2/ bench press (3min)
Pinky on ring
60kg - 1x5
80kg - 1x3
Index on ring, size 48 double ply SDP, bench block (1 board)
100kg - 1x3
110kg - 1x3
120kg - 1x2
130kg - 1x1
140kg - 1x1
145kg - 1x1
Was tempted to crank down the shirt and go for 150kg instead of 145kg, but back is feeling like it did before I started having all the referral pain into my hamstring last time so kept the shirt loose so I wouldn’t have to work for a touch.
Update:
Back was pretty sore after benching on the Wednesday then really sore after volleyball on the Thursday night.
Hobbled my way through Friday at work then a car trip to Melbourne on Friday night chugging down Panadols and Nurofens.
Friend’s birthday party on Saturday which was 10 pin bowling. Was throwing double handed underarms which weren’t too bad but I got called out by the girls for cheating and my ego made me bowl normally lol (more fool them as I scored higher in the 2nd game).
Didn’t have any anti-inflamms on Sunday (yesterday) for the drive back up which was a mistake (trying not to take too much cos I start to get bad reflux pretty quickly) and by the time I got to bed I was getting pain down into my calf.
Extra coverage at work on a Monday so I’ve called in sick and am now watching the animated Justice League on Netflix. Am hoping with a day of actual rest + some more anti-inflamms I can get back to work tomorrow (already bored out of my brains and it’s only 10am) and things will settle down during the week.
Once I can walk and/or get in and out of the car fine I’ll get back to the gym and start playing around with what I can/can’t do.
Medium term I’ll probably switch around my program to incorporate more exercises I haven’t or have rarely done so I’m pushed less by my expectations of what I can/could do (origin plans before I moved was to do a powerlifting template in winter then strongman during daylight savings so I’ll go to the latter as I’ve never done an overhead & deadlift dominant program). I’ll incorporate more hamstring lengthening ex’s (like RDLs etc) to help with my long sitting & position in the kayak (the lack of which seems to have been the trigger in all of this) and I need to learn to re-enter after capsizing so I’ll spend time practicing that (low physical strain) as opposed to working on my paddling endurance (high physical strain).
Just stuck to things that shouldn’t aggravate my back/hip (still not convinced there isn’t something labral going on in my hip on top of the back issue).
Also cut it a bit short so I could call me my friend back after I hung up on them mid sentence cos I was due to do my next set lol.
4B/ tricep extension
Synergy seated pin loaded machines #7 - 1x12 #5 - 1x15 #3 - 1x25
First and last time I use those 2 machines. Design ok. Execution of the design not so much.
02.12.2023 (pm) - dynamic effort lower
Still fairly confident my back will sort itself out without doing anything fancy. ATM I can arch my back no worries which was the thing that took the longest to resolve when I had the issues at the beginning of the year, although hip extension is still bothersome.
5/ prone bridge (3min)
3x25”
If I “cheated” and stayed relaxed it felt fine, but if I actively pulled with my abs it hurt my back smack bang in the middle at about L4 & then if I squeezed my glutes I got that posterior hip pain (the latter is why I refuse to rule out a longstanding labrum tear lol).
6/ some lower limb neural flossing & hamstring stretches on my back with a band for 10 minutes(ish)
15 minute walk to/from the gym.
Restocked my water supply over there so was carrying at least 6kg on the trip over.
1/ bench press (1min)
On flood pad, reverse grip, paused, 1 chain per side
20kg - 1x10
30kg - 1x8
40kg - 6x6
Hip didn’t like these too much. I’ll give myself a couple of weeks to adapt and if not might do DE overheads for something different.
4/ row (2min)
Chest supported, low incline bench, MacDonald bar
25kg - 4x15
Conservative weight to protect the back/hip. Will stick light & focus on the contraction BBer style.
5/ chest fly (2min)
Low incline, weight plates
5s - 3x15
Dismounting was a bit of an issue so I might just do side raises or try out standing flies with bands. Alternatively I could probably do this session at the commercial gym.
6/ bicep curl (2min)
Standing, cable, V-handle
15kg - 3x12
These were quite awkward because of the flat ends of the handle
05.12.2023 (pm) - max effort lower
Just trying to keep myself amused.
Was a little stirred up after benching yesterday (I also went for an hour work with my friend’s dog which I forgot to post) so took it pretty easy. Loading my hips like in a deadlift seems to be the thing my body doesn’t like most atm so will continue with the neural flossing & high pins til it plays ball.
07.12.2023 (pm) - max effort upper
Apparently was meant to be volleyball finals tonight but I didn’t qualify (thank fuck haha) so hopefully have a bit more flexibility over summer to train when I want.
1/ overhead press (2min)
High incline, football bar, middle handles, paused
25kg - 1x12
35kg - 1x9
45kg - 1x6
55kg - 1x3
65kg - 1x1
67.5kg - 1x1
55kg - 1x4
I suspected this variation would suck and I wasn’t wrong lol.
2/ push ups (3min)
Hands on 2x blue bands, pin #3
3x15
More or less like the vid below (though I just had feet on the ground)
3/ tricep extension (2min)
On floor, EZ bar, close grip
35kg - 2x10, 1x6
25kg - 1x10
4/ row (2min)
Seated, cable, D-handle
20kg - 4x50
5/ bicep curl (2min)
EZ bar, reverse grip
25kg - 3x12
6/ tricep extension (2min)
Standing, band
Mini - 1x50, 1x30, 1x20
Ride for a charity/awareness raising event.
May be all I do this weekend cos I’m stuffed lol.
Only have a single speed hard tail so had to walk probably 1-1.5km of the track in different parts.
Did the first two exercises in the shed then the rest at the gym.
1/ bench press (1min)
On floor pad, reverse grip, paused, 1 chain per side
20kg - 1x15
30kg - 1x10
40kg - 6x6
Mainly set up that’s the issue & not sure how much I can mitigate that but I’ll play around next week and decide if these are staying or going.
5/ tricep extension
Standing, cable, pin loaded, medium neutral grip attachment #10 - 1x25 // #8 - 1x16 // #6 - 1x18 // #4 - 1x26 // #2 - 1x50
This was just one big drop set. Last one I just gave up as the handle was almost cancelling out the weight stack and it was kinda pointless.
Went away for a few days.
Difficult to perfectly capture what I did but there was a lot of driving, a lot of hiking (including making my own path after I lost the path) and some downhill skating.
3/ reverse hyper (2min)
20kg - 5x8
Back/hip wasn’t super happy with these. Need something to help increase my hamstring length anyway so might do RDL’s and/or Jefferson’s here instead.
21.12.2023 (pm) - max effort upper
Got a bit carried away doing stuff after work and had to cut the session a bit short in an attempt to get to bed on time.
23.12.2023 (pm) - dynamic effort lower
Had planned to be in Melbourne already for Christmas but got offered a Saturday at double time and couldn’t say no.
Going to visit nan in hospital in Mornington tomorrow so going to pack the kayak and see if I can go for a paddle in the bay while I’m down there. Will be the first time I’ve ever launched in surf so if you don’t hear from me again you know why haha.
1/ squat (2min)
Bow bar, purple bands (~40kg), 40cm box
20kg - 1x15
40kg - 1x10
50kg - 1x5
60kg - 5x5
Going to be a bit more cavalier/aggressive with upping my weights this time and go by how I feel/recover rather than going all the way back to the bar and slowly working up again (as clearly the latter hasn’t worked anyway - would rather be strong and sore than weak and sore lol).
As I’m going to be focussing on deadlifts on my ME days I’ll modify my DE squat waves so percentages are more like 50%, 65%, 80% for 5s, 3s and 1s across the 3 weeks as opposed to 50%, 55% & 60%. Though atm I’ll be basing everything off what I think I can do rather than actually using % (I’ll work them out later for future reference).
2/ good morning (3min)
Bow bar, standing, close stance
20kg - 1x12
40kg - 1x10
60kg - 4x8
Will look to do sets of 5-6 next week then triples the week after.
3/ lat pulldown (3min)
Seated, cable, wide lat handle attachment
40kg - 4x20
2/ overhead press (2min)
standing, thumb from smooth, strict (no leg drive)
20kg - 1x10
30kg - 1x8
40kg - 1x6
50kg - 1x4
55kg - 1x2
60kg - 1x1
62.5kg - 1x0
50kg - 1x4
40kg - 1x8
I’m a poster child for bench not transferring to overhead press.
In the time my bench has gone up 30kg by overhead press hasn’t moved lol.
3/ push ups (3min)
Rings, close(ish) grip
3x15
4/ tricep extension (2min)
Lying on floor, squat bar, index on smooth
35kg - 1x12
50kg - 5x5
6/ wood choppers
Standing, cable, high to low, rope attachment
5kg - 3x15
I feel like doing these will destroy my lat pulldown so I’ll find something else to do lol
