grip) to a bench workout with variation (some closer (than wide) grip sets with one speed set) that I hope will complement my new wide-grip benching better than the close grips recently seemed to have been. I suspect I may vary what I do in this session from week to week – getting kinda wild and crazy in my old age, I guess.

Saturday, 20 September 2008

Chin-up
BW x 10, 9, 6, 5 reps
Ironmind pinch block pick-up
12.5 x 10, 20 x 7, 22.5 fail, 2 x 21.25 x 4 L / 6 R, 2 x 20 x 10 reps
Wrist roller
3 x 17.5 pronated, 11.25 supinated
Weighted neck extension
3 x 21.25 x 20, 20, 16 reps
Weghted neck flexion
2 x 15 x 20 reps
Hanging straight-leg raise
BW x 6 reps

Went to the gym today instead of doing the hand / forearm work at home, as usual, hence the chin-ups etc.; just felt like doing some extra stuff.

[quote]1Geech wrote:
Saturday, 20 September 2008

Chin-up
BW x 10, 9, 6, 5 reps
Ironmind pinch block pick-up
12.5 x 10, 20 x 7, 22.5 fail, 2 x 21.25 x 4 L / 6 R, 2 x 20 x 10 reps
Wrist roller
3 x 17.5 pronated, 11.25 supinated
Weighted neck extension
3 x 21.25 x 20, 20, 16 reps
Weghted neck flexion
2 x 15 x 20 reps
Hanging straight-leg raise
BW x 6 reps

Went to the gym today instead of doing the hand / forearm work at home, as usual, hence the chin-ups etc.; just felt like doing some extra stuff.[/quote]

Good goin’ Geech! You know even with the heavy chins I do I still can’t get 10 good ones in a row.