[quote]nighthawkz wrote:
To be honest, my personal cue for firing the lats is “Bruce Lee”.[/quote]
I think I have either poor mind-to-lat connection, or I have no lats, because I can’t do the “Bruce Lee”. Might have to practice in-front of the mirror.
[quote]Destrength wrote:
Alright, for the lat tightness in the deadlift I like to think about flexing them when I grab the bar, and pull the bar into me. Also you asked about improving GHR’s in my log. I couldn’t find the article that I was thinking of, but I’d say do GHR’s at the start of every training session (so if you are in the gym four times a week, then you’ll be doing GHR’s four times a week), and go for about three sets of max reps that you can do with decent form.
You’ll want to do that until you can do about three sets of eight, then you can do them like any other exercise. That is assuming it is at a gym. If you have one at home, just start with one rep (or whatever is a moderate quantity of reps) and keep adding one rep per day to what you do.[/quote]
I actually have the GHR at home. Got it for a good price. So I will have to do my GHR work before I leave for the gym. I have long legs, which I think makes it hard. Will have to get the gf to stand in front of me as I do it, as I am scared of falling flat on my face.
Agile 8 and shoulder warm up, bike ride to the gym.
Press 531
35 kg x 5
40 kg x 5
45 kg x 5 (+0)
Weighted dips: 5 x 5 with 20 kg, and a 10 rep at bodyweight at the end.
Shoulder shocker; 3 rounds, 8 reps for each exercise using a 12.5 kg dB and 6 kg dB’s.
Curls for the girls; 3 sets of 12 x 12.5 kg incline dB curls, supersetted with 10 x hanging leg raises.
Bike ride home, the alternative way home finishing with a epic hill climb.
notes:
Decent session. Could of easily pressed more, but as noted before I am slowly ramping things up to take care of my dodgy shoulder, which reminds me I need to keep up the daily shoulder rehab stuff. Next week I will attempt to increase all the rep to 10 for the shoulder shocker and increase the weighted dips to 22.5 -25 kg’s.
[quote]theBird wrote:
To be honest, my personal cue for firing the lats is “Bruce Lee”.[/quote]
I think I have either poor mind-to-lat connection, or I have no lats, because I can’t do the “Bruce Lee”. Might have to practice in-front of the mirror.
[/quote]
Puff yourself up the way wannabe tough guys do it (at school we always called it the pins in the armpits pose). I find that firing my lats is something I instinctively do when I expect someone to bump into me on the roads, stairs etc. Also, try tuck front levers on a pullup bar to get the feeling for it.
[quote]nighthawkz wrote:
Puff yourself up the way wannabe tough guys do it (at school we always called it the pins in the armpits pose). I find that firing my lats is something I instinctively do when I expect someone to bump into me on the roads, stairs etc. Also, try tuck front levers on a pullup bar to get the feeling for it.
[/quote]
Thanks. I will give that a go.
Agile 8 etc, bike ride to the gym, explosive jumps.
Squat 531;
55 kg x 3
60 kg x 3
70 kg x 3 (+3) (calculated 1 rep max: 83 kg).
Front squat; 5 sets of 10 using 50 kg.
Hamstring curls; 5 sets of 10 using 40 kg. (different machine to the usual one).
Bike ride home.
notes: Pretty disappointing session. Hips feeling tight and I feel that has screwed with my form. Spent the whole weekend mostly at Xmas work functions, which involved lots of sitting in tight and uncomfortable spots and eating lots of food. Also screwed with my sleep. Anyway my squat felt awkward; my descend felt off-balance and inconsistent, with my weight sometimes moving towards my toes. Lower back also feeling a little “toasty”, with some referred pain down my hamstring. Im thinking that I have some mild sciatica. Could not supserset my accessory work as there were too many people in the gym. Anyway next week I will increase my accessory work to 55 kg for the front squats and 45 kg for the hamstring curls.
Agile 8 etc, bike ride to the gym, explosive push-ups.
Bench 531;
65 kg x 3
77.5 kg x 3
87.5 kg x 3 (+7). (calculated 1 rep max; 116)
dB bench press; 3 sets of (27.5 kg x 10), 2 sets of (27.5 kg x 8).
BB rows; 4 sets of (60kg x 10), 1 set of (60 kg x 8).
3 sets of dB curls; (15 kg x 12) x 2, (12.5 kg x 12).
bike ride home.
notes: Good session. Gym was packed so I couldn’t superset my accessory for again. Next week I will keep the same weight for the accessory work. My lower back on my left side is still a little sore, but is getting better. trying to stretch and mobilise twice a day to open up my hips.
Hey, Birdy, are you using your GHR now? I am using the crap out of my school’s GHR. I did some weighted ones (with only 5 pounds/2.3KG lol) just yesterday. They seem to even be pretty decent for the lower back, and a tiny bit the glutes when you push the foot plate all the way forward and up (it is the hardest when you do that). I however wouldn’t recommend doing that starting out with GHR’s unless you already have pretty decent hamstring strength.
[quote]Destrength wrote:
Hey, Birdy, are you using your GHR now?
[/quote]
No I have not, but thanks for reminding me. Maybe I will jump on for a few sets this afternoon before I deadlift.
I have been really slack with the GHR… it has been sitting in my courtyard for a few months now with no use lol. I think it will be good for my hamstring and lower back, as they could do with some strengthening. Might even help my piriformis issues.
Agile 8 etc, GHR(3 sets of 5), bike ride to the gym.
Deadlift:
60 kg x 5
60 kg x 5
80 kg x 5
80 kg x 3
90 kg x 3
90 kg x 3
I then supersetted my accessory work.
walking dB lunges; 10 step each leg with 22.5 kg dBs
pull-ups; 8, 8, 8, 6 & 6.
bike ride home.
notes: Happy with today session. Deadlift is improving. I really concentrated on creating hamstring tension and doing a mini roll at the start of my lift. Still need to improve on keeping my chest out, shoulders back a bit more, and keeping the bar closer to my body on the way up and down. Next week I should be good to attempt my short term goal of deadlifting my body weight.
GHRs were brutal. I actually had my girlfriend catching me on the way down and pushing me on the way back, so she probably did about 80% of the work. Will have to try and practice this almost every day. Accessory work was tough. The dB lunges were taxing on my grip and effected my pull-up capacity. Will keep the weights the same next week for next for the dB lunges and aim for a better total with the pull-ups.
Keep tuned in, I will upload a video of the last set of my deadlifts soon.
[quote]Destrength wrote:
Hey, Birdy, are you using your GHR now?
[/quote]
No I have not, but thanks for reminding me. Maybe I will jump on for a few sets this afternoon before I deadlift.
I have been really slack with the GHR… it has been sitting in my courtyard for a few months now with no use lol. I think it will be good for my hamstring and lower back, as they could do with some strengthening. Might even help my piriformis issues.
Are you using the GHR every day?
tweet
[/quote]
The most often I can hit the GHR bench is four times a week since the GHR bench I have access to is in my school’s weightroom and it is only open Monday to Thursday.
I have definitely noticed a recent strength increase at the bottom of my deadlift which I attribute to my hamstrings getting stronger/being more fresh for the deadlift. I can’t really say if it is the GHR’s that helped with the hamstrings, or if it was me breaking up my lower body training into a deadlift day and squat day and training the hamstrings as a weak body part. It’s likely a combination of those three things.
Thanks Destrength for the info on the GHR. Ill post a video up soon. You will probably have a good laugh.
Im in the process of moving house atm, so my posting might be sporadic. The worst is over, as we had moved all the furniture and large appliances yesterday.
TRAINING
PRESS, Cycle 2, Week2
Agile 8 etc, assisted GHR, bike ride to the gym.
Press 531
35 kg x 3
40 kg x 3
45 kg x 3
Dips: 5 x 5 with 22.5 kg, and then 1 set of 10 reps with bodyweight.
Shoulder shocker: 3 rounds using 12.5 kg dB and 6 kg dBs. 9 reps for each exercise.
Seated incline dB curls: 15 kg x 10, 17.5 kg x 8, 20 kg x 6, 22.5 kg x 4.
Squat 531
57.5 kg x 5
65 kg x 3
72.5 kg x 1 (+4). (calculated 1 rep max: 84 kg)
Supersetted accessory work:
Front squat; 5 sets of 10 with 55 kg.
Hmam curls; 5 sets of 10 with 45 kg.
some abs & bike ride home.
notes: Motivation and concentration levels were poor, due to been physically and mentally drained from 2 days of moving house. Im not happy with my squat. The descend down feels broken and un-even. I think I need to work on my inner leg flexibility as thats were I felt a few twinges. Will need to get a video up of my squat for an assessment.
Accessory work was better, although the ham curls felt heavy. Next time I will increase the weight for the front squats, while Ill keep the ham curls at 45 kg’s.
Agile 8 etc, assisted GHR (3 sets of 5), bike ride to the gym, explosive clapping push-ups.
-Bench 531:
72.5 kg x 5
82.5 kg x 3
92.5 kg x 1 (+10) (calculated 1 rep max: 125 kg)
Supersetted accessory work;
dB bench press on a slight incline; 5 sets of 10 x 27.5 kg
BB row; 5 sets of 10 x 60 kg.
Curls for the girls: 3 sets of 12 x 30 kg BB curls.
Bike ride home.
notes:
Good session. 11 reps on the last set of bench must be some kind of PR. Accessory work felt easier/lighter than last week while using the same weight.
Deadlift;
60 kg x 5
80 kg x 5
100 kg x 3
100 kg x 3
120 kg x 1
Supersetted my accessory work:
walking dB lunges, 5 x 10 with 22.5 kg dB’s.
pull-ups: 8, 8, 8, 7 & 7.
hanging leg raises: 3 sets of 12.
bike ride home
notes:
Good session. Relatively happy with my deadlifts except for my last set, in which I did not have the bar close enough to my body. Technique still needs fine tuning, but I think I am almost ready to use 531 for my deadlifts.
In other news, my sleep has been ordinary lately and my girlfriend says I have been snoring. At the moment I am weighing at about 97 kg, about 5 kg heavier than “normal”, and I am wondering if this extra weight is contributing to my poor sleep??
Apologies for the lack of updates. In the process of moving house etc, and do not have internet access at home yet.
I have kept up with my program, and my latest workout was a squat deload session yesterday.
For my deloads I am taking the opportunity to practice my form, and are doing my working sets at about 60% x 5 for 3 sets. Finished off with 3 sets of accessory work, also using about 60-70%.
On the 26th I am off to Taiwan for 2 weeks, so my posting will be sporadic, but I will do my best to keep you all up-dated!
[quote]raven78 wrote:
Basterd! Merry xmas mate and travel safe.
Smash out some heavy work up till the 26th then enjoy the growth whilst you gorge yourself on great food![/quote]
Thanks buddy. This week has actually been my deload week. I do plan to take the next few days off, and I am not sure if I will train once I get to Taiwan. Depends how easy it is to find a gym. Im still looking for accommodation at this moment lol.
I have finally arrived back from my vacation. Had a great time. Ate lots of food, didn’t lift a weight, drank beer most nights and met up with Nards. I would really recommend Taiwan for a holiday destination. So many things to do and see.
Due to the lack of training and excess of food, I am feeling a little ordinary at the moment. I haven’t weighed myself, but I feel I may have lost 1-2 kg’s and feel that my body fat percentage has increased a good 3-4%. My hips are feeling ordinary after spending many hours on planes, trains and restaurant seats. Hopefully the rest has given my tendons and ligaments enough rest. Mentally I am feeling fresh and I am excited about the prospect of getting back into the gym.
Tonight I will do some simple mobility stuff and hopefully get back into the gym by Thursday or Friday at the latest.
In other news the new coach of my football team has contacted me and asked if I am interested in playing another season. The new coach is he previous coach from 2 seasons ago. He is a good coach who has some highly regarded training licences. I would be happy to play for him, although I am still cautious as if we don’t have the right type of players, then the coach can only do so much. I will probably make a decision to play on in the next 2 weeks.