[quote]skidmark wrote:
soldog wrote:
Nice depth - but are you tucking your tailbone too much at the bottom?
Dang - good catch, soldog.[/quote]
Viewing the original tape, and analyzing closely the subtle movements of my bulbous derrière, I would say reps 1-3 are fine, 4-5 not, where I also relax forward up top. This is something I need to work on. Thanks, Soldog and Skid.
Tuesday, 14 October 2008
Bench press
70 x 15, 100 x 8, 3 x 110 x 5, 4, 4 reps
Wide-grip dip
2 x BW + 15 x 9, 10 reps
Pull-up
4 x BW x 9, 7, 7, 6 reps
Two-handed hang
2 sets max time
Plus 2.5 kgs on the bench at same rep numbers, plus 2 reps up on the dips, plus 1 rep on the pull-ups over against last week: definite progress.
On the final bench rep, going up a bit slowly, a young man walked over and, from the right front side of the bench, stuck one hand between my face and the bar in a conceivably well-meant but truly in all regards poorly executed attempt to be of help if needed. He about jumped out of his shoes when I roared ‘no’ (I don’t roar much) to finish the rep. Afterwards I tried to offer some cordial spotting tips.
I try to bite 'em when they do that.
Wednesday, 15 October 2008
Stair jump
3 steps x 18 (+ various 1 and 2 steps), 4 steps x 10 reps (+ various 1, 2 and 3 steps), 5 steps x 7 reps (+ a few 1, 2, 3 and 4 steps), 5 steps x 5 reps
Press
50 x 8, 2 x 60 x 5, 5 reps (first rep cleaned)
Cable seated row
4 x various x 8-20 reps
Face-pull
4 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
In honor of Mday tried a 6-step jump in a section of stairwell consisting of just that many steps (seemed safest place to give it a go) and landed squarely on the 5th step. Will maybe look into how and whether to get a brief running start. Is that cheating?
Did presses first since row station was occupied.
[quote]skidmark wrote:
I try to bite 'em when they do that.[/quote]
LOL…
Great training Geech!
[quote]1Geech wrote:
Wednesday, 15 October 2008
In honor of Mday tried a 6-step jump in a section of stairwell consisting of just that many steps (seemed safest place to give it a go) and landed squarely on the 5th step. Will maybe look into how and whether to get a brief running start. Is that cheating?
[/quote]
Geech, we should probably get some video of these attempts so that when we fall everyone can laugh their ass off. I haven’t fallen yet, but I know it will happen eventually. I am not real sure how I am going to land after I miss a platorm jump. I am sure it will involve me hurting myself in some way.
Tuck and roll, mday. I was going to nickname you the frog, geech, for all the hopping you’re doing. Considered where you live and decided not too.
Thanks DZ. Don’t know if I can get a video of the stair jumps, Mday. Appreciate your renouncing on the nickname, Hel.
Thursday, 16 October 2008
Squat
12 x 80 x 2 reps (speed, 1 min pause)
Chin-up
3 x BW x 10, 10, 8 reps
Standing cable crunch
4 x various x 5-20 reps
Winding this program down, feeling a bit tired, skipped the lunges, will test maxes next week, guests on the weekend so no training, hence the chins today.
Walking down the stairs to my classroom this morning, I got six steps down, turned around and looked to the top. Damn a six step jump is far.
I had the same feeling after trying to jump six and only landing on the fifth, Carl. So I guess I’ve got a challenge now: landing upright at three-and-a-half feet of height at ca. five feet of distance. Right now I have no idea if I can ever make it.
Friday, 17 October 2008
Deadlift
70 x 14, 100 x 10, 130 x 8, 157.5 x 5 reps
Wider grip bench press
70 x 8, 12 x 75 x 3 reps (1 minute pause, speed)
I am going to use this kind of speed bench for my second bench day for a while.
Failure doing jumps can be painful. I like doing vertical jumps using the stepping blocks from the aerobic step classes. Just keep stacking them. I really hate when I don’t make it. These are a little forgiving, stairs are very solid. I’m such a whimp, my hats off to you 1Geech.
I jumped 4 steps the other day on my deck heading to get a beer. Does that count?
But really the jump training is a great idea. Strengthen the hams and glutes.
[quote]1Geech wrote:
I had the same feeling after trying to jump six and only landing on the fifth, Carl. So I guess I’ve got a challenge now: landing upright at three-and-a-half feet of height at ca. five feet of distance. Right now I have no idea if I can ever make it.
Friday, 17 October 2008
Deadlift
70 x 14, 100 x 10, 130 x 8, 157.5 x 5 reps
Wider grip bench press
70 x 8, 12 x 75 x 3 reps (1 minute pause, speed)
I am going to use this kind of speed bench for my second bench day for a while.[/quote]
I’ll be if you launch to stair jump from a four foot drop you’ll hit that 6th step.
Lately I’ve found myself eyeballing porch steps on my mail route and wondering. When I break a leg it will be your fault, Geech.
damn funny hel
[quote]streamline wrote:
Failure doing jumps can be painful. I like doing vertical jumps using the stepping blocks from the aerobic step classes. Just keep stacking them. I really hate when I don’t make it. These are a little forgiving, stairs are very solid. I’m such a whimp, my hats off to you 1Geech.[/quote]
Thanks much for the idea, Streamline, which I have never tried. I guess you mean jumping over, not onto, them? Either /or, however, ‘wimp’ is not an accurate self-assessment on your part, not at your speeds.
[quote]skidmark wrote:
1Geech wrote:
I had the same feeling after trying to jump six and only landing on the fifth, Carl. So I guess I’ve got a challenge now: landing upright at three-and-a-half feet of height at ca. five feet of distance. Right now I have no idea if I can ever make it.
I’ll be if you launch to stair jump from a four foot drop you’ll hit that 6th step.[/quote]
No way to set that up, thank goodness. I am afraid of heights.
[quote]hel320 wrote:
Lately I’ve found myself eyeballing porch steps on my mail route and wondering. When I break a leg it will be your fault, Geech. [/quote]
Hel, I imagine you have a hard enough workday without adding weighted jumps to your route.
Not staying on top of hip flexibility jumped up and bit me, it seems, as I have been limiting my lower-body stretching to the actual movements I have been working (e.g., squats, lunges).
As we had houseguests, I skipped my weekend workout, having also curtailed a few previous weightroom sessions, including leaving out lunges on Thursday. As it was unusually mild and sunny on Saturday, we went for a picnic in the Bois de Boulogne, had a fine time.
After waking up a bit rigid on Sunday morning, and I had shuffled to and back from the bakery, by the time we got to the Louvre for a look at the Greek and Roman collection, my hamstrings and lower back were stiff as a board; in fact I could barely walk.
Attempts at stretching and some applied heat - throughout a mostly sleepless night - did nothing; I hadn’t had anything that painful in a while. Most annoying was that this was supposed to be my max test week.
Out of desperation I made it to the gym first thing Monday morning for a few circuits of light rowing, stretching, bodyweight squats, and sauna.
Felt rather better until I left, then the pain came back big time on the walk home. Took me over 40 minutes to cover a stretch of normally 20 minutes.
I spent the rest of Monday between lying in bed and sitting on the floor, there with a green band looped between my shoulders and outstretched feet as an aid to stretching hamstrings / flexors /glutes - in both dynamical and static fashion. But afterwards I still could not sit in place for more than a couple of minutes.
By this morning, however, the pain had localized down to the right psoas - at least my impression. After another band stretching session in the morning, I went to the gym again, being able to walk bit more normally, and after some light rowing felt up to bench pressing for what it was worth.
Tuesday, 21 October 2008
Bench press
70 x 8, 100 x 4, 115 x 1, 125 x 1, 130 x 1 (matches PR), 132.5 x 0
The 130 went up very well. I missed the groove and with it the press on the next attempt, and decided to call it a day under the circumstances.
In any event, these results validate in my view:
my change of bench form to a wider grip, and
the extra bench session during the week.
(It also helped to do this at the other gym, where the bench is of normal width, and the bar of better quality.) I am really looking forward to the next program cycle and knocking the weight up some more; I think I’ve got it in me. But I also need to get a handle on this flexibility issue.
Wednesday, 22 October 2008
Squat
70 x 8, 110 x 4, 140 x 1, 155 x 1 (PR for no wraps / no belt), 157.5 x 0
Well, I got the weight I really wanted up, which was good. But there is much too great of a disjunction between my 5-rep squat form and my max attempts, regardless of the difference in the former’s being as much of a ‘full’ squat as possible for me and the latter’s being made to a marker (band) just below parallel. It appears to be a matter of both mindset and motor pathway. The last - missed - attempt was a dive bomb straight down.
Next program cycle I will be hitting triples to try to bridge this gap and get a more solid effort on all top-end attempts.