Monday Legs On My ownsome

Keeping leg work to a minimum at the moment as the national bench is not too far away. I've managed to put on some weight lately so I want to keep that in check. For the time being I'm sticking to short sessions and low reps. This is also to help me manage my energy levels better. Last week I got caught out with a few things that left me flat and destracted when I trained, so things like rest, session length, food and being organised personally help all that.

Camber bar bulgarian squats, plus 140kgs walk out and partial holds.
The aim with these is to help my knee satbilisers and the walk outs are an attempt to potentiate a greater response from high threshhoold fibres. I've done this in the past for kicking and punching with awesome results so want to try it here. I only did 4 sets

Bar x8
47kgs x 6 x 2
37kgs x 6

This don't look like much...cause it wasn't! but it was fuken hard enough.

Saturday Shoulders with Tec & Arch work

Keeping shoulders pretty basic at the moment because of all the bench work happening at the moment. Lighter weights and higher reps with a focus on holding the shoulderblades in a good position so the shoulder joint itself moves in a healthy way while training.

Log press
42kgs x 12 x 5sets
Good warm up and with short rests it gets quite challenging. It has a more joint friendly grip then the barbell press and the different pressing angle makes it good for variation (I've got nothing against bbell presses by the way). I keep the range at a point where I can feel my shoulders under tension for the whole set. This taxes me quicker too. Keeping the movement fast (controlled) too

Cable lateral raises
12kgs x 12 x 2
18kgs x 10 x 2
12kgs x 10
Fryup mentioned how he'd been doing lateral flyes the other week, which has helped me to use the frontal plane again without impinging my shoulder.

Face pulls
42kgs x 12
48kgs x 12
54kgs x 12
60kgs x 12
66kgs x 12
When I do these I try to use the eccentric portion to concentrate and feel the rear delts. So I go slower on the eccentric and rapid but strict on the concentric. My shoulders always feel goiod after this. Followed up this session with a bit of traction work and some very relaxed arch work. I'm not getting tight yet but my back feels 100% (I know it isn't yet though)

Going to add some external rotation exercises to my training - arms and shoulders plus some warm ups for bench day. Also planning to swap out all my leg training for unilateral leg work until after the nat bench. Going to be weird and do some heavy walk outs too as I have a theory that I want to test out.

Friday Arms With Jake and Henry

Finished last nights shirt session with triceps but decided to do a couple of exercises supersetted to start today. I feel that triceps are to a certain extent, like the lats and require a lot of work to tax them. Probably not true for everyone though of course.

Fat bar close grip floor press with partial tricep press ups.
65kgs x 10 x 2
85kgs x 8 x 2
65kgs x 10 x 1
The tricep press up was done with the hands in a similar position to a close grip bench, with a med ball under the chest to keep from going to low and engaging the chest too much. Just did them to add a bit more stress.

Fat bar curls. These are awesome (still not sure about the weights)
45? x 10
45 x 10
45 x 8
45 x 7
35 x 10

Incline dumbell curls
15kgs x 10
15kgs x 10
15kgs x 8
15kgs x 7
12kgs x 12

Standing preacher - did these on the incline bench. I'm not fond of the seated preacher bench we have. It's older then grass and I for some reason I just don't feel right.

15kgs x 10x3
17.5kgs x 8 x 2

Good session. I think its a good idea to get some carbs and protein part way through a session (if your not likely to spew during it) when it follows a rough week of training. My energy levels were a bit off this week so I felt a bit flat. It was mental as well as physical. Coping with destractions better will help.

Thurs - Bench Shirt with Tec and Ben

Still getting used to Alfs 42 Katana. Felt tougher then last week but I wasn't as switched on mentally this week. Worked up to 185kgs for a double on 3 boards. Still purposely bringing it low until I feel comfortable having a crack at 2 boards.

No Tec for triceps this week.
Close grip
60 x12
80 x 12
90 x 10
100 x 8
100 x 7

Tate Press
15kgs x 10
17.5kgs x 10
20kgs x 10
20kgs x 8
20kgs x 7
17.5kgs x 8

Over head cable ext. I didnt have a partner to time me on these so I just worked on some heavier sets then I have been doing.
42kgs x 16
60kgs x 18
60kgs x 16
60kgs x 15
60kgs x 13
I kept rests short, then did a couple of short range push downs just to put a bit more tension through the triceps. Fat bar close grip floor press next week for 8 sets and some super sets with the other two - Tate and overhead cable ext.

Tired this week but some more great action in the gym. A few new faces, all with keen as attitudes. I have to sort myself out properly so my daughter can chill out at the gym and enjoy herself more so I dont stress so much about her. She told me today that one of the crossfit guys stood on her foot the other day. Lucky for that motherfucker she told me it was an accident. Not fair on her and the guys there though, so have to sort something out. Looking forward to biceps tomorrow.

Wed Back With Mike & Craig

Can't be fucked loggin this section this week. I worked up to heavier sets then last week. 210kg pull down neutral grip super set with seated rows. 80kgs chest supported rows, 150kgs behind head pull downs. I broke my own rule by of focusing on form and went ugly to make the reps on superset. Don't eat a tin of fish an hour before you train.

Tuesday Chest With Big Fry

Bit sluggish today. I mentioned this to Mike at the end, and he mentioned something about backing off last week. I didnt catch all of it but it sounded good so I'll go with that.

Inclines
60kgs x 10 x 2
80kgs x 8 x 2
100kgs x 6
100kgs x 5

Good progressed on last week.

Declines
80kgs x 10 x 2
100kgs x 10 x 2
105kgs x 9
105kgs x 8
100kgs x 9
100kgs x 9
90kgs x 10
90kgs x 10
Felt weak today. Having the extra man last week obviously helped.

Dumbell Bench
25kgs x 12
30kgs x 12
30kgs x 10 x 2
30kgs x 9

Dbell Flyes
15kgs x 12
17.5 kg x 10 x 4

Felt some weird tightness on the 3rd set of these and thought I might have to pull the pin. Came right on the second set though

Machine Bench
80kgs x 12
110kgs x 10 x 2
Drop set 80kgs x 18 40kgs x 20

Bit stressed tonight by having my daughter at the gym, but kept putting a positive spine on it that it's ultimately a good thing to have her in an environment like that. My attitude is good these days. Even when things are a bit tired like tonight, I can still keep focused on my goals. Cooking a roast chicken before training made me hungry for the whole evening though!

Monday Legs & Arch work

Had to call a halt to the squats today as my knee was making noises. No pain though, but this is never good as it obviously means something is grinding out/on something else. My guess is that with some tissue quality work I can fix it. Foam rolling, stretching and mobility work, maybe some massage too. I think its a rec fem issue (tightness)

Changed to wide grip deadlifts for 8 timed sets of 35 seconds.
60x10
60x13
80x13
80x13
100x10
120x8
140x3 - my grip f**ked out here
140x3 - stopped to take it easy on my back

I decided to use today to get a gauge on how my back/hip problem was coming along. I dont believe in avoiding exercise on a trouble area so I found that working up light and stopping once it started to tighten up let me get a handle on it. Hopefully back to the squats next week and I'll do some deadlifts afterwards, next time with a sumo stance. I'll do that for a few weeks. Still keeping leg work minimal while I'm aimed at the nat bench

Arch work.
Juat some stretches followed by some aggressive upper back work on the bench with the thick PVC pipe. This isn't comfortable but it helps to teach the brain and nervous system to lock into a good position. I arch over a thick pvc pipe, then take a unloaded or light bar and do very short, rapid, partials. This produces a few funny looks but I find that it helps me a lot. I never need to do these for very long (2-3 sessions) before it the positioning (tightness and what I think of as my scapular tilt) becomes natural again. Going to work on a systematic approach to stretching and warming up specifically to arch. When I was arching well, I sometimes took 40 minutes just to warm up.

Sunday - Shoulders

Just a short session today as my shoulders have been a bit creaky of late.

5 x 10 42kg log press

Face pulls 48kgs x 10 x 5 supersetted with 1 arm cable lateral raise 12kgs x 10 x 5

Grubby and Alf were solid in their shirts today. Eastside looks promising for a good representation at the national bench

Saturday Arch Work

Since the Nat bench is coming up I decided to start doing some work to get my arch back up and my back healthy again. Up until the Canty 3 lift this year a never had a problem but I managed to tear a ligament in my lower back. Since then it got worse and I had thoughts about putting it away for good. But since Im not that strong its actually my best asset in the bench, so I thought that if I take it carefully I might avoid the injury problem and get it back up to where it used to be.

I think arching raw so much made harder to heal (because its higher then a shirted arch) as well as getting careless with my form in the squat. Today I focused on stretching my groin, and quads, and did some hip mobility work (spinal flossing) plus a small amount of hanging to elongate my spine. I kept everything pretty gentle and took a measure (of sorts) with the large PVC pipe at the gym. I feel (I cant see of course) like I'm a long way off where I was this time last year.

I'll do stretches and mobility work specific for arching every third day. Hip flexors, abdominal wall, quads, groin (adductors/rotators) and start doing some loaded upper back work to start strengthening extension and scapular tilt. I've found that a big arch wont do shit if you're not strong enough to hold it, especially in a shirt.

I need a lot of ankle mobility work too as I've had trouble with my foot positioning. Alf gave me a few pointers about placement and leg drive which help but in order for me to get and maintain the tightness I need I have to have my feet closer to my head (like some of the Russians). Its a confidence thing too, I get between 35-45kgs out of a shirt, so if I'm not maximally tight through my whole body, then I simply wont produce the tension or have the control that I need.

This is all tentative as I'm unsure how my back will cope. I only wrote it here so I cant pussy out of it. I feel better now that I've broken it down so I'll see how it goes.

Friday Biceps special guest appearances from Jake and Henry

Was good sore from last nights shirt work. Need to keep stretches and early morning mobilty work up as my shoulders are rounding. All part of the training though.

Fat bar curls (still dont know how much it weighs)
10kgs (plus bar approx35kgs?)
45 sec x 2
35 sec x 3
Love this variation, the wide grip is great

Incline dumbell curls
15kgs x 35 sec x 5

1 Arm cable curls. Left the YMCAs out this week as I thought they were a bit shit (I need to be shown how to do them properly) they let the tension off at the top of the lift due to the angle of the cable, which I find annoying.
18kgs x 12 x 5

Will finish next week with some hammer curls since my elbows are starting to feel a bit tender. Good sessions right through this week.

Shirt & Triceps with Tec

First time in a bench shirt for ages. Alf was kind enough to lend me his old Katana since mine's out of commission. Smaller then my old one but he's done a good job stretching it (must have lifted a bit in it?) Looked like:

All of 3 boards for 3 reps
165kgs, 170kgs, 175kgs, 180kgs

All felt good and had heaps of fun doing it. Tec looks to be coming along nicely, especially having Alf around (helps everyone to bench better). We (Tec and I) both agreed that he should be set on hitting 180 off his chest rather then pissing about being focused on the record (171kgs I believe). If his training stays constant he'll be able to open on the damn record easy.

Close grip bench focusing on the triceps.
60kgs x 10
60kgs x 12
100kgs x 6 x 3
80kgs x 12

tate press,
15kgs x 12
20kgs x 8 x 2
20kgs x 7 x2

Over head ext for time
40 sec x 30kgs x 1
40sec x 42kgs x 2
35sec x 42kgs x 3

Just focused on working non stop all the way through, finishing on a grind but not stopping. I think Tec did better then he realised at these.

Awesome night tonight with the gym busy and buzzing. Strongman, aerobics, bench shirts all going at once. I noticed tonight that even though the shirt was uncomfortable as f**k! I was much more focused between sets, I'd relax but still be on the job where as before I would tend to relax and lose focus completely between sets. Ok if your super talented but thats not me. Training with Mike and Craig constantly doing work and staying switched on because you know your next set is coming has helped me heaps. I feel like I'm training at a better quality, I enjoy it more and I take a shot at doing things I normally would have been to lazy to do in the past.

Good shit. (if you dont like my ramblings kiss my ass)

Wed Back with Mike & Craig.

Feeling tired by the time training rolled around today. Was still a good session though. Supersets to start.

Lat Pull Downs
170kgs x 10
190kgs x 10
200kgs x 10 x 3
190kgs x 10
170kgs x 10 x 2

Seated Row
72kgs x 10 x 8

Made sure to do extra work with the top set this week. 2 sets up on last week. This fucken superset is tough. I think its important to be doing it with guys that just get in and do it. The only speaking is done to encourage the others (or ask someone to put the seat up when your tied to the bar)

Standing seated machine rows (thats not a mistake) I like this machine (never thought I'd say that!) its a higher focus then the bent over rows. I'm looking to make some good gains on this one. I was surprised at how well it hit theparts of the back that I need to work on for pulling the bar down in a bench shirt.
40kgs x 10
70kgs x 10 x 6

Behind head (not neck) pull downs. Made good progress with this now I've got the hang of them.
100 x 10
110 x 12
120 x 12
130 x 12
140 x 6
140 x 6

Finished with a muck around to see if we could do pull ups. I usually pull myself up to my collar bone but could only manage to get to my head.

Bench shirt tomorrow. Should be interesting.

Could smell fish tonight but dont know what it was?

Tuesday - Chest with Mike & Craig

Three's a good number for chest day so we invited Craig to audition with us to see if he fit the bill.
After the usual complaining while smiling about how sore our legs were from yesterday, we got stuck in to some incline bench. It looked something like this:

60kg x 10 reps x 2
80kg x 8 reps x 2
100kgs x 5 reps x 1
90kg x 6 reps x 1

It felt good to hit the hundred although no where near as strong as I'd hoped. I was aiming for 90 and felt very comfortable so I'm happy.

Declines
80 x 10 x 2
100 x 10 x 2
105 x 8 x 1
105 x 10 x 1
100 x 10 x 1
100 x 8 x 1
90 x 10 x 2
90 x 10 x 2
Felt very strong on this one.

Dumbell bench
made a fuck wit out of myself when I got cramp in my arse and couldnt keep the dumbell from dropping. Nearly hit Craigs foot. Looked like the following:
30 x 10
35 x 10 x 4
30 x 10
had to do the last couple with my feet up to avoid more dumb circus tricks.

Machine Press & Standing flyes superset x 7
It went: (all sets x 10)
80kgs x 1 set
100kgs x 3 sets
80kgs x 3 sets
Flyes were seven straight sets with 24 on the plates.

I managed to convince the boys to do seven sets. I like flyes but its hard to put in a good squeeze and hold it in the later sets. I started imaging I was Arnold at the olympia doing a chest pose in the hopes that it would give me a boost but I ended up being totally destracted with my day dream and cant really remember anything from the last two sets. At least I enjoyed myself though.

Not sure what to aim at next week but plan to put a shirt on later in the week. Looking forward to it.

Monday - Legs by myself

Had to get in early to get my session out of the way as I have to hog the powerrack. Added one top set this week by jumping up in weight earlier. The bar felt heavy but still managed to push through each 35 sec reasonably well. I think with a spotter I could have added 1 or 2 to the later sets. This is such a new stimulus working through the fatigue with low weights and high volume. Next week I'll drop back a heavy set again and up the time to 40 seconds per set.

It looked like this:
Hi bar close stance squat
set wgt reps
1-2 60kg x 16
3-4 80kg x 10
5-8 100kg x 7,6,6,6
9 80kg x 9
10 60kg x 10

Leg Press 35 sec sets
100kgs 1 min rests
set reps
1x18
2x17
3 x12
4x14
5x12

Im going to minimise all sessions other then the stuff relative to the national bench. I'll do my hi vol stuff early in the week then focus on shirt work (strength, co-ordination, skill) at the end of the week. Unfortunately this means I'll have to drop the strongman but I'd rather focus seriously on the bench. My shirt still need repairs though so this could all change. I may have to source another one.

www.eastsidebarbell.co.nz

Friday Arms....on my own

Trained solo today and decided to change everything. Did most of my sets for time (35 sec) and started off with fat bar close grips. I like this one but as I was spotterless I really just used it as a big warm up. Its tough with no markings on the bar to get it in the middle though, especially with a close grip. Went through 8 sets only working up to 70ish (not sure what the fat bar weighs)

Tate press next. Havent done these for a while and started having shoulder issues. If it flares up again next week I'll make these decline or flat. Done for time these were rough. 4 sets @ 15kgs x 12 reps (dropped to 10 on the last one) 12kgs for last set x 12 reps. I like these but havent had impingement problems before. Bit of attention on that area should fix things though.

Dreaver showed up halfway through the training and turned on all the heaters so ended up doing Bikram overhead rope extensions for my last tricep exercise. 5 sets, worked up to 42kgs, managing around 12-14 each set.

On to the biceptacons....
Fat bar barbell curls. These were awesome. Hard but once I had a good grip on the bar I could push hard and work in some good external rotation as well. My shoulders felt much better after this one. I plan to make this a staple exercise. The fat grip automatically engages more arm musculature so I felt like I got shit loads out of it. pyramided up to 45ish and back down to 30ish for 5 sets

Incline curls. because i was doing these for time, I did them 2 at a time like a jean wearing beginner, but still got plenty from it. 4 sets with 15kg on each, only hitting between 7-9 on each set. Gay but hard.

Standing cable...ah...village people curls(?) Not sure what these are called but thought they'd be good to finish. Wish I'd stuck to my plan to do standing cable curls as these didnt quite hit my arms as much as I would have liked. Maybe I was too far forward. Thats training though, gotta try new things then learn how to do them right so you end up with good tools in the box. 6 sets 18kgs x 3 24kgs x 3.

Ok session, would have been better with some hard-out training partners (anyone keen for Friday mornings?) but still productive.

Here's some footage of this week

Wed Back with Craig & the Monster

Big change to Back day this session. Supersetted Lat pull downs with seated rows. 8 sets for 10 reps each. If we didnt have the three of us going I would have puked. I worked up to a top set of 200 in the pull downs with a top set of 78 on the rows.

I know some PTs get sand in their vaginas about how guys like us use a long reach forward in the seated row. I hear all sorts of shit about how its bad for your spine. Those people must start the movement with their lower back or something? The reach stretches the lats and the pull is through the lats too. Its more effective. The muscles in my lower back feel it but not my spine.

Limped through some bent over rows - 8 sets of 10. The plan was initially to do 10 sets and finish but both Mike and I got sick of it and did some behind the neck pull downs to finish - 4 sets of 15. I did 3 sets of 100kgs and one at 110. I used to think this exercise was a waste of time but I focused a bit more and remembered some tips Craig gave me, those, along with the fatigue from the superset made me feel it for a change. Now I'm doing it right I can feel the benefits of it.

Back is always tough but I always enjoy it. Today was the first time I had to really focus and dig deep. Was good though. The DOMS also kicked in from Monday so I've been limping around with a sore groin and quads, anyone would thing I'd been slapped in the nuts. A bit of hammies tomorrow then some strongman in the evening.

Love it.

Tues Chest With FryUp

Was keen for a good session today after spending most of it downloading Cinderella on Youtube for my daughter/boss.

Started with inclines
2x10, 2x8, 2x6
Worked up to 85kgs on the top sets. I never remember the exact numbers but I do recall wanting to have a crack at 90kgs for the top sets next week. Its this attention to detail that has alllowed me to blaze the trail through powerlifting that I have since entering the sport. On a serious note, Im more concerned with pressing with my chest on each rep.

Declines

Apparently the bar was bent which contributed to things being a bit off for Mike tonight. I didnt do as well as I did last week either. I was about to lay down a story about how doing squats for time yesterday must have fatigued my nervous system a fair bit, but Mike beat me to it so I'll blame the bar as well. Pyramided up and down from 70kgs- 100kgs for sets of 10ish.

Dumbell Bench

Mike did 50kgs for a set of 10 and made it look easy (got footage too). I struggled a bit on this because the bar was a bit ben........shit wrong one.....I mean the fatigue from the squats really caught up to me on this one so I couldn't lift very much. I'm not even going to bother trying to remember any of it. I just know that next week I'll start with the 30kg dbells. We did 5 sets of 10 or so

Machine Press supersetted with standing cable flyes

I like this superset. We started on 100kgs on the mach and 24kg on the flyes. My first set I did 20 on the chest press and 12 or so on the flyes. We worked up to 140kgs which I did twice but dropped to 120kg for the last set. On flyes we got up to 30kgs but I should have dropped back as my reps were shit but I thought someone was watching so I didnt want to risk losing any coolness points.

Finished off with some log press just to keep in practice for the Boys Day Out strongman comp in september.

www.eastsidebarbell.co.nz

Week 1New Leg Training

Squatting & Leg Pressing For Time.

This is based on Dave Tate's article about extended tension training. It's simply lifting for a set period of time rather then a rep range. Here's how it looked:

Hi Bar Close Stance Squats
Week 1 35 sec sets - 2 min rest
1- 60kgs x 14
2- 60kgs x 14
3- 60kgs x 13
4- 80kgs x 10
5- 80kgs x 9
6- 100kgs x 6
7- 100kgs x 7
8- 100kgs x 5
9- 80kgs x 8
10- 60kgs x 10

I was spotterless so lifted with in myself but still feel like I worked hard. On the second set of 100kgs I used more speed dropping into the hole which is something I normally dont do (to my own detriment) and it made a big difference, hence the 7 reps. I started to feel a lot of tightness in my back on the last few reps in the middle sets too. I started focusing on driving my traps back into the bar and felt the pressure come off a bit. next week I'll add another 100kg set but still total 10

Did 4 sets of leg press for 35 secs with a min rest in between as well:

Leg Press 100kgs
1-17
2-15
3-14
4-12

I used to hate the leg press and still have to force myself to get on it. I've found that it has helped me develop the strength through the inside of my knee which surprised me. But a lesson I've learnt recently is that everything in the gym is just a tool that can help if I use it right.....still dont like it though.