-Warmed up outside juggling my ball and a very light jog for 10 minutes before going into the gym.
Did some push-ups, bodyweight squats and handstands against the wall.
BB military press: 5 x 5 with 55 kg. (3 reps of pull-ups b/w sets)
Superset 4 sets of: dips (BW x 9), BB curls (35 kg x 10).
Suitcase walks with 20 kg dB.
rear delt raises: 3 sets of 12 with 6 kg.
notes:
It was nice to spend some time outside in the sun for my warm-up. Im going to slowly transition into getting back into doing some running and ball work, more so for fun and the vitamin D. Gym work went well. Feeling strong and fit.
Bike ride to the gym, which then turned into a jog to the gym
BB bench press: 5 x 5 with 90 kg. (4 reps of pull-ups in b/w sets)
Supersetted 4 sets of: seated cable rows (10 x 50kg), inccline hammer curls (10 x 15kg) x 2, (10 x 12.5kg) x 2.
Finished off with some suitcase walks and rear delt raises.
Notes:
Today was one of those days. Got about half way to the gym on my bike when I got a flat. I then thought to myself “what would @Alpha do?”. So I picked up my bike and ran to the gym, which was about a 2 km run. I then got straight into my workout. Im happy with my bench press.
Felt a little flat today, but I was just “having one of those days”. Sometimes you just got to get in and get the work done.
Suitcase carries are awesome. I’d do them every week if I had to worry about conditioning. Do you ever do sled drags? They really, really suck in the good way. My favorite is getting someone to do sled drags with me. It gives them a good workout, and it gets someone to yell at me to not stop/have someone there to make sure that I can’t quit until my designated amount of distance is over. For example, like a month and a half ago, I had 4 plates on the sled and I had pretty much hit a brickwall 1/4th of the way through it and still finished.
I don’t really do suitcase walks for conditioning. I do it more as it feels great on my core and I think it activates my QL muscle which just makes my back feel stable. I love them. I sometimes use them into my warm-up as well.
I haven’t done any sled work for years. My current gym doesn’t have a sled, but Im keen to check out the other gyms town to see if they have a sled. I was considering buying one, but that would be expensive.
I am looking into upping my conditioning work. At the moment the only conditioning Im doing is the 5 km bike ride to and from the gym, but I would like to increase it a bit and maybe get more “shredded” for summer. Thinking getting back into some hill runs, although I will have to be careful and transition into them slowly.
Good, I’ve mostly been busy with class and getting things ready for university and scholarship applications. Training has been business as usual, nothing ground breaking, but still progressing, I’ll probably win my age division by a landslide in this meet coming up, hopefully I can get someone to record the lifts. With any luck I’ll hit 365 on the bench and 475 on the deadlift (beltless because the IPF is lame and only lets you use ‘approved’ brands).
For me I prefer to do suitcase deadlifts for that, I definitely notice added stability and tightness when I hit them hard. Having strong stabilizers is really important in my opinion, I’ve been injured far too many times because I didn’t back and ab training seriously until two or three years ago.
And yeah, equipment is too expensive. I am looking at some disgusting numbers for getting into oly lifting, but at least the equipment stays good for a very long time if you take care of it. I am looking at about 300-ish for an oly bar, 500 for bumpers, and 180 for literally the only wide oly lifting shoes on the market (damn extra wide feet). An even more disgusting thing is that the equipment cost is less than a year prescription at most gyms in the area that have bumpers, and they are all an hour or so away if I wanted to go to them. I have the money right now, but I don’t like dipping into my savings for anything. I’ll just have to replace the money this summer.
@Destrength : Good to hear buddy. Sounds like you are kicking ass like usual. Im doing well thanks. Getting used to my life without football. I have been attending a BJJ class 2-3 times a week. Enjoying learning something new, although Im considering having a run in the local league next year, more so for a bit of fun.
Wednesday, 16th november 2016.
TRAINING
AM
Max Lower
Warm-up, including planking, back-bends, BW push-ups and squats, handstand practice and eccentric pistols.
BB reverse lunge 5 x 5 (each leg) with 60 kg.
Supersetted 3 sets of: BSS (10 x 15 kg), hamstring curly things on the swiss ball (10 reps)
Cooled off with some bird-dogs and hanging from the pull-up bar.
notes:
I think I got out of the wrong side of the bed this morning as I was feeling a little grumpy. I think Im still getting used to these early morning sessions. No pull-ups between the main working set today as my elbows feel a little sore. No bike ride either as the rain was coming down hard this morning.
Warmed up outside with my ball for 20 minutes. Juggled the ball, hit it against the wall a few times, and I did a 350m run at about 60%.
Into the gym, warmed up with some BW squats and push-ups, archer push-ups and frog jumps.
Weighted dips: 5 x 5 with 25kg (4 reps of pull-ups bw sets)
Superset 3 sets: dB overhead press (10 x 17.5kg), dB rows (10 x 30kg).
BB curls for the girls: 3 sets of 7 x 40 kg.
Farmer walks: 3 sets of walks with the 45 kg dBs (was planning a 4th set my my grip failed in the last few steps at the end of my 3rd set).
notes:
Nice midday session. I really enjoyed my warm-up with the ball outside in the sun, although I have noticed I have lost some “athleticism”. Little things like controlling the ball off the wall and turning sharply does not feel as natural as it used to. This is something I want to improve. Slowly I will up the tempo with the ball work and maybe even try do this 2 times a week. Weights all felt challenging, but next week I should be able to up the weight on most exercises.
Warm-up including: plank, back bends, BW squats and push-ups and handstand practice.
BB bench: (5 x 95kg) x 1, (3 x 95kg) x 4.
Superseded 4 sets of: incline hammer cults (10 x 15 kg), seated machine rows (10 x 55kg).
Finished off with 4 sets of face-pulls
Bike ride home.
notes:
Awesome pump. 95kg was too heavy for 5, so I changed it to reps of 3. Lower back still feels a little “niggly”, although not enough to stop me from training. The pain almost feels more like bruising. Almost instant relief with some self release using a baseball on the side of my hip.
BB reverse lunges: (5 x 65kg) x 4, (4 x 70 kg) x 1.
Superset 3 sets of: BSS (8 x 17.5kg), 8 reps of ham curls on a swill ball.
Cooled down with some bird dogs and hanging from the bar.
Bike ride home.
notes:
Awesome session. Felt strong. I have been doing a lot more “couch stretching” of my hip flexors which seems to be helping my lower back. Also been doing lots of "hanging from the bar (2 arms and 1 arm) in between sets and that just feels great in my shoulders and lats. Something I want to keep doing.
By that, you mean kind of like the position you get in for bulgarian split squats? I love that for my back, my hips sometimes get gummed up and that can irritate my back if I get tight enough.In fact, that is every warm up I do regardless of what lifts I am doing.
I have always done that stretch in my warm-up but only for 10-15 seconds. i think the key is to do it for multiple reps and spend some quality time in the position.
Warmed up with the ball, and did 5 repeats of 30 meter sprints at 70% intensity.
3 sets of 10 reps of BW squats and push-ups, handstand practice and “froggies”.
Weighted dips: (5 x 30 kg) x 3, (3 x 30 kg) x 2, 10 x BW.
Supersetted 3 sets: dB overhead press (8 x 20 kg), dB rows (8 x 35 kg).
BB curlz for da girlz: 3 sets of 10 x 35 kg.
notes:
Decent session. Really enjoyed warming up with the ball outside again. Felt better than last week but I feel I have lost some core strength/stability while running around. At the moment I am loving hanging from the bar in-between sets, also hanging from one arm that really stretches the shoulder and lats.
Tomorrows BJJ class has been cancelled so Im either having a rest day or I might do Mondays workout tomorrow evening.
Warm up including: plank, back-bends, BW squats and push-ups and archer push-ups.
BB bench press: (5 x 95 kg) x 2, (5 x 90 kg) x 3, (10 x 60 kg) x 1 (pull-ups in between sets.
Supersetted 4 sets of : incline hammer curls (8 x 17.5 kg), seated rows (8 x 60 kg)
Finished off with some suitcase walks with 17.5 kg.
Bike ride home.
notes:
Felt really fresh this morning. Having an extra rest day on Sunday due to no BJJ made a difference. I was hoping to get all my sets of 5 with 95 kg, but that was too heavy. Felt strong though. Might have to incorporate more reps of 3 in the future to get some strength up a bit?
Warm up: plank, back bends, body-weight squats and push-up, pistols to a box and hand-stands against a wall.
BB reverse lunges: 5 x 5 with 70 kg. (pull-ups in b/w sets)
Superset 3 sets: dB BSS (10 x 17.5kg), swiss ball ham curls (8 reps).
Hanged from the bar, using two hands and then each hand by itself.
Bike ride home.
notes:
Good session. Was really tired in the evening. Been busy with work, and that combined with my lifting and BJJ had kind of caught up with me. I have a relaxed schedule over there next 3-4 days so Im sure I will recover.
@Destrength: hey buddy. Not doing any agility moves at the moment. I suppose training for BJJ 2-3 times per week is keeping me agile at the moment. I also do romwod.com 4-5 times a week. I am considering getting back into some running and may do some agility stuff such as dribbling my ball between cones.
@Furo: hey McFuro. I have been practising my eccentric pistols onto a box and my ankle flexibility is improving and it feels great, although I still think Im a long way off. The other week I tried eccentric pistols from standing on a bench and I discovered that my left ankle dorsiflexion is my limiting factor. I have my doubts that I will ever achieve a full pistol, and I think that is due to my dimensions, but I’m happy to keep working on it. Like some dude once said “even if you don’t deadlift or squat you should still train so that one day you can”. (I think I messed up that quote, but it was something like that).
Keep the faith man! I felt miles off until it just clicked one day - it’s the nature of the exercise. There’s no linear way to progress it, it’s not like adding small plates to your deadlift. Just keep plugging away and it will click. I’ve got your dimensions and weak legs, if I can do it you definitely can
Warm up outside with the ball including a 5 minute jog, some juggling, ball to wall passing and 6 x 30 meter sprint at about 65% (took me about 30 minutes in total).
Into the gym I continued my warm up with some body-weight squats and push-ups, archer push-ups, frog jumps and some pistols onto a box.
Weighted dips: 5 sets of 4 x 30kg. (hanged from a pull-up bar in between sets).
Superset 3 sets: dB overhead press: (10 x 20 kg) x 2, (8 x 20 kg) x 1, with dB rows (8 x 35 kg) x 3.
Supersets: BB curlz 4 da grlz: (10 x 35 kg), with rear felt raises (12 x 6 kg).
notes:
Feeling more confident with my running and even managed to do some low intensity sprints today. My lower back niggle is still slowly recovering so I am been extra careful in not doing anything that will make it worse. So far so good. I even felt my gluteus come alive with the sprinting.
Happy with the weights today. Im going to try and get some more pistol practice in whenever I can. Balance is an issue. Highly recommend hanging from a bar using 2 hands and one. The shoulder and lat stretch is therapeutic.
