Viking Workouts

[DV]

I guess that should be 'estas', not 'eres'

Unless you've been smoking something.

Yeah, I'm not that tall, just about 6'1

La Paz is the the worlds highest capital city. There is about 2/3 of the oxygen available here, as compared to sea level, which has some rather dramatic consequences. On the plus-side fires are exceedingly rare.

[DV]

08-06-12: 17.41-18.31: Bench/Dead

Feeling good today. I might be back (or close to) normal, tomorrow we'll know for sure. In any case I wont push it. I cancelled all arrangements this weekend, I just need to relax. I am writing this wearing my oxygen mask as well, every little bit helps!

Also I talked to who might be my boss when I return to Copenhagen, very interesting. Will be writing applications to different offices in our HQ all this weekend.

Warmup: Jump rope (3x40), dynamic stretching, pushups (3x10), air squats (10), chins (3x4)

Bench: 95x5, 125x5, 150x5, 180x5, 205x8
This wasn't failure, but not too far from it either. I felt sorta shitty about this, until I realized that last I benched (and I was healthy) I did 205x9. So it's just a matter of me having an incredibly weak bench, rather than me having lost too much benching strength.

Weighted Dips: BWx5, BW+35x6, 7
Wasn't too sure what to use here. These weren't true failure, but felt close to it. Mostly because it was weird to do weighted dips, haven't done them in 5 years or so. I'll get more reps next time.

Deadlift: 135x5, 225x3, 315x2 (mg,b), 365x6 (mg, b)

I took 5 lbs and 1 rep off my last max deadlift, which is fine. I had more in me, but this still left me gasping for air. I took my belt in another notch today. I sent my scale with our stuff in the container a few days ago, so won't be able to weigh myself. No matter, once diet gets on track again, everything will be fine.

Here's to me not crashing again after this.

[Briks42]

Hope you still feel good tomorrow. I think its a good sign you felt good throughout this workout. Your body seems to be getting acclimated to the altitude a little bit at least. I can't imagine doing high rep deads at an oxygen deficit. They are brutal enough at sea level.

[DV]

Hope you still feel good tomorrow. I think its a good sign you felt good throughout this workout. Your body seems to be getting acclimated to the altitude a little bit at least. I can't imagine doing high rep deads at an oxygen deficit. They are brutal enough at sea level.

Thanks, Briks. I'm feeling better than after the last workout, but not stellar. Not doing fuck-all today, which should help. I just need to survive the last few weeks here, can't wait to leave, if I'm honest.

Denmark beat Holland 1-0 today, which is absolutely awesome. They dominated, as expected, but we had the cutting edge. Not the most deserved victory ever, but not a total fluke either, I think. Now we just need to beat Portugal, like we usually do, and we're golden.

[DV]

11-06-12: 116.56-17.55: Press/Squat

Still not great, but good enough to survive my last weeks here.

Warmup: Jump rope (3x40), dynamic stretching, pushups (3x10), air squats (10), chins (3x4)

Press: 65x5, 85x5, 105x5, 125x5, 135x7
I started feeling shitty during the last sets, but didn't go home like I maybe should've. I did 4x4 chins between sets, 7x4 total for today.

Weighted chins: BW+35x6x2. I used to get 8-9 reps with 45 lbs, but I do a lot of chins during presses and am not 100%, so I guess this is ok.

Squat: 135x5, 175x5, 215x5, 245x5, 280x5, 215x10
Felt a bit off, right hip hurt some, but nothing major. Maybe stance was a bit too wide on some of the sets. Made myself do the back-off and it was surprisingly bearable. That little annoying back-off set was what really set my squat in motion last time I did 5x5, so I hope it will work this time too.

Time to get my oxygen.

[DV]

26-06-12: 15.29-16.09: Bench/Dead

I was on holiday for 10 days in Buenos Aires (wonderful, by the way) and paid no attention to diet. I planned on working out, but all the gyms nearby were more like health spa's, where you could only join with a monthly membership. So I didn't get to workout, but I did get to drink buckets of good argentinean wine, and eat slabs of argentinean steak.

That mean that I repeated the workout from 18 days ago. Luckily I think the trip helped whatever I have with the altitude, been feeling pretty good, and had a good workout. Especially considering that my BW is decreasing and has been for a while.

Warmup: Jump rope (3x40), dynamic stretching, pushups (3x10), air squats (10), chins (3x4)

Bench: 95x5, 125x5, 150x5, 180x5, 205x8
Equalled the reps from 18 days ago, which I was very happy with. 205x8 is still a crappy, crappy, bench - but I'm confident things will change once I get some consistency and get out of the altitude.

Weighted Dips: Dropped. Didn't want to overdo it.

Deadlift: 135x5, 225x3, 315x2 (mg,b), 365x5 (mg, b)

Lost 1 rep from 18 days ago. I could probably have gotten it, but I was happy with 5.
Here's to me not crashing again after this.

[Tom Narvaez]

Welcome back, DV!

[Briks42]

Glad you had a great vacation. Don't sweat not lifting while you were there. Thats the point of a vacation, to just relax and enjoy yourself. Thats a damn solid workout for being 18 days between. Pretty impressive.

[DV]

Welcome back, DV!

Glad you had a great vacation. Don't sweat not lifting while you were there. Thats the point of a vacation, to just relax and enjoy yourself. Thats a damn solid workout for being 18 days between. Pretty impressive.

Cheers guys. I'm all for vacations too, I just feel weird if I go too long between lifting. But I'm pretty happy with the lifts. It has something to do with me not working out at near-maximum poundages in the first place, I'm sure. In any case if I can keep my lifts around where they are now for when I get down from the altitude, I'm confident I can make some pretty good progress after that, and come back to some decent lifts.

[DV]

29-06-12: 17.53-18.38: Press/Squat

Once again 18 days since I last did the movements. Also sorta long week, lots of stress and shit. But I'm not that affected by the altitude currently, which helps.

Warmup: Jump rope (3x40), dynamic stretching, pushups (3x10), air squats (10), chins (3x4)

Press: 65x5, 85x5, 105x5, 125x5, 140x7
Equalled reps at the same weight here. Happy about that. They were heavy, but solid.

Weighted chins: Aborted. Time was a bit of an issue, and all I really wan't is to not do too much, and get sick, while still maintaining some strength.

Squat: 135x5, 175x5, 215x5, 245x5, 275x5

Considering it's been 18 days since I last squatted these were incredibly solid. Last set was a challenge, but not overly heavy. I took a mere 5 lbs off from the lift I did 18 days ago. Didn't do the back-off, as I felt this was plenty coming back from the long lay-off and considering the other factors already mentioned:

Chins: On the way out of the gym I did a set of hammer-grip chins. Did them VERY strict, chest to bar, and got 12 without problems. I'd think if I had a wager going I could've gotten 15-17 reps or so. This is a good thing, and I think my chinning has improved from all the sub-max sets I did when on 5/3/1.