The Bird Cage 4. Onslaught

Training Training Logs
561

[quote]nighthawkz wrote:
Yay![/quote]

Seconded. Sounds like you’re on the right track.

562

[quote]nighthawkz wrote:
Yay![/quote]

[quote]TheWolfMan wrote:

[quote]nighthawkz wrote:
Yay![/quote]
Seconded. Sounds like you’re on the right track.[/quote]

Thanks guys, although I am still not 100%. The back is slowly getting better, although only at a rate of about 2% a day. Its really starting to test my patience. Im hoping to return back to football training by tomorrow. I have been doing heaps of walking and stretching.

The other day I did this:

-dB bench press
(22.5 kg x 10) x 3, (25 kg x 10) x 1 .

  • Bodyweight pull-ups
    3 sets of 8, 7 and 6 reps.

  • Supersetted 3 sets of BB curls with facepulls.
    (30 kg x 10) for the BB curls, and (20 kg x 12) for the face pulls.

  • Practiced some handstands against the wall.
    Did about 3 sets for 10 second holds . i was hopeless at it.

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563

Sorry about the erratic updates buddy. Im still trying to get back into the routine of things.

2 days ago I did this:

  • Agile 8 etc and shoulder warm-up

  • Bench Press;: 5 x 5 with 80 kg.

  • Bodyweight dips: 10,10 & 9.

  • Supersetted 3 sets of dB hammer curls (10 x 15 kg), with lateral raises (12 x 7.5 kg).

  • Practiced some handstand against the wall and some frog stands.

And then yesterday I went back to football training. I avoided sprinting and any hard hitting of the ball. Luckily I woke up this morning with the back feeling pretty good. So things are on track. I should be fully recovered by this weekend and recommence almost full training next week.

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564

Quick update:

2 days ago:

  • Agile 8 etc.

-dB bench press: 4 sets of (10 x 25 kg)

  • body weight pull-ups: 7, 7 & 6.

  • Supersetted 3 sets of: BB curls (10 x 30 kg), with face pulls (12 x 25 kg).

  • Practiced some handstands, and some crow stands. Still have a long way to go. Once my back gets better I will be able to practice more without the fear of injuring myself.

Last night I went to football training: I still feel I cant kick or sprint. I as plannign t play tomorrow nights game,a lthough I am thinking its best not to risk it. Coach is going to be spewing when I ring up to tell him tonight.

Back is definitely getting better, but still needs a few more 4-5 days before I can maybe try sprinting again.

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565

Keep resting best you can mate. Injuries blow.

566

[quote]raven78 wrote:
Keep resting best you can mate. Injuries blow.[/quote]
Thanks mate.

Things are looking up, although not 100% healed I feel I can now return back to training. Probably will not do legs for another week or two.

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567

Wednesday, 29th April 2015.

TRAINING

Upper ME

  • Agile 8 etc.

  • Bench press;
    5 sets of 3 x 90 kg.

  • Bodyweight dips: 3 sets of 12 reps.

  • Supersetted 3 sets of dB hammer curls (12 x 15 kg), with lateral raises ( 10 x 8 kg).

  • Finished off with some handstands against the wall and some bodyweight squats for mobility.

notes:
Next week I will aim for 5x5 with the 90 kg. Will add some weight to the dips, increase the weight for the hammer curls and go for 12 reps with the lateral raises.

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568

Just an idea to consider: read a lot of Ben Bruno’s stuff and POUND single leg exercises once you get better.

569

[quote]nighthawkz wrote:
Just an idea to consider: read a lot of Ben Bruno’s stuff and POUND single leg exercises once you get better.[/quote]
Thanks pal.

I am a fan of single leg work. Im thinking next week I will do my first leg day and it will look something like this:

  • Front squats; 54-5 sets of 10 reps.
  • split squats with an elevated back leg holding a dB: 3 sets of 10
  • Hamstring curls: 3 sets of 10

And then in a few more weeks I will consider re-introducing the back squat and single leg deadlifts with a kettlebell. Obviously now that I am in-season, weights will be no more than 80% and I will be concentrating on been explosive.

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570

Love Ben’s articles.

I’d look to introduce body weight single leg squats prior to split stuff mate.

My log includes a heap of leg related rehab work over the past 5 months too.

My 2c and all.

571

Good to see you back mate. Hopefully you are on the mend and the pressing looks solid.

572

[quote]Ironwarrior25 wrote:
Good to see you back mate. Hopefully you are on the mend and the pressing looks solid.[/quote]

[quote]raven78 wrote:
Love Ben’s articles.
I’d look to introduce body weight single leg squats prior to split stuff mate.
My log includes a heap of leg related rehab work over the past 5 months too.
My 2c and all.[/quote]

Thanks guys. I feel I am about 85% recovered. Still feel a slight sensation of discomfort in my lower left hip/back, but I dont feel I am going to make it any worse.
I have been doing bodyweight squats every second day or so now for about a week. Looking forward to getting back into lifting with the legs again.

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573

Thursday, 30th April 2015.

TRAINING

Team Football Training

  • Agile 8 etc.
  • Training started with some running with the ball and then some passing drills. We then did some possession/pressing drills and finished off with a 7 vs 7 small sided match.

notes: Back was feeling good and I feel I almost have all of my movement back. Ball skills are a little rusty but that will return quickly. I have been named in the 1st team squad to play this Sunday.

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574

Hey, man, just checking in (I have been really shitty with keeping a log, I’ll probably start a dedicated log after my meet). How is everything? I see you are back in season.

I’ve blown up in weight to 192 at 5’10" (good thing, since I felt like a skinny bitch at 184), and the strength and size has come in. My conditioning is shit though, I’ll have to take care of that during the summer so I don’t get my ass kicked in football (euro or american, depends on what I feel like). The American Football coaches have been trying hard to get in good with me because I outlift their D-line backs who weigh 50-100 pounds more than me, and I run faster than a lot of better our track people.

I just have no idea how to play American Football. I may also go back to Euro Football because I already know I like it, I am just not as well adapted to it, and I want to try to get a couple Varsity sports (I don’t think I could get into varsity soccer unless I dropped powerlifting as a training priority) so I can get a $1k scholarship, and possibly get a $2k scholarship. Of course I don’t need those scholarships, it’ll just be easier to get a free ride (college paid completely by scholarships/government aid) with both sports scholarships and merit/aptitude scholarships.

Also, are you still trying to get your glutes/hamstrings stronger? The last I checked, you seemed to be lacking in that area.

Cya, Birdy.

575

[quote]Destrength wrote:
Hey, man, just checking in (I have been really shitty with keeping a log, I’ll probably start a dedicated log after my meet). How is everything? I see you are back in season.
I’ve blown up in weight to 192 at 5’10" (good thing, since I felt like a skinny bitch at 184), and the strength and size has come in. My conditioning is shit though, I’ll have to take care of that during the summer so I don’t get my ass kicked in football (euro or american, depends on what I feel like). The American Football coaches have been trying hard to get in good with me because I outlift their D-line backs who weigh 50-100 pounds more than me, and I run faster than a lot of better our track people.
I just have no idea how to play American Football. I may also go back to Euro Football because I already know I like it, I am just not as well adapted to it, and I want to try to get a couple Varsity sports (I don’t think I could get into varsity soccer unless I dropped powerlifting as a training priority) so I can get a $1k scholarship, and possibly get a $2k scholarship. Of course I don’t need those scholarships, it’ll just be easier to get a free ride (college paid completely by scholarships/government aid) with both sports scholarships and merit/aptitude scholarships.
Also, are you still trying to get your glutes/hamstrings stronger? The last I checked, you seemed to be lacking in that area.
[/quote]
Hey buddy ol’ pal,

Good to hear from you, and good to hear that you have put on some muscle. If you have the opportunity to get a scholarship I would grab it, although if powerlifting is your passion maybe you should just stick with that?

Thanks for reminding me about my hammies. I think I will start doing a few sets on my glute ham raise machine before training twice a week.

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576

Friday, 1st May 2015.

TRAINING

Repetition Upper

  • dB bench on a slight incline: (10 x 27.5 kg) x 3, (8 x 27.5 kg x 8) x 1.

  • pull-ups with bodyweight: 8, 8, 7 & 5.

  • Superset 3 sets of BB curls (10 x 35 kg), with face-pulls (12 x 25 kg).

  • Finished off with 3 rounds of; handstands against the wall, 12 x glute bridges & 5 x bodyweight wall squats.

notes:
Good session. Have my girlfriend training with me at the moment, so I have to keep things fast paced and fun to keep her interested.

We have an away game on Sunday, so I will spend Saturday traveling to the city. Usually I like to have a low key skill and conditioning session before game day, but I don’t think I will have enough time, and I am still trying to be cautious not to over do things at the moment to help with my recovering back.

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577

Hey bird,
Been reading your log for a while now, never commented.
Just have a few questions for you?
Do you have a dedicated warm up prior to your training sessions?
Have you truly ever rehabilitated your back or just returned back to training once the pain subsided? Were you 100% pain free on the return(s) or close to 95%-ish?

If I remember correctly you have been having back issues for quite a while. Not just this recent back pain episode, but going on a few years now, am I correct?

578

[quote]sam_I_am wrote:
Hey bird,
Been reading your log for a while now, never commented.
Just have a few questions for you?
Do you have a dedicated warm up prior to your training sessions?
Have you truly ever rehabilitated your back or just returned back to training once the pain subsided? Were you 100% pain free on the return(s) or close to 95%-ish?

If I remember correctly you have been having back issues for quite a while. Not just this recent back pain episode, but going on a few years now, am I correct? [/quote]
Hi Sam!

Great to have you on board. Thanks for visiting the cage! Please feel free to comment more.

Before any training session I do my own modified version of Agile 8. My key movements are knee to wall ankle mobilization(left ankle has poor mobility due to previous strains), leg swings, hamstring and hip flexor static stretching, broom dislocates and band pull a parts. I also spend a bit of time on the foam roller and baseball on a few key areas including my plantar fascia.

My back issue have been an ongoing issue for about 5 years now, usually aggrivated by the deadlift. Just before my most recent episode the back felt 99%, and hence my new found emphusium to deadlift. Obviously I am not built to deadlift. A chiro I visited believes its the SI joint. The back is feeling much better now, probably 85%, although I do feel a little discomfort on cold mornings. I think I can now slowly return now back to normal training minus the deadlift.

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579

3rd May 2015.

GAME DAY

Lost 4-3.

We played away to one of the better teams in the league. Because it was an away game we were a few players short, although our starting 11 was a fairly strong team, but with just a few players playing in unfamiliar positions. We took the lead 3 time sin the match, but tired in the last 20 and allowed them to score an equalizer and then take the lead 10 minutes later with 10 minutes left in the match. It was a disappointing loss, and we felt we should have come away with at least a draw.

I played at right back. Struggled at first with the intensity of the game as this was my second competitive game of the season. A few of the goals were scored against us due to a communication errors in the defense, although that is to be expected as it was the first time that the back 4 had played with each other. I was disappointed with my performance and will have to train the house down this week to keep my spot in the starting 11.

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580

Monday, 4th May 2015

TRAINING

PM

Upper ME

  • Agile 8 etc.

  • Bench Press: 5 x 5 with 90 kg.

  • Bodyweight dips: 12, 12 & 10.

  • Supersetted 3 sets of dB hammer curls (12 x 15 kg), with lateral raises (7.5 kg x 12)

  • 3 rounds of handstand practice, walking lunges(bodyweight only), and wall squats.

notes:
Good session. Finally getting into some decent weight since my back injury. Next week i will change the main exercise to either floor presses or incline bench, and will add weight to the dips.

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