[quote]strangemeadow wrote:
I forget if we discussed this before, but are you doing enough ab work? My lower back used to hurt like a mofo. I mean, sex was close to a no-no my back hurt so bad. Started doing abs every day. Every ab thing works your lower back, the whole girdle of muscles. Super beneficial. I now do 100 reps of some ab move every day. And it made my DL awesome in a hurry. Different goals, same procedure.
[/quote]
What ab work do you prescribe??
I used to do hundreds of sit-ups as a teenager and that makes me wonder if it caused damage to my lower back, or maybe it helped??. Do you do sit-ups?
[quote]DSSG wrote:
For the hip thrusts, I would say start with barbell glute bridges and get to the point where you can rep you 1.5Xbw out for 10-15 reps with decent form then start doing hip thrusts. The bar will be a bit uncomfortable for awhile (like with front squats, or even back squats where it sucks a lot to get used to but you barely notice it if you notice it at all after awhile). [/quote]
I will start barbell thrusts in my next session. Ill let you know how it goes.
As promised, the following is a video of me overhead squatting and then back squatting, using a broomstick. Im showing this video to demonstrate the lack of flexibility of my hips and to show the awkwardness of my squatting technique. Important to note Im 6’2, and a lot of that is legs.
10 reps of 5 push-ups followed by 5 m sprint with the ball
8 reps of 5 m sprint and sudden change in direction with ball for 2 m
1 x 350 m run (was planning to do 3 reps, but decided to call it quits on the first run a I could feel a twinge in my lower back, and I didnt want to irritate it further as it has been healing nicely).
DIET
Today I was aiming for high protein and fat, and low carbs. Was shooting for 200+/<90/ 160
I fasted up until 12:30pm, when I had a 5 egg scrambled egg with cottage cheese, bacon and almonds. A few hours later it was 4 x spicy beef sausages, a chicken breast snitzchel, asparagus and squash. That was followed with a 2 scoop whey shake and 15 cashews. Dinner at 7pm was Dhufish with a tomato and cucumber salad dressed with olive oil.
[quote]strangemeadow wrote:
I forget if we discussed this before, but are you doing enough ab work? My lower back used to hurt like a mofo. I mean, sex was close to a no-no my back hurt so bad. Started doing abs every day. Every ab thing works your lower back, the whole girdle of muscles. Super beneficial. I now do 100 reps of some ab move every day. And it made my DL awesome in a hurry. Different goals, same procedure.
[/quote]
What ab work do you prescribe??
I used to do hundreds of sit-ups as a teenager and that makes me wonder if it caused damage to my lower back, or maybe it helped??. Do you do sit-ups?
[quote]DSSG wrote:
For the hip thrusts, I would say start with barbell glute bridges and get to the point where you can rep you 1.5Xbw out for 10-15 reps with decent form then start doing hip thrusts. The bar will be a bit uncomfortable for awhile (like with front squats, or even back squats where it sucks a lot to get used to but you barely notice it if you notice it at all after awhile). [/quote]
I will start barbell thrusts in my next session. Ill let you know how it goes.
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The only traditional “sit-ups” I do are Spread Eagle sit-ups. I keep my hands on my chest, with my legs spread and lay down, and bring myself back up to 90 degrees keeping my heels touching the floor .That’s the key. I’ll do 5 sets of 10, it’s pretty tough.
Other than that I do
Hanging Leg Raises/ windshield wipers / scissors /corkscrew (oblique twist)
idk what this one is called but I’ll describe:
lay on floor w/ Swiss ball held between feet, bring it to over your chest, transfer to hands, hand go back over head and touch ball to floor while feet go down and touch floor, then reverse the whole thing.
Same as above, but with a 25# plate and one leg at a time meets palte while other leg is outstretched
Wood Choppers, from the top down and reverse from bottom up
Oblique thing where you hold a DB in one hand and bend to that side and come up straight
Chimney’s ( lat on bench, hold onto bench behind your head, feet up in air, legs 90 degrees to torso, push feet straight up to ceiling, as if pushing them straight up a chimney. Bring hips back down to bench to touch.
So I do 2 of these exercises everyday, a total of 100 reps. It’s really helped, in everything. Takes 10-12 mins a day. It’s well worth it.
Let me know if I can help any more.
BTW, I thought your BackSquat looked pretty good, esp for being 6’2", I still vote for Front Squats of Goblet Squats. Better for an athlete, in my opinion.
You back lost it’s shape in the Overhead. Which is a bitch anyway.
[quote]strangemeadow wrote:
The only traditional “sit-ups” I do are Spread Eagle sit-ups. I keep my hands on my chest, with my legs spread and lay down, and bring myself back up to 90 degrees keeping my heels touching the floor .That’s the key. I’ll do 5 sets of 10, it’s pretty tough.
Other than that I do
Hanging Leg Raises/ windshield wipers / scissors /corkscrew (oblique twist)
idk what this one is called but I’ll describe:
lay on floor w/ Swiss ball held between feet, bring it to over your chest, transfer to hands, hand go back over head and touch ball to floor while feet go down and touch floor, then reverse the whole thing.
Same as above, but with a 25# plate and one leg at a time meets palte while other leg is outstretched
Wood Choppers, from the top down and reverse from bottom up
Oblique thing where you hold a DB in one hand and bend to that side and come up straight
Chimney’s ( lat on bench, hold onto bench behind your head, feet up in air, legs 90 degrees to torso, push feet straight up to ceiling, as if pushing them straight up a chimney. Bring hips back down to bench to touch.
So I do 2 of these exercises everyday, a total of 100 reps. It’s really helped, in everything. Takes 10-12 mins a day. It’s well worth it.
Let me know if I can help any more.
BTW, I thought your BackSquat looked pretty good, esp for being 6’2", I still vote for Front Squats of Goblet Squats. Better for an athlete, in my opinion.
You back lost it’s shape in the Overhead. Which is a bitch anyway.
[/quote]
Thanks for that. i will be adding a core/ab movement to the end of all of my gym sessions from now on.
[quote]DSSG wrote:
You are getting there, Bird. I wouldn’t exactly recommend that style, but I am a bit biased towards somewhat wide stances for squatting :). [/quote]
That was pretty wide. Just outside shoulder width.
531- Week one, cycle four
Military Press
42.5 kg x 5
47.5 kg x 5
55.0 kg x 5 (+2) (sloppy)
dips; 5 sets of 10
weighted pull-ups; 4 sets of 5 with 12.5 kg
supersetted bird-dogs with single leg hip thrusts; 3 sets of 10.
barbell glute bridges; 10 reps with 40 kg, supersetted with renegade rows; 12 reps with 10 kg dBs.
PM
Team Soccer Training.
Warmed up on the balls, practiced some passing on the “game-day” pitch to get used to the fast surface, and then played a small sided game. Due to suspensions, injuries and family commitments we are short on players, although still confident that we have what it takes to win Saturday nights game.
DIET
Fasted up until 1pm, when I broke it with satay chicken and rice. A few hours later it was a 2 scoop whey shake, some almonds and 2 bananas. For dinner it was roast chicken, a baked sweet potato and pumpkin and cabbage salad. Carbs creeped up a little higher than planned(was aiming for about 250)… no desert for birdy.
To prepare for tomorrows night late game at 8pm, I started todays session at 730pm to help to “reset my clock”.
agile 8, bird dogs and glute activation
15 minute jog
10 minutes of gentle mobility work
DIET
As todays training was more about mobility and re-adjusting my clock, today I was aiming for high protein and fat, and low carbs.
I fasted up to 12:30pm, when I had a 6 egg scrambled eggs with 2 chilli beef sausages. A few hours later it was a 2-scoop whey shake and 40 grams of almonds. For my last meal it was a feast of 500 grams of roast chicken filled with honey macadamia stuffing, 4 chicken satay kebabs, a slice of swiss cheese, pumpkin, broccoli, and some cabbage salad. Stomach was a bit sore afterwards, but satisfied at the same time. Before bed Im going to down some Z-12 and hope for a decent sleep.
The opposition turned up prepared, motivated and with a game plan, while the atmosphere is my team change room can only be described as somber and quiet. We were missing 3 regular starters who are our most prolific goal scorers and one of our central midfielders came off injured within the first 3 minutes of the game. The opposition scored there first goal within 10 minutes of a 1st half due to a penalty after 2 defenders had unnecessarily taken out a player in the box. A few minutes later they scored another goal with a half-ass shot that drifted into the top corner of the goal. Disappointing that we lost as the opposition was not a strong team.
I played in the midfield again, and had a poor game. I struggled to make any significant impact on the game and sometimes it felt like I was running in circles. In the last minute of the first half I had a 30 yard shot that was blistering towards the top corner, but was somehow saved by the keeper. I made a few crunching tackles in the first part of the second half, but beside that I played poorly. I need to cover more ground, concentrate on keeping position/shape and play with a little more aggression.
Need to put this week behind us, train hard and move forward!
Today as I was not doing nothing much at all I was aiming for high protein and fat, with low carbs. Kept the amount low as I was not going to expend much energy today.
I fasted up until 1:00pm, when I had a 4 egg omelette with mushrooms, asparagus and celery, and 4 rashes of bacon, and a side serving of cauliflower. For dinner at 6:00pm it was 200 grams of fillet steak, 6 french cut lamb cutlets, 2 slices of swiss cheese, 40 grams of almonds, olives, broccoli, brussel sprouts and cabbage salad.
P: 180
C: 15
F: 115
So, fo those who have been following my diet, you will know that I have been trying to follow a modified version of “lean gains”. Obviously with my hectic schedule with soccer, this was never going to work or provide the results usually expected with this diet. However with this experimentation I am learning what does work for me.
What I have learnt;
fasting in the mornings is easy and convenient and does not interfere with morning strength training sessions.
the only time I notice any carb depletion difficulties was occasionally at evening team soccer trainings.
Due to my hectic and ever changing training schedule, these are my new diet guidelines;
will continue fasting up until 1pm.
high P and F, low C on days of no training(which is only 1-2 days/week)
high P, moderate C, low F on days of team soccer training and games, with the majority of carbs coming before and after training.
high P, moderate C, low F on days of weight training, but with the majority of carbs coming from the 1st meal after training which will typically be my first meal at 1pm. After this initial meal I will continue with high C and F and low C, unless there is team soccer training that evening.
BCAAs before and after fasted morning sessions.
will shoot for 200+ protein most days, try keep carbs no more than 220 a day(unless Im having a reefed(done every 2 weeks)), and will avoid/reduce fats from eggs and nuts on intense training days.
Birdy! hows things mate? looks like your training is going well.
question for ya
Do you find that squats and deadlifts affect your footwork speed? im really starting to find this. I have had lower back problems in the last 6-8 months and it has affected my squat form, tightened my hamstrings and even when i do mobility work (which is alot) my footwork is slow and awkward almost. This really affects me when i have the ball.
I love a crunching tackle and need strength and stability so i dont wanna stop squatting mainly but think i might have to as it tightens my lower back too much which is affecting my speed/coordination. Do you find this??
i squatted friday, woke up stiff but went for a 16 mile bike ride saturday hoping it would help loosen my legs but it crippled my back and i only managed 12 miles because the pain was soo bad. I have a game in 4 weeks and need to get prepared.
oh, and Munich made Barca look like schoolboys eh??
[quote]adrenalinx wrote:
Birdy! hows things mate? looks like your training is going well.
question for ya
Do you find that squats and deadlifts affect your footwork speed? im really starting to find this. I have had lower back problems in the last 6-8 months and it has affected my squat form, tightened my hamstrings and even when i do mobility work (which is alot) my footwork is slow and awkward almost. This really affects me when i have the ball.
I love a crunching tackle and need strength and stability so i dont wanna stop squatting mainly but think i might have to as it tightens my lower back too much which is affecting my speed/coordination. Do you find this??
i squatted friday, woke up stiff but went for a 16 mile bike ride saturday hoping it would help loosen my legs but it crippled my back and i only managed 12 miles because the pain was soo bad. I have a game in 4 weeks and need to get prepared.
oh, and Munich made Barca look like schoolboys eh?? [/quote]
I wouldn’t recommend squats and deadlifts, especially if you have a history of lower back issues. I had decided not to squat or deadlift at all this season. Instead I am incorporating some single leg work and weighted glute bridges, but all well below my max. At the end of the day, we are better off training technique and foot-speed outside with the ball.
Good luck with your game, and go Munich!!
[quote]MightyMouse17 wrote:
Looks like a good plan to me.[/quote]
Thanks for dropping in. Ill let you know how the new diet effects me.
531- Week one, cycle four
Bench Press
67.5 kg x 5
77.5 kg x 5
90.0 kg x 5 (+0) Sad face.
dips in b/w working sets, 4 sets of 10 reps.
weighted pull-ups with 12.5 kg; 5, 5, 5, and 4.
bulgarian split squats; 2 sets of 10 with bar only and then one set of 8 with 30 kg.
single leg deadlifts; 4 sets of 5 with bar only.
nb: feeling weak this morning… might have got something to do with the low carb intake in the past 36 hours. Could not manage any extra reps on my last set and struggled with the weighted pull-ups. I could feel a slight hint of right knee patella tendonitis with the single leg squats, so I will have to be careful and keep up with my rehab/corrective work. I got some Voodoo bands that I haven’t used yet, that maybe I should use for my latest knee irritation.
PM
Recovery:
15 minutes treading water in the ocean.
DIET
Fasted up until 1pm. At about 12:30pm I thought I was going to pass out… I was feeling weak and tired. Broke the fast with a delicious 300 gram t-bone steak, 2 sausages, 7 rice cakes, almonds and cabbage salad. At 4pm I had ‘lentil and ham’ soup and a 2-scoop whey shake. For my last meal at 6:30pm it was ‘lentil and ham’ soup, 3 sausages, 4 boiled eggs, peas and some cabbage salad.
Had to guestimate the macros for my soup which was about 1.5 cups of lentils and a few peices of smoked ham. Im guessing P: 35 C: 50 and F:10, for a medium size bowl.
Disappointing turn-out. Players mission due to injury and other commitments. We warmed up with some ball work and then finished off with a low intensity small sided game.
Injured my left side trapezius while doing my final set of military press. On my 4th rep with 57.5 kg, I felt a sudden sharp pain go through my shoulder/neck and I aborted the lift immediately. Initially I had though I had done some serious damage like a rotator cuff blow out, although I soon realised it was just a trapezius muscle strain, which i had previously injured before(but not for about 18 months now).
From previous experience this injury only takes 3-4 days to almost completely heal. Luckily Saturday nights “knock out cup” game has been cancelled, as the team we were playing forfeited. They were a lower division side that probably did not like there chances and wanted to avoid the extra travel.
Since Im injured and have this weekend off, Im going to take a few days off to recover from this injury and also for a little bit of a mental break. Tonight it will be pizza and beer!!! Ill keep you guys informed on my progress.
Woke up this morning with a sore neck and didn’t think I could train tonight. Some how by the end of the day my trapezius/neck was feeling a lot better, so I took some ibuprofen and went along to training. No game this week, so we did some running and then some passing games, and finished off with a small sided game. Neck is still a little sore so I have booked a soft tissue session tomorrow morning that should take care of it.
DIET
Diet has been horrendous. Ill be back on it tomorrow.
Been resting with my trapezius injury. Slowly improving. I have a knot the size of Texas in my upper back on my left side. I will roll it out tonight before I go for a run. Not the most ideal rest period. i have been eating whatever I want including McDonalds, spent a night out at the towns basketball game where I proceeded to drink about 8 scotch and colas, and then finished the night off at a local bar. I usually dont go off the rails like this, but I suppose its not a bad thing if I am only doing this kind of thing two-three times a year.
The time off has given me some time to think about my recent training, and it has occurred to me that I need to change things around. Shoulders are getting angry with all of this pressing. Really I should of learned from past experiences that I should not consistently overhead press for more than 6 weeks straight. I have been on my current program for about 14 weeks. Im going to change things up and lift things up a notch.
For my gym days I am thinking;
2 sessions a week
session A(leg day) will include front squats, single leg squats, lunges, hamstring curls, a core movement and a finisher
session B(upper body day) will be incline bench press, flat dB bench press, dB rowing, a core movement and a finisher.
lots of pull-ups for both sessions. I will be following the 531 protocol for my main lifts( front squats, incline press and pull-ups).
every 5-6 weeks I will have a total deload week of no gym at all for 5 days. I will take this when I feel I need to, not when Wendlers book tells me too. I will be concentrating on a lot more soft tissue work as well.
Im going to start eating some more carbs.
Thinking of buying some squatting shoes to make things easier for me. Im going to choose between the nike romaleos vs the adidas red ones? Anyone got any recommendations?
