Communist Gym while on the road. Two separate weights areas (why?), both with only a single set of Iron Edge bumpers - 5,10,15,20,25kg. Had to carry an extra pair of plates around from another area about 40m away . Left them there, because it seemed like they never got used much anyway haha.
Got a few stares carrying the two plates by a pinch grip the whole way. Hehe. Only saw one other guy lifting, doing 1/2 squats, then 1/2 ROM RDL’s (why?, where do they get their ideas?!?!)
it was a nice place otherwise, every other piece of equipment imaginable was present. When I saw the hammer strength Chest press…I had to. Haha.
Good. Deadlifts were super clean, yesterday they were a bit messy. With general warmup today though, I felt ready immediately.
Bench was ok. Still feels…not hard or heavy, but like I dont have any stamina. Fatigue always seeping over from the DB work, which I’m fine with as the chest is a big focal point this year - bench itself is basically in maintenance mode, but I’ll still run it in progressively overloaded cycles.
Goblet Squats, with heals elevated on my platform, hit my quads better than basically any other squat variation. With deadlift being such a big focus this also, quads are important. Ideally, I’d just squat my Fahves like a normal person and use that to drive the deadlift, but we all know how my knees feel about that . I have two adjustable KB’s up to 30kg each, so I can progress via double KB front squats after the 30kg bell. I paused the reps to make it harder. I could also add a good painful tempo to the descent next time. Good idea.
Obviously, I am back on that deadlift everyday gravy train. Day 11 today I think, no rest. One might remember I tested a weeks worth of deadlifts in December - The Maelstrom Deadlift Program from GZCL…well, I’m using that layout again beginning with that lubricating set yesterday. 7 days of progressively heavier loads and inversley decreasing rep counts. 1 set per day. Everything else with be just train as feel best, when I feel best. Will take me 56 sessions to come full circle with it, but each day is really it’s own “cycle”, with its own progressions. Week 8 day 1, will be a 100 rep set. Definitely had 50-55 reps in me yesterday, so shouldn’t be hard in terms of capable endurance by then. But I won’t like it. - Good.
105x16 - 231.4lbs. wanted 15, can’t count, luckily a video can.
Press:
20x10
32.5x5
42.5x5
42.5x5
42.5x5
42.5x5
42.5x5 - 93lbs
EZY Curls:
30x8
40x10 - 88.2lbs
Calf Raises:
BWx 20
Notes:
Deadlift was Great overall. That first warmup set was weird…like I’d never done them before. Second warmup set was normal. Lol. Full double overhand grip used still. Will push that all week until I can’t. Tomorrow is 127.5x10. should be ok. Then 150x5 on day 5, might start getting sketchy haha.
Extra rep on the deads because can’t count. Luckily, video can. To be honest, anything above 10 or so reps and we are guessin’. .
Press was ok today! Shoulder did hurt on set 3, though…brought my grip in a little more and didn’t feel anything on sets 4 and 5, so I’ll carry on adding weight next time.
Accessories accessoried. Tested the curl a bit, hence one top set. Almost to failure there. Very very close. MAYBE had one more rep, or 0.5kg more load, but not both.
Feel like I am missing something. You very recently pulled multiples above 200. So why would something like 150x5 bother you? Is it just the accumulation?
Today’s minimum work. Left it late after a long session in the pool with the fam, so ran short on time before heading out to catch-up with my two best mates for our traditional Australia Day drink. Only two for me, put my hand to drive instead.
Splurge a bit on a Ribeye steak, topped with a heap of king prawns for dinner. Steak was unfortunately not up to my standard…nothing compared to what I can cook up in my kitchen with the cast iron. Honestly I don’t know why restaurants can’t get this right. If my steaks were a 10, these were around a 5. I think the difference is a lack of proper seasoning - they are often lacking in taste, and hardly ever cooked as ordered. The prawns were on point though, as was the whiskey haha.
Good little weekend so far. Tomorrow is a holiday for said Australia Day, being that Aus Day fell on a Sunday. So another day off. Heading to the beach in the AM. Will train in the afternoon.
straight out of the pool, into the garage. Felt warned up and ready to go, so left the 100kg on to test that theory. Sure enough, Ready. The 150x5 was simple as expected really. All double overhand also.
pretty tired today from a very full day of Beach, Pool, etc. Packed in as much as we could. Perfect way to spend a holiday.
Check out the finisher that Dr Mike had Mitch do in this video at 35:00. Could be a good option after goblet squats if you really want to target the quads.
I like the idea of a body weight finisher for hypertrophy, super safe and great way to really fill up the muscle with blood. I like that he works the full stretch at the bottom and only comes 3/4 way up. Those reps would burn like fire.
What a session. Honestly. Best in weeks. Did someone turn down gravity? Thanks.
the deadlifts were completed with a full double overhand grip! I wasn’t expecting it, but the grip felt Strong at the 150kg warmup. And sure enough it held solid. Really happy with the set. Feeling poppy, as Ivan Djuric might say haha.
Bench also felt lighter, despite being heavier. Finding a good balance now with the exercises I am using, and chasing. Cheeky PB on the incline DB bench, too. Just all moving very well.vl
Nice to see my grip strength coming back in strong. Having pushed it this far in a long while. 195kg x 2 tomorrow…not sure I’ll even bother trying that haha. 172.5x5 next week though, will certainly try that.
Also, I will add that my training diary says I have completed 16 days running of deadlift every day so far. Not only have I not snapped my shit up…but I feel Good…
decent enough session. Deadlift was good. This is day 7 of the Maelstrom Cycle, back to silly high reps tomorrow.
squats were shitty, still. Stopped at 110kg as both knees hurt from it. Feels like the load is the issue still. A positive note, was that 110kg was not at all heavy in feeling, and moved like the 60kg. Felt like nothing, except it hurt the knees more than I cared to continue experiencing.
Goblets offer nothing in the way of pain aside from the quad pump…as leg training should feel. Couple more reps each set, this time I did not let up on the tension in the quads as suggested by the video @simo74 put up earlier. I still paused gently at the bottom…to ensure maximal quad thinking, but yeah. Good pump
Leg extensions were a nice touch to finish up. No pain at 50kg, so might later in volume at that point for a few sessions before moving higher. Constant tension in the reps here too. Made me walk funny for the first few steps hopping off.
Tired today…sleep was a horrible experience last night. If only I could blame it on the pups , but they didn’t move between 1030pm and 6am…My watch said I got 4 good hours, and that’s how I felt waking up, too. Went and jumped in the pool at 630am, did a few laps. And I was good to go. Catching up with me now though, 5pm here and I could happily just go to bed.
. Left them there, because it seemed like they never got used much anyway haha.
