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Sunday 4th
Few too many Friday night, and did not feel at all recovered. Doing this a bit early and had nasty acid reflux all through.
Squat 20 x 2 x 5, 40 x 5, 55 x 3, 65 x 1, 80 x 2 x 5, 60 x 10. Watched the second set back and it was rough. Decided to be cautious.
Bench 20 x 5, 35 x 2, 41 x 3 x 5. Just got the last rep, but did get it.
Deadlift 60 x 5, 70 x 5, 87.5 x 5. Put the belt on - felt way better, if tricky to setup. Definitely want to try a 3"er.
I'm away next week, so this is not the time to be pushing hard, and I'm knackered. Going to do a light squat Tuesday, and see how Thursday goes. Then a small squat reset once I'm back.
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Tuesday 6th
Hips a bit achey and I'm tired as heck. After next session I'm away for a week, so decided to muck around with a "light day"
Front squat 20 x 2 x 3, 30 x 3, 35 x 3, 40 x 3, 45 x 3. Just starting to slow down, so 45 x 2 x 3. Looking pretty alright. Deep, decently upright etc.
Press 20 x 3, 25 x 3, 30 x 2, 32.5 x 1, 1, failx2, 30 x 1, 1, 1
Working on getting some layback, using belt and loose wrist wraps. Seemed to be working quite well, but damn heavy. Last 30 was the best by far.
25 x 8 (ditto layback etc)
Row 40 3 x 5
Chins (blue band) 2, 2, 2'.9' Almost a 3rd rep, got nose to the bar.
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Thursday 8th
Still feel worn out. Trans-atlantic travel isn't exactly a rest, but I'm hoping a lot of Tex-Mex food will prompt recovery. In view of a long flight, didn't want to be too tired on Saturday, so:
Squat 20 x 2 x 5, 40 x 5, 55 x 3, 65 x 1, 75 x 1, 80 x 1, 85 x 1 (pretty grindy but solid), 62.5 x 10
Bench 20 x 5, 30 x 5, 42.5 x 5, 5, 3. First set last rep was a total grind, second set went better so perhaps not properly warmed up. 3rd set was a bust. 4th rep just stopped.
Deadlift 60 x 5, 75 x 5, 90 x 5. Solid.
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Tuesday 20th November
Got back from Dallas yesterday. Fairly good week as scientific conferences go, and found time for a swim or two, even if it was a bit cold for outdoor pools. Ate a lot of Tex-Mex. Journey home included a 10 hour flight and 3 hours sitting in an airport, very little sleep etc. 12 hours last night sorta made up for it. But I am stiff and sore and tired.
Squat 20 x 2 x 5, 30 x 5, 40 x 5, 50 x 5, 60 x 3 x 5, belt on. Felt snappy, but hard.
Press 20 x 5, 25 x 3, 27.5 x 3 x 5. Belt on, practicing layback. These felt pretty easy, but wrist and elbows sore, esp. the left.
Chins (blue band) 3, 1, 2.
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Thursday 22nd November
Still jetlagged, stiff and sore from Tuesday. Combination of small heater and electric blanket for the bar is working pretty well against the chill though.
Squat 20 x 2 x 5, 40 x 5, 50 x 3, 60 x 1, 65 x 3 x 5
Still solid, still feel hard. I think one more 5kg jump is there though.
Bench 20 2 x 5, 30 x 5, 40 x 3 x 5. Slight decrease from the last session due to missed sessions and missed reps last time. Solid, only slightly slowing down.
Deadlift 60 x 5, 75 x 5, 92.5 x 5. This was still going strong so went up from previous session.
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I think the jetlag has mostly gone now, although spent yesterday and today clearing a metric crap ton of leaves, so tired and a bit stiff. Before the week off, I was already butting my press, and less-so my bench, up against my old working sorts of weight, i.e. had pretty much run out the "regaining old strength" bit. Squat was slowing down too. Deadlift has a way to go. So, justified or not, I'm moving over to more upper body volume, especially as I have bugger all upper body strength or muscle, and adding a light squat day. I'd guess soon I'll want to adjust squat again, but hopefully get a bit further first. General plan is:
Heavy. Squat 3 x 5 (to start)
Bench 3 x 5 (to start)
Deadlift 1 x 5
Seated DB press 3 x 8-10
Light. Front squat 3 x 3
Press 3 x 5
Chins 5 x N
DB bench 3 x 8-10
Medium. Squat 3 x 5
Incline Bench 3 x 5
Rows or SLDL or RDL or something
Shoulder body building crap (3-5 sets)
Abzz (maybe)
Hopefully that model with some tweaks to rep/set ranges will pretty much work indefinitely.
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Sunday 25th November
Since I'm still settling back into it, just doing the core stuff this week and doing one last alternate bench/press. Next week the extra upper body volume starts going in.
Squat 20 x 2 x 5, 40 x 5 , 50 x 3, 60 x 1, 70 x 3 x 5. Felt pretty good, looked OK.
Press 20 x 2 x 5, 25 x 3, 28.5 x 3 x 5. Trying to make sure to treat this as a core lift i.e. long rests, using belt/wraps/chalk etc. Also working on more of a layback. It feels way better.
Deadlift 60 x 5, 75 x 5, 95 x 5. Change over means back-to-back deadlift sessions. I felt that! Not too bad though, and looked alright, could be tighter.
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Black Friday goodies showed up - got a 15kg bar from Again Faster in the black zinc and some of their rubber change plates. Bar showed up with a lot of oil on, but no shipping disasters as some previous reviews had. Straightness and spin seem alright.
Tuesday 27th
Front Squat 20 x 2 x 3, 30 x 3, 40 x 1, 47.5 3 x 3 All pretty solid, feeling heavy though.
Bench 20 x 2 x 5, 30 x 5, 41 x 3 x 5. First set of the 3 not great, probably need to rethink warmups. Final set still going fairly strong, better than last time at this weight.
Chins (green band) 5, 4, 4 and 3x1 controlled negative. The band configuration gives a lot of assist at the bottom, but little at the top, so the stronger band isn't much easier. I'll try both bands and see which feels better.
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Pub trip and late night last night - did not feel great.
Thursday 30th
Squat 20 x 2 x 5, 40 x 5, 50 x 3, 60 x 1, 72.5 x 3 x 5. Hard. Not terrible
Press 20 x 5, 25 x 3, 29 x 3 x 5. Pretty solid really. I think the layback (which isn't actually much) is the ticket.
Row 42.5 3 x 5.
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Friday evening my lower back got unhappy. Something deep and muscular I think, hurts to drop chin to chest. Felt better through yesterday and today, so warmed up extra carefully and took things slow. No problems at all training, which is nice.
Saturday - some stuff with grippers.
Sunday 2nd December
Squat 20 x 2 x 5, 30 x 5, 40 x 5, 50 x 3, 60 x 1, 65 x 1, 70 x 1, 75 x 3 x 5. Hard. Fairly solid.
Bench 20 x 2 x 5, 30 x 3, 35 x 1, 42.5 x 3 x 5. Wrist wraps on for last set. Last rep was really hard.
Deadlift 60 x 5, 75 x 5, 97.5 x 5. Took extra care to set up solid. Last rep getting a bit soft, but fine.
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