Sorry bird-lovers, you must have all been wondering where I have disappeared to. Well after Saturdays nights loss, which means almost 0% chance of the team gaining promotion, I have kind of lost the motivation to train. The bird-spirit has been broken. The body feels sore, my mind is moving slow and Im craving bad food and need to sleep more than normal. I suppose I haven’t had a week off for a long time, and that has taken its toll.
So I have decided to have this week off. I have been eating pizza and drinking beer most nights. I skipped training on Tuesday night and haven’t been to the gym at all. The groins and achilles are a bit tender and Im taking this opportunity to recharge the mind and body. Tonight I returned to team soccer training where I did 80% of the session but called it quits for the final 20 minutes.
I might go to the gym tomorrow for an upper body work-out, although if I do I will stick to higher reps(10-12) and keep things brief. Hopefully this week off will recharge me enough to start up next week. My next scheduled break will be 8 weeks away which marks the end of the season(and “Bird Cage 2”), which is when me and the GF will probably go on an 2 weeks overseas holiday.
TRAINING
AM
Visited my masseur. He really got into my neck and back of my head. Felt really good afterwards, but sleepy.
PM
Went to team soccer training. Groins felt ok, but finished 20 minutes before the end just to be on the safe side.
The oly lifts and their variations are king in explosive strength. Off the floor is an option to if you can learn it properly. Oh, I hope you feel better after the week off.
I can’t remember the last time I took a whole week off from the gym. But this week I have. Im hoping my body gains from this extra rest, and come Tuesday I’m all good to go to lift some heavy ass weight again.
This weeks game is an away game against the second top team. We are missing one of our skilful wingers through injury and one of our central midfielders through suspension, so things already don’t look good. Mathematically we can still make it in the top 2 and gain promotion for next season, but we will have to win all of our games and hope for a couple of favourable results to go our way. With the missing players we already are heavy underdogs, but I suppose I have seen stranger things happen. Im leaving for the city tomorrow. The game is on Sunday.
TRAINING
PM
Went for a very casual 25km bike ride at a slow-moderate pace.
Todays game was an away game against the second top team. We started the game missing 2 of our better players due to an injury and suspension. We played a very defensive formation and we went out to defend heavily for the first 15 minutes. This plan backfired as the other team scored 2 goals in the first 10 minutes. Playing defensively is a difficult thing to pull off, and in the end was a very negative way for the team to play.
I played in the middle of defense. I man-marked there main striker, who amzingly had bigger quads than me. I did my job, I kept him scorless and I minimised his impact on the game. I enjoyed the challenge,as we matched each other physically.I felt I did my job, but the rest of the team could not string more than 3 passes together and I think that was our downfall today. The team was too concerned about defending than actually holding the ball, and without the ball you cant win.
Well today is my fist day back after having a week off from the gym. Felt good, although my adductor on the left side was still a bit sore while doing single leg squats…
AM
Agile 8 etc
Barbell squats.
3 sets of 20 using the bar only. i then did 3 sets of 5 using 60kg. On the second set I did feel some strain in my lower back, while in the 3rd set I think I held my core tighter and I felt fine. Im not sure exactly what I did in that 3rd set, but I think I was holding my breath on the decsent maybe? Tonight Im going to research the valsava method, and see if that could be the answer for me to squat safely.
Elevated back leg split squats.
3 sets of 10 reps using 40kg.
Had to use a 3 gym mats to reduce my ROM to prevent re-hurting my left adductor. On second thoughts I think i should give these a break for a bit. Might introduce barbell step-ups as my main working set for legs instead. Thoughts anyone?
Single leg deadlifts
3 sets of 8 using 30kg.
These feel therapeutic. Love them. Although I did feel some pump in my lower back, which i dont think you are really meant to while doing these.
Walking dB lunges
3 sets of 10 steps suing 20kg dBs.
Did feel these twinge my left adductor a bit, but as long as Im strict on form they should be safe.
Finished with 3 rounds of:
1 minute and 10 seconds front plank, followed by 12 face pulls.
PM
Will be attending team soccer training tonight. Hoping that a few of the recently injured players make a return to improve the quality of training.
Got some major DOMS today after yesterdays leg session. I suppose you expect that from a leg session after a week away from lifting. In other news, Im eating like a king. Everything that is eatable and in my sight, has been eaten. Im not too fussed, as lately recovery has been a little slower, so I suppose a little extra food won’t hurt.
Been doing some research into the valsalva method and will start to practice this with my squatting. My understanding of it is to take a decent deep breath in, making my stomach expand, and then close my mouth and try to breathe out. Sounds a little tricky, but this is all part of the learning process in my quest to squatting heavy again.
TRAINING
PM
Due to the major DOMS I was seriously thinking of just resting today. But I managed to get out for a 25km bike ride at moderate intensity. Hopefully the injection of blood through the legs will help with my recovery.
[quote]jtownlax wrote:
If you want to try a different single leg exercise try reverse barbell lunges. Absolutely brutal.[/quote]
Yer I was thinking I might try that. Might not be as taxing on my adductor as BSS. Although I already do walking lunges, so I will have to cancel those and replace with something else. Any thought?
So my man in lift will be reverse barbell lunges or steps ups, followed by single legs deadliest, and then maybe some high rep goblet squats maybe?? Or maybe some single leg machine work maybe???
Welcome back to the cage ducklings!! Today I did a double, with gym in the morning and soccer team training in the evening. As you will see I have come up with a new routine for my upper body. Im going to concentrate on incline bench press. I also want to try and change my accessory lifts more often than usual. I think doing the same thing week after week after week can gets a bit tedious.
TRAINING
AM
Upper body at the gym
Agile 8 and shoulder warm-ups
Barbell squats
3 sets of 20 reps with the bar only. And then 3 sets of 5 using 50kg. Tried the valsalva method, although Im not sure if Im doing it right. Almost feels like Im just holding my breath. Anyway, practice will eventually make perfect. These felt ok, although later in the day my lower back was pissing me off as I was sitting in the car.
Incline bench press
Ramped up to my working set
5 x 80kg (way too heavy!!)
5 x 70kg
5 x 70kg
5 x 70kg
5 x 70kg (last rep was slow, rotator cuff in left shoulder felled a title irritated but ok)
Pull-ups
3 sets of 5, followed by a set of max chin-ups(managed 7).
supersetted dB rows and dB flyes
3 rounds of;
7 reps of dB rows using 30kg
12 reps of dB flies using 12.5kg dBs
Unilateral dB floor presses
3 sets of 10 using 17.5kg dBs (these feel great. Almost therapeutic)
3 rounds of 1 minute and 10 seconds planks, and then some couch hip flexor stretch.
PM
Went to team soccer training. I was a bit tired from this mornings session, and I felt a little bloated as i ate heaps of chilli today. Was a decent session. This weeks game is a home game against a team that smashed us last time away. We are keen for revenge.
After training on Thursday, I felt sick. An uneasy stomach, headache and general nausea. Im not sure what has caused it. I ate clean on Thursday, although I did eat a lot of chilli…maybe its indigestion??
Anyway, this last month has been a little bit of a disaster in terms of sickness and injury getting in the way of my training and soccer.
Oh well, its a birds life.
There is a game on this afternoon and I have told my coach Im in no shape to play. He has asked me if I can at least sit on the bench, and I have told him I will consider it after I have had something to eat. I might feel better. I will update you guys later.
I didn’t play but went along. The boys played well considering the amount of players we have missing due to injuries and suspensions.
Im still struggling with my gut irritation. I feel like shit. I don’t know if I ate something off, or maybe I ate too fast, but anyway my gut feels like shit and my head hurts. Hopefully back to training by Tuesday.
What form are you using for Back squats? Maybe getting a pair of Oly shoes and doing high bar form would help. Yesterday I did 130kg x20, and got a full body pump (which is insane, btw), except my lower back due to the upright posture - front squats for the same reason
[quote]jtownlax wrote:
If you want to try a different single leg exercise try reverse barbell lunges. Absolutely brutal.[/quote]
Yer I was thinking I might try that. Might not be as taxing on my adductor as BSS. Although I already do walking lunges, so I will have to cancel those and replace with something else. Any thought?
So my man in lift will be reverse barbell lunges or steps ups, followed by single legs deadliest, and then maybe some high rep goblet squats maybe?? Or maybe some single leg machine work maybe???
Caveman101- Im not actually sure what form I am using. I just put the bar on my back where it feels comfortable and squat. Im not sure if this is relevant, but I do have long legs. Do you use oly shoes?
J-twon bro; Thanks for that. My gym doesnt have a ghr, although I wish it did.
Gf took me to the hospital last night, and according to the quack Im not dying of appendicitis, but I am suffering from gastro. This morning, stomach cramps woke me up, but as the day went along I got much better. Stll feel like shit, but fingers crossed that a good nights sleep and tomorrow Im going to wake up like a million dollars.
There’s really nothing I can say that anyone else hasn’t but, hope you are feeling better, and I will be checking in on your log from time to time. Oh, and it would probably help your squatting if you take a large breath to your stomach, keep your abs tight then after one fourth/half way up start breathing out slowly.
Jaice- Im glad Im not dying either. The quack said that there is a bug going around town, but I think my gastro is self inflected. Last Thursday I smashed a massive bowel in chilli in record time.
Spidey22- Hey bro. Thanks for your kind words. It does piss me off that everytime I start making a little progress I get some sort of interupption in the form of an injury or illness.
DSSG- Thanks for the advice bro. Cant wait to start squatting again.
stefan128- There is no official release date yet for “theBird. theDocumentary”. Most probably just before Xmas, although look out for the second trailer, coming soon!!
The oly lifts and their variations are king in explosive strength. Off the floor is an option to if you can learn it properly. Oh, I hope you feel better after the week off.